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The First Age is generally taken to be the period before the creation of the world. Called the Age of Heaven, it marks the era when Yin and Yang had not separated, when all things were One, and that One was the August Personage of Jade. The First Age was a period of ultimage harmony, the first point of inter-connectedness among all things. Many Kuei-jin believe that the fulfillment of their Dharmas allows them to return to this state of being; of course, many others discount the First Age as pure myth, and they prefer to think of Dharmic fulfillment as simply bringing an end to their earthly imprisonment.



The Second Age, or the Age of Beauty, marks the separation of the Yin and Yang Worlds from the Middle Kingdom, which bore elements of both. It is also the era that sets the Great Cycle in motion. During this Age, the Ebon Dragon and Scarlet Queen were born, and their interactions and opposition furthered the turning of the Cycle, coalescing matter and spirit-stuff alike.

Soon thereafter, the Ebon Dragon and the Scarlet Queen learned to breathe, and as they breathed, the Ten Thousand Things of matter and spirit began to take shape. Where breathed the Dragon, spirits and properties of Yin appeared; where breathed the Queen, spirits and properties of Yang took form. Soon, the worlds of matter and spirit had been breathed into existence. Gods and dragons walked the young, vibrant world, and to them Heaven ordained duties and positions in the Spirit Courts.

However, as the celestial beings gravitated to their specific realms, some escaped the notice and tutelage of the Dragon and the Queen. These beings, deprived of proper instruction, neglected their duties and failed to make obeisance to the will of Heaven. Certain creatures became dualistically opposed to others, while others combined Yin and Yang in unwholesome imbalance. Demons and monsters, greedy devourers of Chi, appeared during the Second Age.

The worst of these creatures made lairs deep within the wildest regions of the worlds. Disregarding the August Personage's authority, these demons draing entire regions of Chi, then claimed the blighted and diseased lands as their own The demons warred among themselves, and the mightiest forced the other demons to swear fealty to them. Calling themselves Yama Kings, these archdemons ravaged their surroundings and plotted to garner vast amounts of Chi for their own selfish appetites.

To maintain the Cycle's purity in the face of the ever-bolder Yama Kings, the Dragon and the Queen birthed shen into the world -- the shapeshifting hengeyokai, the kamuii fae and other creatures. These beings received various tasks to perform, so that they Cycle would spin as it should. Humans also came into being during the Second Age, a product of the Dragon and Queen's love for each other. this last act, in particular, was not received kindly by the monstrous Yama Kings. Jealous of their fairer brethren, the Yama Kings stalked amid the first mortals, afflicting upon them sickness, terror and destruction.

The August Personage grew alarmed at the demons' actions. But there were many Yama Kings, most of whom dwelt in dismal lairs, far from Heaven's scrutiny, and emerged only to ravage and conquer.



And so, to protect its newborn charges, the August Personage bestowed its favor upon certain of the most superior mortals, and a new race of beings was born.

The members of this race were not called Kuei-jin then -- they were the Wan Xian, the Ten Thousand Immortals. Selected for their wisdom, power and balance, the Wan Xian were neither wholly mortal nor wholly spirit, but possessed elements of both. To become Wan Xian, a mortal soul had to cross into the spirit worlds, then enter the Middle Kingdom once more. Thus attuned to the world of spirit, the Wan Xian could draw upon the stuff of the Yin and Yang Worlds -- Chi -- and utilize it for sustenance and power.

These first Wan Xian ensured that all under Heaven was properly ordered. Above all, the Wan Xian were responsible for the first humans, from whom they had been selected. The Wan Xian needed neither food nor drink, for the dragons themselves gave of their bounty to the Wan Xian. As the gods subsisted on the Peaches of Immortality, so did the Wan Xian nourish themselves with Chi, which they inhaled in moderation from the ebb and flow of the world itself.



The Third Age, of the Age of Legends, was a glorious time during which the Wan Xian bore their Heavenly mandate proudly. They were the immortal emperors, the demon slayers, the gods who walked among humanity and guided its progress. At the directive of the Ebon Dragon, the Scarlet Queen and the August Personage itself, the Wan Xian purged the world of the Yama Kings' servants. If a spirit or demon grew unruly, the Wan Xian could drive it from the Middle Kingdom, then report the transgression to its spirit master; if a mortal ruler strayed from the way of Heaven, the Wan Xian could set the mortal aright. As Wan Xian gained in wisdom and completed their tasks, the passed from the world to join the gods, and the Ebon Dragon and Scarlet Queen then selected more Wan Xian to replace them.

The Wan Xian took it upon themselves to watch over many of the fledgling settlements of humanity that settled in Tibet and along the Ywllow River in ancient China. The Wan Xian guided the people in their endavors, guarding them and ensuring that all acted in accordance with Heaven's will. The old scrolls speak of the Yellow Emperor, Oh-kuni-nushi, and other heroes. Drawing on the gifts of the Dragon and the Queen, the Wan Xian cleared the earth of the Yama Kings and their minions by driving these unruly creatures deep into the Yin and Yang Worlds or by destroying them outright.

Because of the near-mythic status of these first Kuei-jin, the Third Age is referred to as the Age of Legends. It is also during the Age of Legends that the majority of the Cathayans' founding texts and sacred writings were composed, although few of these works survive in complete written form today.

Years passed, though, and the whispers of the Yama Kings darkened the noblest of ears. The Wan Xian turned from their sacred duties and betrayed their trust. During the Third Age of the Great Cycle, certain Wan Xian learned a terrible secret. The gods had taught them how to harvest Chi from the natural eddies of the Middle Kingdom -- but Chi could also be taken from other creatures. Chi permeated flesh; it flowed through blood, and breath and jade. And it could be wrested from beings weaker than the Wan Xian.

At first, the Wan Xian stole Chi only from demons, monsters and other enemies. As they did so, though, it became easier and easier to justify their cravings. And the more they stole, the more the hungered.



The Fourt Age of the Great Cycle dawned in fear and flam. Wan Xian warlords stained the soil with blood. Immortal generals led hordes of slaves in ceaseless raids for jade and blood. Death cults arose among the mortals, cults devoted to feed the Wan Xian's ever=growing appetites. The Wan Xian made war on the other shen of the Middle Kingdom, even going so far as to set the hengeyokai against one another, that the Wan Xian might plunder their sacred sites. Even the spirits grew fearful of the greedy Wan Xian; the Yin and Yang Worlds withdrew further from the Middle Kingdom, and the road between the two grew difficult. Sages and spirits alike tried to reason with the Wan Xian, but their greed and hunger blinded and deafened them. At last, the Wan Xian's gluttony grew intolerable, and the dragons cried to Heaven for succor.



And Heaven answered.

The Wan Xian were cast from their thrones and scattered to the Five Directions. From them the August Personage stole the knowledge of how to breath. They became cold, unliving things. Yet neither were they dead. Without breath, the Wan Xian found themselves forever separated from the living world. Yet, having rejected their purpose, they had no passions to sustain them among the Dead. New Wan Xian, denied true rebirth, were forced to inhabit the corpses of their mortal lives. And, since they were so eager to wrest Chi from others, the August Personage saw to it that they could nourish themselves in no other fashion.

Then, its work done, the August Personage turned its face from the Middle Kingdom, Spirit Courts and Great Cycle alike. Deprived of supervision, the Yama Kings and their demon minions seeped back into the Middle Kingdom. The hengeyokai, angered beyond reason by the Wan Xian's depredations, fell upon the humans who had foolishly followed their immortal masters.

The Dragon and Queen, ashamed, likewise turned away from their errant children -- but not before leaving the secrets of the Dharmas hidden in clouds, wind, rain and blood, so that one night the Wan Xian might redeem themselves and regain their place in the Cycle.

As the Cycle turned, the Wall between the mortal and spirit worlds grew thick, and Wan Xian could be born only with great effort. Slashing through the spirit walls became a brutal task, and only individuals with strong P'o souls could muster the necessary savagery. In an ironic judgement, Heaven had seen to it that only souls weighted with evil could become Wan Xian. Wan Xian would continue to walk the Middle Kingdom, as had been decreed in the early days of the world. But because they had rejected their ordained place, their numbers came only from mortals whose hungers and lusts had overwhelmed them. And so, those beings created to be the Middle Kingdom's guardians instead became its eternal misery.

If, before, they had been gods, the Wan Xian no resembled the very demons they had pledge themselves to overcome. And, the Wan Xian realized to their sorrow, the Middle Kingdom itself had been turned into their Hell.

Thus did the Ten Thousand Immortals become Wan Kuei - Ten Thousand Demons



Now, in the Fifth Age, the Wan Kuei, or Kuei-jin, are wretched creatures indeed. Driven to madness by the P'o, forced to reanimate corpses and sustain them with stolen life-force, most Kuei-jin endure existences every bit as miserable as those of their Kindred rivals. In fact, for the Hungry Dead, unlife is often worse, for their personal struggles are overlaid with the tremendous, collective guilt.

Even their Chi sight continually reminds them of their failed responsibilities. With their Yin sight, they see the decay of the Fifth Age eat away at the Middle Kingdom. With their Yang sight, they see the rippling, jagged energies of hatred, war, rage and terror. Indeed, for many Kuei-jin, the Second Breath catapults them into a dreamscape of unending nightmare.

The Kuei-jin must now decide whether they should seek to right the Great Cycle, attempt a desperate sescape or succumb to their curse as monsters. And their decision must be made soon.



The Sigh Age is the Age of Sorrow. It is the lowest point on the Cycle, which many Kuei-jin believe will usher in a time of apocalyptic disruption, when the Yama Kinds will rise and rule among the nations. How long the Sixth Age will last is indeterminate, but all are convinced that it is imminent and will be violent.

Kuei-jin are of several minds as to what will occur either during or after the Sixth Age. The most optimistic Kuei-jin believe that the spirit worlds and the Middle Kingdom will reunite, that the dragons and spirits will resume their Heavenly duties. Others feel that this reunification will occur, but that it will signal the end of the Middle Kingdom, as everything is suffused back into the first true state or interconnectedness. And still oterhs, having traveled frequently to the Yin and Yang Worlds, believe that the mightiest Yama King will rise and rule as Demon Emperor in the August Personage's stead, and the Kuei-jin will be cast from the Great Cycle into eternal oblivion.

The sta of the Wheel o fAges concerns many Kuei-jin at the brink of the Sixth Age. Many Kuei-jin who have resigned themselves to a bitter and brutal Age of Sorrow contend that, despite the inevitable suffering and death, the Sixth Age will eventually end and the Great Cycle of Being wll come full around to the First Age again. But an equal number prophesy that the accumulation of centuries of karmic debt will weigh down the Wheel of Ages to the point where it stops turning. This, they say, will herald a horrific and to the world.

The Age of Sorrow will definitely be some sort of end; on that all Kuei-jin agree, as do the Western Kindred, who refer to the time as Gehenna. Yet, for the Kuei-jin, the fact of the Great Cycle makes the Sixth Age inevitable. Unlike the panicky Kindred, who will attempt any measure to halt its arrival, the Kuei-jin are far more resigned to this end. .Whatever for it takes and however long its duration, the Age of Sorrow will come, and it will arrive hard and ruthless.

It is the way of the Great Cycle of Being -- the way of life itself.