Xingtian Dances with Shield and Axe

The Headless Warrior

Beheaded by the Yellow Emperor, Xingtian made eyes of his nipples and fought on, shield and axe in hand.

Xingtian fought the Yellow Emperor for the throne and lost his head to the emperor’s sword, but death was not the end. With his nipples for eyes and his navel for a mouth, he rose again, shield in one hand and axe in the other, and continued the fight blind. Tao Yuanming sang of him in the fourth century: “Xingtian dances with shield and axe; his fierce will endures forever.”