Bao Wei (豹尾)

Chinese. ‘Leopard Tail’ or ‘Panther Tail’. Name of a guardian of the Underworld in Chinese mythology. In Diyu (fig.), the tasks are divided, with some guards working at night, while others serve during the day, and ‒as can be expected of someone associated with wild cats‒ Bao Wei is a watchman of the night. He is depicted with a fearsome, cat-like face, with two long fangs, and wearing a headdress in the form of a leopard head and skin. His attribute and weapon is a club or mace, and he has the position of a senior officer, similar to a Navy Commander in the Emperor's Army, in which ranks were represented by specific animals, akin to the Mandarin square (fig.). Bao Wei's statue can be seen in the courtyard of the Emperor's Hall at Fengdu Ghost City, a large complex of monasteries, temples and shrines dedicated to the afterlife, modeled after You Dou, the capital of Diyu, and located along the Yangtze River in Chongqing municipality, in central China. 回