Hsien

The hsien, or Shinma, are the "little gods" of the Middle Kingdom. Once servants of the more powerful gods in the Celestial hierarchy, they were responsible for answering the prayers of mortals in accordance with the wishes of their superiors.

In the Fifth Age, however, the hsien are cut off from much of their power, unable to enter the spirit realms, and must cloak themselves in the flesh of mortals (through a process similar to, but distinct from, the Changeling Way). They are thus superficially similar to the Kithain, some of whom believe the Shinma to be long-lost Asian kith, but the Shinma have no connection to the Dreaming and know little of the Kithain.

Factionalised and uncertain, some seek to answer mortal prayers without the aid of the bureaucracy of heaven, while others seek selfish dominion over humans or even to destroy the world, allying themselves with the Yama Kings as an act of revenge for their exile.

Hsien are divided into ten kwannon-jin, types of hsien which determine their nature and elemental affinity. Kwannon-jin are analogous to the kiths of changelings.

The five noble Kamuii are aligned with the five elements:

• Chu-ih-yu (Metal)
• Chu Jung (Fire)
• Hou-chi (Wood)
• Komuko (Earth)
• Suijen (Water)

The five commoner Hirayanu each transform into a certain type of animal:

• Fu Hsi (snakes)
• Hanumen (monkeys)
• Heng Po (fish, particularly carp or catfish, or dolphins)
• Nyan (cats)
• Tanuki (badgers)

Found in the book Land of Eight Million Dreams (by James A. Moore) these are the closest equivalent to kithain native to the realms of central and western Asia. More so than any other of the gallain, the hsien are not like standard changelings. They use an entirely different system of magic much closer to that of Mage: The Ascension. The closest analogue mythologically are the Hsien or Shinma, small gods who were once the servants of greater spirits and who now must secretly answer the prayers of the faithful. Rather than their souls being born into human bodies, Hsien appropriate the bodies and mortal personalities of the recently deceased, usually hiding the fact that they died at all. They are organised into ten "kwannon-jin", kith-like divisions which include the noble Kamuii and the commoner Hirayanu.

• Each of the Kamuii are aligned with one of the five Chinese elements: Suijen (Water), Chu-ih-yu (Metal), Komuko (Earth), Hou-chi (Wood) and Chu Jung (Fire).
• The Hirayanu are equivalent to the commoner kith; each can transform into a certain type of animal. There are five: the Nyan (cats), Tanuki (badgers), Hanumen (monkeys), Heng Po (usually fish, particularly carp or catfish, or sometimes dolphins) and Fu Hsi (snakes).