Jiaochong, the Two-Headed Lord of Stinging Insects

What the Shan Hai Jing says

Jiaochong is one of the few gods in the Shan Hai Jing whose domain is insects. He appears at Mount Pingfeng, the first mountain of the sixth book of the Central Mountains. The text describes the mountain as bare, with no plants and no water, only sand and stones, and says that from its top you can look south toward the Yi and Luo rivers.

The god is shaped like a man but has two heads. His name is Jiaochong, and the book calls him the head of the stinging insects. It then adds that the mountain is truly the dwelling of bees. So the god is less a monster than a keeper: the bare slopes are the hive, and Jiaochong presides over everything that stings.

How he was worshipped

Most mountain entries end with a note on how the local spirits should be honoured, and Mount Pingfeng is no exception. The text says that Jiaochong is offered a single rooster, which is prayed over and then not killed. This is a gentle rite compared with the animal sacrifices given to many other mountain gods. The idea seems to be that a god of stinging insects is best kept calm. A pacifying rite at the edge of a bee mountain fits a world in which a swarm could be as real a danger as any beast.

Two heads and many stings

Two-headed beings turn up several times in the Shan Hai Jing, among both beasts and gods. Jiaochong stands out because the thing he rules is small and everyday: not a storm, a river or a season, but the insects that every farmer and traveller would have met. That makes him one of the most down-to-earth gods in the book. Another stinging creature in the book is the Qinyuan of Mount Kunlun, a bee as big as a duck whose sting kills beasts and withers trees.

Jiaochong in our game

In Beasts of Shanhai Jiaochong keeps his two heads and his rule over stinging insects. Because he is the lord of stinging insects, every exchange of blows with him leaves the other beast poisoned, so he is a slow, steady threat rather than a fast attacker. He belongs to the earth element and costs 2 Gold. His poison ignores shields, so even well-protected enemies wear down over a long fight, and his stack of poison grows with every star he gains.

Hive Lord in Beasts of Shanhai

In our free browser game Beasts of Shanhai, Hive Lord is a Earth beast that costs 2 Gold. Its skill is Sting. When it attacks or is attacked, the other beast gets Poison 1; each stack makes it lose 10% of its max HP every round and ignores Shield. It applies Poison 2 at two stars and Poison 3 at three stars.

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