The Mystery of the Palm-leaf Fan （神秘的芭蕉扇）
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8 I! R' M5 r5 I$ h- v. n/ \How many palm-leaf fans were there in the book "Journey to the West"? This has been a mystery. I personally think there were two, one held by the Supreme Lord Laozi and the other one by the Iron Fan Princess.
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7 U% t8 p( Y. B  e: q: rReasons are as following:
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* p- q; F% F1 d; y" w/ q# \! P1. See Chapter 59 – Tang Sanzang Is Stopped by the Flaming Mountain, Sun Wukong tries to borrow the Palm-Leaf Fan
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Lingji smiled: “That woman is called Luosha, also named the Iron Fan Princess. Her Palm-leaf fan was a treasure from the beginning of time, born from Heaven and Earth on the heights of Mt Kunlun. It contains the essence of the sun, so it can extinguish fire. However if a human is fanned, he would be blown away for eighty-four thousand li’s, unable to stop. There are only fifty thousand li’s from my mountain to the Flaming Mountain. It is fortunate you have the ability to stall clouds. An ordinary person would not have been able to stop.” $ y# N" T2 v: i

# I9 C' @6 n: z, B$ z7 x1 b) RThis explains the Fan’s main function is to extinguish fire, and nothing else! Fanning people is not its main function, hence proving this fan truly belongs to the Iron Fan Princess. & q: u7 \+ y# F4 i1 }
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2. Chapter 52 – Wukong upstages Jindou Cave, Buddha hints at his master
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! g% f# i$ t  p7 A9 O6 G7 u! R8 ]Lord Laozi: “My Golden Bracelet is what I used to become an immortal when I passed the Han Gate. I made this treasure when I was a youth. No matter what weapon you may have, or fire and water, none can go near it. Even I will not be able to help you if my Palm-leaf Fan was stolen from me.”
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This except shows that the Supreme Lord Laozi had one as well, used to capture weapons. He believes it is even stronger than his Golden Bracelet. ; u7 d& B1 d+ p  @+ C
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3. If the Fan was the one belonging to Lord Laozi, the Iron Fan Princess would have no reason to fear the heavenly soldiers, she would have the ability to take care of Sun Wukong her self, there would be no need to let her husband the Bull Monster risk his life to fight Sun Wukong.
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4. Treasures from heaven basically have two types of resting places. At the end of the book, they must be returned to their owners. But the Palm-leaf Fan was returned to another. 4 x9 N" c, [1 D% _4 r6 Y( D
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5. If the Fan had belonged to Lord Laozi, only Buddha would have the ability to capture the monsters. However it was Prince Ne Zha who captured the Bull Monster in the book. : M: ]- w& q+ P6 M# I
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Therefore I believe the ...7 V) K& E- J5 l' T. p/ y