Heat-Dispelling King

Among the three rhinoceros demons, King Bi Han is the strategist, King Bi Chen is the executor, and King Bishu is the one in the middle—the elder brother's assistant, the younger brother's partner, and the indispensable backbone of the three brothers' formation. He lacks the leadership status of King Bi Han and does not share the dramatic fate of being captured alone like King Bi Chen, yet without him, the oil scam in Jinping Prefecture could never have produced "three Buddha statues"—two statues floating in the sky would look wrong; only with three does it seem authentic.

Brother of Bi Han: Second-in-Command of the Three Rhinoceroses

King Bishu resides in the Xuanying Cave of Azure Dragon Mountain with King Bi Han and King Bi Chen. The names of the three brothers—Bi Han, Bi Shu, and Bi Chen—correspond to the three talismanic functions attributed to rhinoceros horns in Chinese tradition: warding off cold, dispelling heat, and avoiding dust. This is more than just a clever naming convention; it suggests that the three brothers are essentially three facets of the "same thing": three rhinoceroses, three pairs of horns, and three effects, which together form a complete "rhinoceros myth."

In the Jinping Prefecture scam, King Bishu's role is that of the second of the three fake Buddhas. Every year on the night of the Lantern Festival, he and his two brothers ride clouds to the skies above Jinping Prefecture, "manifesting" as Buddha statues to collect over fourteen thousand catties of fragrant oil painstakingly prepared by the common people. This division of labor operated for many years; the three brothers coordinated with such seamless precision that no one in Jinping Prefecture ever suspected a thing.

In Chapter 91, after Sun Wukong exposes the true faces of the fake Buddhas, the three rhinoceros demons retreat to Xuanying Cave. King Bishu fights alongside his brothers in the ensuing battle, facing the combined assault of Wukong and the heavenly soldiers. His martial prowess is average among the three—lacking the fierce aggression of King Bi Han and his battle-axe, yet not the weakest of the lot.

However, in the narrative of Journey to the West, "the one in the middle" is often the easiest to overlook. King Bi Han has the role of the "leader," and King Bi Chen has the unique ending of being captured by his nose; caught between the two, King Bishu has no spotlight of his own. His existence serves primarily to complete the "three brothers" formation—classical Chinese novels favor the number three: three sworn brothers, three strikes against the White Bone Demon, three borrowings of the Plantain Fan. The three rhinoceros demons are no exception.

Mauled by the Four Wood Bird Stars: The Most Direct End

In Chapter 92, Wukong summons the Four Wood Bird Stars (Jiao Wood Dragon, Dou Wood Xie, Kui Wood Wolf, and Jing Wood Han) and Prince Moang, son of the Dragon King, to launch a joint campaign against the three rhinoceros demons. The Four Wood Bird Stars revert to their original forms—Azure Dragon, Xiezhi, Giant Wolf, and Great Dog—and pounce upon the rhinoceroses.

King Bishu is mauled to death by the Four Wood Bird Stars during this hunt. The term "mauled to death" reflects a brutality proportional to the directness of the combat. He is not subdued by a magical treasure, nor blown back to his original form by celestial qi; he is simply bitten to death by heavenly beasts as if he were prey. The Four Wood Bird Stars' dominance over the rhinoceros demons is instinctive—Wood overcomes Earth, and predatory beasts overcome herbivores. In the system of Five Elements, the rhinoceros demons meeting the Four Wood Bird Stars is like a mouse meeting a cat; there is no suspense.

King Bishu's horn is sawn off along with those of his two brothers; one portion is offered to the Jade Emperor, and the rest is distributed among the participating heavenly generals. After death, his body is completely objectified—a rhinoceros that once played the role of a Buddha above Jinping Prefecture ends up as a set of horns and a corpse.

For the full story of the three rhinoceros demons—the beginning and end of the scam, the detailed process of the hunt by the Four Wood Bird Stars, and the political economy of rhinoceros horns—see the entry for King Bi Han.

Related Characters

• King Bi Han — The eldest brother and leader of the three rhinoceros demons; the mastermind behind the Jinping Prefecture scam.
• King Bi Chen — The youngest brother; captured by being pierced through the nose.
• Sun Wukong — The primary antagonist who exposed the fake Buddha scam and summoned the Four Wood Bird Stars to assist.
• Four Wood Bird Stars — Jiao Wood Dragon, Dou Wood Xie, Kui Wood Wolf, and Jing Wood Han; the heavenly constellations that hunted and killed the three rhinoceros demons.
• Prince Moang — Son of the West Sea Dragon King, who led water troops in the campaign.