The Master of Rain

From FYSK: Daoist Culture Centre - Database
Jump to navigation Jump to search


Immortals and Immortalism
The Heavenly Lords
The Primeval Lord of Heaven
The Heavenly Lord of the Numinous Treasure
The Heavenly Lord of Dao and its Virtue
The Great Jade Emperor
The Heavenly Lord of Supreme Oneness and Salvation from Misery
The Three Great Emperor-Officials
The Four Heavenly Ministers
The Emperors of the Soil
The Queen Mother of the West
The Thunder Patriarch
The Stellar Sovereigns
The Great Perfect Warrior Emperor
Imperial Sovereign Wenchang
The Stellar Sovereign of the Five Planets and Seven Stars
The Four Numinous Animals and Twenty-Eight Constellations
The Big Dipper
The Sixty Daily Spirits of the Celestial Trunks and Earthly Branches
Spirits of Mountains, Rivers, Seas and Thunder
The Great Emperor of the Sacred Mountain of the East
The Primordial Lady of the Emerald Cloud
The Five Supreme Commanders of the Thunder Agency
The Father of Thunder and the Mother of Lightning
The Dragon King
The Master of Rain
The Earl of Wind
Spirits of the Soil and Local Protector Spirits
The City God
The Door Spirits
The Earth Spirit
The Kitchen Spirit
Spirits of Wealth and Longevity
The Spirit of Wealth
The Stars of Luck, Wealth and Longevity
Guardians of Hell
The Great Emperor of Fengdu
The Yamas of the Ten Halls
Perfect Men and Immortals
Guanyin (Avalokitesvara)
The Eight Immortals
The Motherly Matriarch
Emperor Guan
Patriarch Lü Numinous Official Wang
The Water-Margin Lady
The Three Mao Perfect Sovereign Brothers
The Great Life-Protecting Emperor
The Saintly Founder-King of Zhang
The King of the Three Mountains

Origins of the Master of Rain

The Master of Rain ( 雨師 Yushi ) is the Rain Spirit ( 雨神 Yushen ), who is also called Pingyi or Xuanming. The Rain Spirit of ancient China has an early origin. The "Great Master of Sacrificial Rites ( 大宗伯 Da Zongbo ) " in the Rites of the Zhou ( 周禮 Zhouli ) mentions "burning firewood to worship the Controller of the Center ( 司中 Sizhong ), the Controller of Destinies ( 司命 Siming ), the Master of Wind ( 風師 Fengshi ) and the Master of Rain". Zheng Xuan made a commentary on it, saying, "the Master of Rain is the Constellation Bi ( 畢星 Bixing ) ". He means, "when the moon is far away from the Constellation Bi, it rains in torrents. So the Master of Rain is the Constellation Bi". Cai Yong of the Eastern Han dynasty says in his Independent Judgement ( 獨斷 Duduan ), "the Spirit of the Master of Rain ( 雨師神 Yushi Shen ) is the Constellation Bi. It conjures up rain when its image appears in the sky." Constellation Bi is one of the Seven Western Constellations ( 西方七宿 Xifang Qisu ) of the 28 constellations. Here the Master of Rain is regarded to be a constellation. The Rain Spirit may also be conceived in a human form. Qu Yuan's Questions on Heaven ( 天問 Tianwen ) says, "it rains at Ping's command". Wang Yi of the Han dynasty annotated it, saying, "Ping is Pingyi, the name of the Master of Rain". The Comprehensive Explanations to Customs ( 風俗通義 Fengsu Tongyi ) says, "according Zuo's Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals ( 春秋左氏傳 Chunqiu Zuoshi Zhuan ), the son of Gonggong is the Master Xuanming", and "Zichan, the Senior Official ( 大夫 Dafu ) of Zheng, averted disasters by praying to Xuanming". Xuanming is in fact the Master of Rain. The Jin dynasty Investigations into the Divine ( 搜神記 Soushen Ji ) says, "Chisongzi is the Master of Rain during the time of the Holy Farmer ( 神農 Shennong ) ". The Comprehensive Collection of Investigations into the Divinities of the Three Doctrines since their Origin ( 三教源流搜神大全sanjiao Yuanliu Soushen Daquan ) took the Master of Rain to be a divine bird, saying, "the Master of Rain is Shangyang, and Shangyang is a divine bird with a single claw. It can become big or small and make seas dry when it sucks. It is the Spirit of the Master of Rain". After the Tang and Song dynasties, the worship of the Dragon King ( 龍王 Longwang ) born out of Buddhism gradually began to replace the Master of Rain.

Functions

In the name 'Master of Rain', "Master" refers to a spirit. According to the section Sacrificial Rites ( 祀典 Sidian ) of the Comprehensive Explanations to Customs, "master means multitude. Water is extensive in the soil. Thunder shakes ten thousand li, and even reaches the Supreme Mountain ( 太山 Taishan ), and so does the wind. But rain is different. It may rain everywhere under heaven within a morning. Rain's merits are so extensive and great that only rain is titled Master". Because the rain moistens the land, "brings birth to everything, and does meritorious deeds to human beings, kings offer sacrifice to it in order to repay its contribution".

Worship

The worship of the Master of Rain was already classified as one of the country's sacrificial rites during the Qin and Han dynasties. The Important Documents of the Tang ( 唐會要 Tang Huiyao ) says that the worship of the Master of Rain was promoted to a sacrificial rite of the middle rank, and "an altar must be set up in each prefecture" so that the rites could be held simultaneously with kings' sacrificial rites. Some Daoist temples also set up halls to enshrine the Earl of Wind ( 風伯 Fengbo ), the Master of Rain, the Father of Thunder and the Mother of Lightning (雷公電母 Leigong Dianmu ). The statue of the Master of Rain is always a black-bearded robust man with a jar in his left hand where there is a dragon, whose right hand seems to be sprinkling water. He is called the Master of Rain and the Heavenly Sovereign Chen. His divine birthday is on the 20th day of the 11th lunar month. But now the sacrificial rites particularly held for the Master of Rain are rarely seen because the worship of the Master of Rain has gradually been replaced by that of the Dragon King in modern times. The spirit tablet of the Master of Rain is merely set up at large-scale Daoist rituals of Fasts and Offerings ( 齋醮 Zhaijiao ), for the Master of Rain to be worshiped along with other spirits.