Lei Gong and Thunder Ten Handsome.
The identification of the gods in the murals on the west wall of the Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace, in addition to the obvious identity of the gossip god, the three gods in the front of the Lei Gong, the rain master and the electric mother are easy to identify because of the special shape, especially the Lei Gong who is identified because of the image.
In the traditional sense, Lei Gong represents the god of thunder, and there are many gods of thunder in the murals of the Sanqing Palace. In addition to the gossip god who "cruises in all directions" and the ten Taiyi who "guide thunder ten gods", there are also the ten thunder handsome who specifically implement lightning strikes, which can be called the god of thunder.
What is the special place in the image of Lei Gong in the murals of Sanqing Palace?What is the relationship between Lei Gong and these Thunder Gods, especially with the Ten Thunder Marshals?
Lei Gong in the murals of the Sanqing Palace.
The thunder and ten handsomes in the murals of the Sanqing Palace.
The image of Lei Gong that we are familiar with is Lei Zhenzi in the Ming Dynasty gods and demons ** "Romance of the Gods", "immortal wings with wind and thunder", "face like blue indigo hair like Zhu", "teeth born out of the lips". There is also the image of "like a wrestler, with a bare chest and abdomen, two wings on the back, three eyes on the forehead, a red face like a monkey, a long and sharp lower collar, feet like an eagle, and the claws are more powerful, holding a wedge in the left hand and a mallet in the right hand, making a desire to strike".
The traditional image of Lei Gong.
In fact, long before the emergence of Taoism, the god of thunder had a variety of manifestations. And the image that everyone is familiar with is the unified Lei Gong standard image of the Ming and Qing dynasties after the development and differentiation of the thunder god.
The original image of the god of thunder was to engrave the ornament symbolizing thunder on the utensils, "carved into the shape of thunder", giving the utensils more sacred meaning. For example, the Shang Dynasty Yunlei Milk Nail Pattern Jar hidden in the Shanxi Provincial Museum, the shoulder ornament composed of thunder patterns is a cross pattern, which is derived from the shape of the twists and turns of thunder and lightning from the sky.
Hidden in the Shanxi Museum, the cloud thunder ground milk nail pattern urn.
This is mainly derived from the ancient fear of natural thunder and lightning, and its rumbling sound is regarded as the sound of **, and its scorching place is like a text that is regarded as a book from heaven. The god of thunder was once revered as the supreme god, and the deified tribal leaders all called the god of thunder or the son of the god of thunder, such as Fuxi was born to his mother Hua Xu in Lei Zegan thunder god, as well as "Xuanyuan, the god of thunderstorms", "The Yellow Emperor rose with thunder" and other myths and legends.
At the same time, this symbolic worship is embodied in the gossip. "Shock, movement, this is like the hexagram of thunder, the power of the sky", the thunder descends and everything shakes, "the emperor is shocked". It is not only a sign that senses the good and evil of people, but also becomes a god who governs the growth of all things and promotes the revival of all things.
After the rise of the idea of immortals in the pre-Qin period, the image of the thunder god began to evolve from symbolization to personification. However, Thor's status began to decline and he became the executor of heavenly punishment.
In the Classic of Mountains and Seas is the earliest image of the god of thunder, "There is a god of thunder in the thunder, a dragon body and a human head." There is also "there is a mountain of flowing waves in the East China Sea, and there is a beast on it, like a cow, with a blue body and no horns, and if one foot enters and exits the water, it will be stormy, and its light is like the sun and the moon, and its sound is like thunder", which is called a thunder beast. "The thunder beast is the god of thunder", "its name is Kui". In order to control the world, the Yellow Emperor used the skin of the thunder beast as the drum and his bones as the drum vertebrae, "five hundred miles of sound". This thunderous beast was also regarded as the god of thunder in later generations.
Thor's animal multiplicity images or human aggregate images are not random, but animals that meet the characteristics of Thor are selected to describe and interpret the image of Thor in fantasy. For example, there are dragons and snakes, birds, and half-human, half-beast shapes, etc., which not only have the characteristics of wind and rain, but also have spirituality. At the same time, the personified image of Thor also began to appear, and the image of the animal Thor existed in parallel and evolved simultaneously.
In the Han Dynasty, the god of thunder entered the state to worship and build a separate temple, and "called Lei said Lei Gong", which became a common name after Lei personified. "The Oriental Emperor Taihao Qingling Gou Mangqi and Lei Gong, Fengbo Temple, Suixing, Dongsu East Palace in the eastern suburbs Zhao. "Feng Bo, Yu Shi, and Lei Gong are the gods and ......The thunder Jews have a belly roar. The revered god of thunder, the ritual of sacrifice is already comparable to that of Taishe.
The personification of the image of Thor has also been concretely presented, "Draw the shape of an immortal and make wings for it." If Lei Gong is the same as the immortals, it is advisable to regain his wings. That is, the prototype of the image of Lei Zhenzi and Lei Gong that we are now familiar with.
The work of the picture, the shape of Toure, is like the shape of a drum. The drum used to worship the gods is called the thunder drum, and the thunder drum has eight faces, so that the drum can become a heavenly artifact, and it is used to worship the gods and make the gods hear. The thunder drum has become the standard configuration of Lei Gong, and its image is mostly the right hand holding the cone in a drumming state.
The eight drums of Lei Gong in the mural.
It should be noted that the god of thunder is only a single god of Lei Gong at this time, and it mostly appears as a combination with Fengbo, Yushi, and Dianmu. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was listed as an official star, "the god of the camp outside the back, the official star of the twenty-eight houses, the genus of Lei Gong, Xiannong, Fengbo, Yushi, Sihai, Sidu, Famous Mountain, and Dachuan." ”
However, before the Tang Dynasty, the combination of the thunder god and Fengbo, the rain master, and the electric mother only enjoyed a high reputation among the people, and was not conspicuous in the Taoist immortal system, and the relative status was low. In the Tang Dynasty, although the thunder god sacrifice was listed as a regular ritual, it was upgraded from a small rituals to a middle ritual. But it is only a subordinate wind master and a rain master to accompany the sacrifice, and his status is insignificant. Coupled with the fact that folk beliefs entrust functions such as praying for rain to the dragon king, the priesthood status of the god of thunder is not satisfactory.
At this time, in addition to praying for sunshine and rain, the priesthood of the god of thunder also has the ability to give birth to health, cure diseases and drive away plagues. In particular, the official interpretation is linked to temple politics, becoming the god of heavenly punishment, and in the people, it has become a messenger of people's moral restraint, punishing evil and promoting good, and a witness of "thunder and thunder in the sky".
With the social turmoil of the five dynasties at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the beautiful emotions that have been endowed with Taoist immortals since the Wei and Jin dynasties have also changed. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the gods and goddesses who were widely respected by the upper-class nobles, scholars, and doctors walked out of the cave fairyland, bid farewell to the gorgeous, elegant, and graceful demeanor, and began to integrate into the secular society of the Song Dynasty to help the people. In addition, the transformation of the Taoist immortal system by the imperial power of the Northern Song Dynasty changed the main conditions for Taoism to become immortals in the past, and the accumulation of merits became the mainstream when it entered the WTO to cure diseases and save people, and to save Li Shu.
Marshal Ray in the mural.
In order to better implement the concept of helping the poor and helping the people, Taoism came into being in the late Northern Song Dynasty with the thunder god system and the new god organization with Lei Fa as the core. The power of thunder, which represents the execution of heavenly punishment, embodies the characteristics of punishment and blessing for all sentient beings, and has become the basis for the construction of the godhead and identity of the Taoist thunder god. They are not only the masters of the folk wind and rain, but also a powerful tool for the heavens to decide the world, and play an important role in promoting the mandate of heaven, maintaining imperial power, educating the people, and even resisting external troubles in the north.
In the Taoist cultural system, whether it is divination, talismans, prayers, evil beliefs, blessings, or internal and external Danshu, etc., all take Lei Fa as the core. The thunder and wind and rain technique of "carrying thunder in the palm of your hand and calling for wind and rain in the present" occupies an extremely important position in Taoism. And the source of mana that controls the thunder and lightning between heaven and earth is the ability to summon the gods of the thunder department.
In the Taoist immortal system, a complex structure of the thunder god organization began to appear, "the three clear saints, so the ancestor of thunder." The Ten Extremes are supreme, so the origin of thunder is also. Haotian Jade Emperor God, so with the order also, after the emperor of the earth, so the thunder is also controlled. "It is supplemented by the Emperor Jiuchen, the Four Saints of the North Pole and the Thunder Marshals, and many Taoist immortals, including the Star God, are included in the Thunder System.
Nine Heavens Ying Yuan Thunder Puhua Tianzun is the supreme god of the Thunder Department, the third among the Emperor Jiuchen of Shenxiao, and the chief of the Yuxiao Mansion and the five thunders of the General Division. The five thunders are the sky thunder, the landmine, the water mine, the divine thunder, and the social order thunder. When the Lord happens all things, he moves the four times, raises and lowers yin and yang, records good and punishes evil. Under the Five Thunder Divisions, the five thunder gods, such as the Five Thunder Judges, Lei Bo, Lei Shi, Lei Ling Messengers, and Thunder Deacons, were established in imitation of the hierarchical order of the human bureaucracy, with complex names and numerous numbers.
There are identities and identities of the god of thunder, and the identities of the god of thunder are divided into Confucian ** thunder gods, legendary characters thunder gods and so on. For example, the ten Taiyi and the gossip god in the murals of the Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace.
Marshal Ray in the mural.
At the same time, according to the functions of the thunder, mines, three systems of human mines, the thunder of the thunder belongs to the thunder in charge of calling the wind and rain, subduing demons and swallowing ghosts, etc., in charge of the heavenly order to punish;The mines to which the mines belong are to help the needy, picket good and evil, etc., and the crimes committed by the person in charge;Lei Gong, to which the human thunder belongs, is in charge of driving away evil spirits and eliminating harms, collecting plagues and breaking miasma, etc., and is in charge of the crimes committed by the people. For example, the Lei Gong, the rain master and the electric mother in the murals of the Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace are a fixed combination of calling for wind and rain.
Lei Gong held a connected eight drums similar to the string bells of musical instruments, and wore a green robe on his headThe electric mother is a female figure, wearing a flower crown and looking at each other;The rain master is dressed as a Confucian student, wearing a bucket-shaped square scarf and holding a wat in both hands.
The thunder male and the rain master in the mural.
In particular, the composition of the Thunder Divine Generals, the military group headed by the Four Saints of the Arctic has very strict regulations, and under the call and invitation of the Taoist priests, they go back and forth between the gods and men to implement different types of heavenly laws. The most famous of the Lei generals who imitated the bureaucratic system of the Song Dynasty were Deng Bowen, Xin Hanchen, and Zhang Yuanbo, and the Taoist books called it the "Three Thunder Marshals", and most of them were the heads of the general class.
Marshal Deng Bowen, the prototype of Lei Zhenzi in "Romance of the Gods", his image is "red hair and golden crown, three eyes, green face, phoenix, meat wings, left hand holding a diamond, right hand holding a mallet, naked body, beads entangled, hands and feet are five claws, with gold rings, green wind belt, red sundress, two wings under the two heads, the left main wind, the right main rain, the whole body is full of fire, riding the red dragon." ”
Thunder and fierce officer Xin Hanchen, his image: "wearing a bull's ear and a simple head, a red beard and an iron face, silver teeth like a sword, wearing a green cloud fur, soap boots, holding a thunder book in his left hand, a thunder pen in his right hand, and a fire on it."
Zhang Yuanbo, the messenger of Thunder Feijie, "its shape is a phoenix with ringed eyes, red hair, meat horns, red wings, a golden book and heavenly seals, feet like dragon claws, wearing a crown of heaven, wearing a red skirt and a green wind belt, holding the emperor's decree in his left hand, holding the Thunder God soap flag in his right hand, and crossing the well and wood." ”
Four thunder generals with headlights.
These three Lei Shuai are basically not bound by the Dao Law faction, and they are very wildmatched. There are also two "Yang Thunder God Gou Tianjun and Yin Thunder God Bi Tianjun" who also belong to the "Standing Commander".
Yang Thunder God Jun Gou Liuji" Its shape is "golden crown and black face, three eyes, red hair and golden armor, red clothes and shoes, holding a golden hammer drill", "Yin Thunder God Jun Bi Zongyuan" is "wearing red hair, soapy clothes and gold armor, stomping feet, holding an iron slip". These two commanders are bound by the faction of the law, and depend on the content and function of the implementation of the thunder law.
In addition to the above five thunder generals, there is also the "Thunder Killing General Marshal Tao", which belongs to the "four-eyed old man's department" under Tianpeng;and Marshal Zhao Gongming, becoming the god of martial arts or the Ming and Qing dynasties, at this time for the important thunder god general to eliminate evil and help the right;Marshal Wen Qiong, the great god of Kangjin, "green face, fangs, red hair, red eyebrows, golden eyes, purple square scarf, hairpin Qionghua, soap robe, iron armor, and iron slip in hand";Marshal Gao, the great god of the Nine Heavens Prison, this great god has a sword in his right hand and a tray in his left hand, and there is a child in it;Marshal Yin Jiao, the fierce official Tai Sui, "green hair, red clothes, nine skeletons under his head, golden bell in his left hand and golden bull in his right hand";Correcting the spirit official Wang Tianjun, "bare-faced and red-haired, eyes and fiery eyes, left hand thunder bureau and right hand golden whip", later generations are mostly red-bearded ** standing at the door of the Taoist public temple;Marshal Ma Lingyao, who has three eyes, is called "Ma Wangye's three eyes", "three heads and nine eyes, six arms, two hands of fire bells, fire cables, two hands of golden guns, gold bricks, two hands of fighting tricks, fighting swords, green faces, red whiskers, stepping on fire wheels, white snakes around the wheel, and spitting fire." Carrying a fire scoop, a flock of fire crows, and a twelve-member deputy general, he is also the fire emperor of the south. ”
There are also the eight generalissimos of "Deng Xin, Zhang Tao, Pang Liu Goubi" that were popular in the Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as Marshal Yue Feiyue and Marshal Guan Gongguan. If it corresponds to the ten marshals on the west wall of the Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace, Mr. Wang Xun "The marshal or heavenly monarch of the thunder department of each statue needs to be further investigated."
Three god-like thunder generals.
It should be noted that four of the top ten thunder gods on the right side of the heroine god on the west wall of the Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace have circular transparent headlights on their heads, showing their noble status. The other six are headless, several of them are obviously the same powder book when drawn, and the image appearance is similar, if you want to identify the specific name and surname one by one, in the absence of an exact title or literature on the premise, it is really a bit far-fetched.