A RECORD OF ALL THINGS UNDER HEAVEN
As gathered from the oldest accounts that remain
PROLOGUE — CHAPTER ELEVEN
On the Matter of the Ministry of Thunder and Storm — 雷部 — Lei Bu
There is a ministry in heaven.
It is called the Lei Bu — 雷部 — the Ministry of Thunder and Storm.
It governs what falls from the sky.
It has five principal officers.
They are:
Lei Gong — 雷公 — the Duke of Thunder.
Dianmu — 電母 — the Mother of Lightning.
Feng Bo — 風伯 — the Earl of Wind.
Yu Shi — 雨師 — the Master of Rain.
Yun Tong — 雲童 — the Cloud Youth.
These five produce every storm that falls upon the earth.
In the temples they stand together. The Ancestor of Thunder — 雷祖 — Lei Zu — stands at the center. The other four stand to his left and right.
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On Lei Gong — 雷公 — the Duke of Thunder.
Lei — 雷 — means thunder.
Gong — 公 — means duke. Lord. Senior official.
He is also called Lei Shen — 雷神 — the God of Thunder.
He is also called Lei Zu — 雷祖 — the Ancestor of Thunder.
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On his appearance.
His skin is dark blue — 深藍色 — shen lan se.
His face has the features of a bird. He has a beak — 鳥喙 — niao hui.
He has wings — 翅膀 — chibang. They are the wings of a bat.
He has claws — 爪子 — zhuazi. They are the claws of an eagle.
He wears only a loincloth — 腰布 — yaobu.
He carries three instruments.
The first is a drum — 鼓 — gu. He beats it. Thunder follows.
The second is a mallet — 锤 — chui. He uses it to beat the drum. He also uses it as a weapon.
The third is a chisel — 凿子 — zaozi. He uses it to punish wrongdoers with precision.
He rides a chariot — 战车 — zhanche. A young boy named A Xiang — 阿祥 — drives it.
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On the first account of his origin.
King Wen — 文王 — Wen Wang — was riding through a forest.
His hunting dog had nine ears — 九耳犬 — jiu er quan.
All nine ears twitched at the same moment.
The dog pawed at a pile of leaves.
Beneath the leaves was an egg.
King Wen picked up the egg.
It cracked.
A boy emerged.
He had dark blue skin. He had a beak. He had claws and wings.
On one palm was written the character Lei — 雷 — thunder.
On the other palm was written the character Zhou — 州 — state.
King Wen had no children.
He adopted the boy.
The boy was called Lei Zhen Zi — 雷震子 — Son of Thunder.
One day King Wen was captured by his enemies.
Lei Zhen Zi sought a weapon.
He climbed a mountain.
He found two magical apricots — 杏 — xing.
He ate them.
Wings grew from his shoulders.
His face turned green.
His strength became supernatural.
He returned.
He freed his father.
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On the second account of his origin.
In this account Lei Gong began as a mortal — 凡人 — fanren.
A fox demon — 狐妖 — hu yao — fought a celestial warrior — 天将 — tian jiang.
During the fight a peach tree fell from heaven to earth.
The mortal found the tree.
He ate one of the peaches.
He transformed into his godly form.
The Jade Emperor — 玉皇大帝 — Yu Huang Dadi — gave him a mace — 权杖 — quanzhang — and a hammer — 锤子 — chuizi.
The Jade Emperor said: punish only the guilty. Strike only those who have committed secret crimes that human courts cannot reach.
He agreed.
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On his function.
Lei Gong is an official of justice — 正义之神 — zhengyi zhi shen.
His duty: to punish those who have committed crimes that earthly courts cannot reach.
Secret crimes. Hidden wickedness. The crime witnessed by no human eye.
When such a crime is committed, the case is referred to Lei Gong.
He descends.
He beats his drum.
The thunder arrives.
Then the chisel.
He is recorded as prudish — 极为保守 — ji wei baoshou.
He will not enter a house where intimacy is occurring.
Images of such acts repel him in the same way.
This detail is recorded in multiple sources.
No explanation is given.
This record offers none either.
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On Dianmu — 電母 — the Mother of Lightning.
Dian — 電 — means lightning.
Mu — 母 — means mother.
She is also called Leizi — 雷姊 — Thunder Sister.
She is also called Leigong Zhi Qi — 雷公之妻 — the Wife of Lei Gong.
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On how she became a goddess.
She was once a mortal woman — 凡女 — fan nü.
She lived with her elderly mother.
They farmed rice.
One day she took a husk of rice — 米糠 — mi kang — and discarded it into a river.
Her mother could not eat it. It was too hard.
Lei Gong saw this from above.
He could not see clearly.
He concluded she was wasting food — 浪费粮食 — langfei liangshi.
He killed her with a thunderbolt.
The Jade Emperor found out.
He was furious.
He revived her.
He elevated her to goddess.
He ordered Lei Gong to marry her.
Lei Gong killed her. She was now his responsibility.
This is the origin of their marriage.
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On her function.
Dianmu carries two polished mirrors — 磨光铜镜 — mogu tongjing.
She angles them toward the earth.
The reflection produces a flash of light — 闪电 — shandian — across the sky.
The flash illuminates the darkness below.
Lei Gong sees his target.
He strikes.
Without her mirrors, Lei Gong strikes blind.
He struck blind once before.
The result was Dianmu.
She is depicted as a beautiful goddess — 美丽女神 — meili nüshen.
She holds the two mirrors. One in each hand.
She is not fearsome in appearance.
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On Feng Bo — 風伯 — the Earl of Wind.
Feng — 風 — means wind.
Bo — 伯 — means earl. Count.
He is also called Feng Shi — 風師 — the Wind Master.
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On his appearance.
He is an old man — 老人 — laoren.
He has a white beard — 白须 — bai xu.
He wears a yellow cloak — 黄色斗篷 — huangse dupeng.
He wears a cap of blue and red — 蓝红帽 — lan hong mao.
He carries a large sack — 大囊 — da nang — made of goatskin — 山羊皮 — shanyang pi.
Wind comes from the mouth of the sack.
He points the mouth of the sack in any direction.
Wind blows in that direction.
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On Feng Po Po — 風婆婆 — Old Lady Wind.
In later traditions a second wind deity appears.
She is called Feng Po Po — 風婆婆 — Old Lady Wind.
She is an elderly woman — 老婦人 — lao furen.
She rides a tiger — 老虎 — laohu.
She wears a blue and yellow robe — 蓝黄袍 — lan huang pao.
She is surrounded by two yellow dragons — 黄龙 — huang long.
She carries a bag — 布袋 — budai.
When she opens the bag, wind rushes forth.
Whether Feng Po Po replaced Feng Bo or stands alongside him is not consistent across the old texts.
Both are recorded here.
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On Yu Shi — 雨師 — the Master of Rain.
Yu — 雨 — means rain.
Shi — 師 — means master.
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On his appearance.
The Fengshen Yanyi — 封神演義 — Investiture of the Gods — describes him wearing yellow scale armor — 黄色鳞甲 — huangse linjia.
He wears a blue hat — 蓝帽 — lan mao.
He stands on a cloud.
He holds a plate — 盘子 — panzi — in his left hand.
On the plate is a small dragon — 小龙 — xiao long.
With his right hand he pours rain.
In another account he holds a watering can — 喷壶 — penhu — and pours rain from it.
In the oldest accounts his form is more animal than human.
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On his function.
Yu Shi causes rain by dipping his sword — 剑 — jian — into a pot of water — 水壶 — shuihu.
The water drips from the blade.
Each drop becomes rain on the earth below.
In another account he takes a branch from a mountain. He soaks it in water. He sprinkles the earth.
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On his role in the Battle of Zhuolu — 逐鹿之战 — Zhuolu Zhi Zhan.
Yu Shi assisted Chi You — 蚩尤 — the war god — against the Yellow Emperor — 黄帝 — Huang Di.
He summoned rain and flood.
Feng Bo — 風伯 — assisted him.
Together they disoriented the Yellow Emperor's forces.
The Yellow Emperor summoned Ba — 魃 — the drought goddess — his daughter.
Ba dried the land.
She dispersed the clouds and rain that Yu Shi and Feng Bo had summoned.
Chi You's forces were defeated.
Yu Shi fought against the Yellow Emperor.
This is recorded.
The texts do not resolve why.
Both the record of his service and the record of his opposition are preserved here.
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On Yun Tong — 雲童 — the Cloud Youth.
Yun — 雲 — means cloud.
Tong — 童 — means youth. Child.
He is the youngest of the five officials.
He carries a whip — 鞭子 — bianz.
He uses it to raise storm clouds — 乌云 — wu yun.
The clouds gather where he directs them.
His individual origin is not recorded in detail in the ancient texts.
He appears always as part of the group.
He is never the principal figure in any myth of his own.
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On the five working together.
Yun Tong raises the clouds — 升云 — sheng yun. First.
Feng Bo drives the wind — 驾风 — jia feng. Second.
Dianmu illuminates with her mirrors — 照明 — zhaoming. Third.
Lei Gong strikes — 击打 — jida. Fourth.
Yu Shi releases the rain — 降雨 — jiangyu. Fifth.
This is the sequence of every storm.
Clouds. Wind. Lightning. Thunder. Rain.
The storm is administered.
Each part belongs to a specific officer with a specific duty.
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On the birthday of Lei Gong.
His birthday is the twenty-fourth day of the sixth lunar month — 六月二十四 — liu yue er shi si.
Thunder is expected on this day.
If the day is silent — no thunder, clear sky — some traditions hold this is inauspicious.
The god of thunder should be heard on his own birthday.
END OF CHAPTER ELEVEN