If one should ask any mortal “Is Ling Wen a man or a woman?” any one of them would respond with confidence: a man. And although her personality was partly to blame, much of it was due to another reason. Come now, of course a civil god must be male! For that alone, when Ling Wen ascended, she suffered brutal disadvantages. She was a civil goddess, but many in the Mortal Realm thought: How could a woman ever reach that position? How could a lady possibly ensure good fortune in scholarly pursuits? She must not be effective!
