The Holy Mother of the Yellow Lotus [ 黃蓮聖母 ] was the title used by Lin Hei'er, the head of the Red Lanterns Shining in Tientsin. Her history is murky, and there are no known photographs of her.* Said to have been born on a canal houseboat in Tientsin, she was married to Li Youchuan while still very young. Li Youchuan, however, was arrested by the British and died in prison. Hating the foreign devils for what they did to her husband, she formed the Red Lanterns Shining, an all-female group of warriors and spell-casters, and trained them in the martial arts; those who were gifted were trained in the use of magic and trained to cast spells, walk on water and even to fly.

Lin Hei-er's fate is unknown. It is said in some circles that she was captured by the Allies on July 14, 1900, and executed by beheading. Other reports claim that she escaped and went into hiding, with some stating that she became a scourge in the Tientsin area for more than 20 years after the Boxer uprising ended. All that is known for certain is that she did exist, that she was the head of the Red Lanterns Shining in Tientsin, and that songs about her are still sung to this very day.

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Lin Hei'er ("Holy Mother of the Yellow Lotus")

*There is a certain photo on the Internet showing a female leader in formal garb with 13 other women around her, but it is highly unlikely that this is a photograph of Yellow Lotus with a group of Red Lanterns. First, the Red Lanterns knew that the foreign devils cut out women's eyes and used them to power their "cameras", and certainly would not sit and pose for such an evil device. Second, it is said that Yellow Lotus did not allow any girls with bound feet to join the Red Lanterns, yet all six women in the front row have bound feet. Third, the Red Lanterns were all girls between the ages of 12 and 18, but in the photograph, all of the "Red Lanterns" are older women and not teenagers.