Heng and Ha

Lore & Background

Heng and Ha are depicted wearing crowns and ethereal clothes with their upper bodies exposed, showing well-developed muscles and short skirts. They have widely open eyes and protruding noses, holding Vajras in their hands, and glaring at the ground awesomely and angrily. The right one has its mouth open to pronounce the sound 'a', while the other has it closed to utter the sound 'heng'. The generic name for statues with an open mouth is Ha (哈; 'a' shape), and for those with a closed mouth, Heng (哼; 'heng' shape). The two sounds are the start and end sounds in Sanskrit, symbolizing the basis of sounds and bearing the profound theory of Dharma.

Reader's Guide

Heng and Ha are significant as the common names for the jingang lishi, the two guards of Buddhist temples in Chinese Buddhism. Their placement on both sides of the Shanmen reflects the adaptation of Indian Buddhist tradition to Chinese customs, which favored pairs. The open and closed mouths of the statues represent the Sanskrit sounds 'a' and 'heng', which are the start and end sounds in Sanskrit, symbolizing the basis of sounds and the profound theory of Dharma. This iconography is encountered throughout East Asia, including in Japan and Korea, where they are called A-un. In the Ming dynasty shenmo novel Investiture of the Gods, the characters of Hengjiang and Hajiang are based on Heng and Ha, with names given as Zheng Lun and Chen Qi respectively. In the novel, both are portrayed as officials in charge of guarding grain during the Shang dynasty, and by the end, Jiang Ziya canonized them as gods and added them to Feng Shen Bang's list.

Did You Know?

• Heng and Ha are the common names of the jingang lishi, two guards of Buddhist temples in Chinese Buddhism.
• Originally there was only one Narayana in Buddhism; Chinese people cast two to meet the custom of being in pairs.
• The right statue has its mouth open to pronounce 'a', while the other has it closed to utter 'heng'.
• In Japan, Heng and Ha are called A-un.