What is the relationship between the God Erlang and crossing legs?
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What is the relationship between the God Erlang and crossing legs? Is it because of Erlang Shen’s unique sitting posture and leg movement that he is called the man with crossed legs?
It is related; sitting with legs crossed, with one foot lifted, is called crossing the legs in the style of Erlang. The poet Liusha He once wrote an article titled “An Explanation of Crossed Legs,” in which he humorously explained the origin of this behavior. He pointed out that not only Sichuan Province has this saying, but other provinces do as well. This is the sitting posture of Erlang Shen. The statue of Erlang Shen in the main hall of Chuanwang Temple in my hometown, as well as the ancient statue of Erlang Shen in the Miào at Dujiangyan in Sichuan, both have this appearance. According to legend, Erlang was the second son of Li Bing, the governor of a region during the Qin dynasty; he assisted his father in carving out the Li Du mound, defeating dragons and eliminating threats, and after his death he was honored as the God Erlang.