Is He Xiangu a child bride?

As the only female among the Eight Immortals, He Xiangu naturally became the focus of attention of the Eight Immortals. The most popular story is her immortal deeds, even recorded in many county annals. Over time, her enlightenment deeds have evolved into many different versions, some ups and downs, some smooth and natural, but there is a version of the story that most people don't want to hear, and even some netizens seem to say that this ruined the image of the goddess in their own minds.

Legend has it that He Xiangu, whose real name is He Xiang, worked as a child bride in a family named He in Dongmen since childhood. Her life experience is not tragic, what is worse is that she got a vicious mother-in-law, who never liked her and often abused her in every way. This may be one of the sorrows of ancient women.

He Xiang is very afraid of her mother-in-law. Although he is not a big family, he also runs a restaurant, so it is not a problem to make ends meet. On this day, my mother-in-law and my father-in-law were not in the restaurant, and seven beggars just came. Adan saw that every beggar was pitiful, and kept clamoring for "food". He Xiang, who is kind-hearted, got up the courage and gave seven people half a bowl of noodles raw in the shop, telling them to eat quickly, otherwise he couldn't explain it when her mother-in-law came.

Unexpectedly, the seven beggars ate slowly, which delayed a lot of time. Seven people left after eating, and Adan washed the dishes quickly. But just then, my mother-in-law came back and saw that the noodles in the restaurant were gone and He Xiang was finishing brushing. She asked where the half bowl of noodles had gone, and He Xiang could only tell the truth. Hearing this, the mother-in-law scolded He Xiang and asked her to recover the money of the seven people. Adan finally caught up with the seven beggars, and seven of them were brave. She followed He Xiang back to the noodle restaurant, but she had no money to pay the bill. The fierce mother-in-law heard that seven people were going to spit out all the noodles they ate, which was obviously making things difficult for several people. Surprisingly, these seven people actually have this kind of "skill" and spit a pot of food. At this time, Adan's mother-in-law put forward a more excessive request. He felt it was a pity to dump the pot and let Adan eat it. As a daughter's home, the behavior of He Xiang's mother-in-law is a great shame to her, but she is bullied and scared at ordinary times, so she can only eat while crying. Meanwhile, a yellow dog and a black-bone chicken came to grab food. After eating, He Xiang suddenly felt that she was as light as a swan, and her figure was too high to be separated from the human body. When he left, he also took the yellow dog and the black chicken. This is the origin of "one person can ascend to heaven".

I think these seven beggars are the other seven of the Eight Immortals. Later generations called them "He Xiangu" because of her kindness and helpfulness, and buried them. Up to now, a tombstone has been set up in Yingshang to manage Gu Village.