The Cult of Marshal Wen in Late Imperial Chekiang

The Cult of Marshal Wen in Late Imperial Chekiang

religious sect, main deities, their scriptures

p.	*sect*	*its main deity*	*its scripture*
33	S^en-hsiao (‘Divine Empyrean’)	C^>an-s^en Ta-ti (‘Long-Life Grand-Sovereign’)	*p. 34 Kao-s^an S^en-hsia Tsun-s^ih S^ou-c^in S^ih* (= TT 1005 = CT 1285)**
81	" "	marshal Wen	*p. 80 Ti-c^>i S^an-c^ian Wen T>ai Pao C^uan* (= TT 557 = CT 780) ‘Earth-Spirits’ Supreme-Commander Wen the Grand Guardian’s Biography’**
86	San-t>an (‘3 Altars’)	K>an Wan (king K>an)	*p. 87 C^ih-s^un C^en-c^ian C^ih* (1332 Chr.E.) 8:2b-3a**

spirit-media

p.	*medium*		*source*
83, n. 15	*__-wu (__ spirit-mediums)*	*are designated __*	Sun-c^ian Fu C^ih 5:13a
	nan (‘male’)	t>ai-pao
	nu: (‘female’)	s^ih-nian
117	"Mediums also attracted supporters by interpreting dreams and performing cures in the names of the deities possessing them."

p. 55 pentads of deities

*Wu-__*	*5 __*
-hsien	Manifestations
-t>un	Interlocutors
-s^en	Saints
-ti (their title in Foochow)	Emperors (= Commissioners)

p. 52 names of the 5 divine Commissioners of Epidemics, described in the Tao-yao Lin-c^>i S^en-kuei P>in-c^in (= TT 875 = CT 1201) 22a-b, and in the Nu:-c^>in Kuei-lu: (= TT 563 = CT 790) 6:2

*deity*	*season*
C^an Yu:an-po	spring
Liu Yu:an-ta	summer
C^ao Kun-min	autumn
C^un S^ih-kuei	winter
S^ih Wen-yeh	--

p. 53 names of the 12 divine Year-controlling Plague-Kings, described in the Fa-hai Yi-c^u (= TT 825-833 = CT 1166) 44:5-8

*deity*	*year of __*
C^an C^>u:an	tzu (‘rat’)
Yu: Wen	c^>ou (‘ox’)
Hou Piao	yin (‘tigre’)
Ken T>un	mao (‘hare’)
Wu Yu	c^>en (‘dragon’)
Ho C^un	ssu (‘snake’)
Hsu:eh Wen	wu (‘horse’)
Fen Li	wei (‘sheep’)
C^ao Yu:	s^en (‘monkey’)
T>an C^>i	yu (‘chicken’)
Lu Te	hsu: (‘hound’)
Lo S^ih-yu	hai (‘swine’)

p. 56 these 12 are Wu-nien c^>ien-sui ‘Lords [Who Visit] Every Five Years’

other categories of deities

p.	*deities*	*source*
29	worshipped in Ou-Yueh (the southeast coast of Chekiang) :- "Some are called "generals", with appearances firm and heroic, dark and resolute. Some are	*C^ian C^u:n : C^>i-hai So-t>an C^i* 12:1a**
30	called "masters" (mou-lang ...); they look warm and kind, fair and youthful. Those who look like old women and have a dignified appearance are called "matrons" (lao ...) while those of beautiful appearance are called "maidens" (ku ...)."	*C^ian C^u:n : C^>i-hai So-t>an C^i* 12:1a**

epidemic-deities

p.	*deity*
20	Hun mai (1123-1201 Chr.E.) : I-c^ien C^ih, p. 89 -- In "the city of Hu-chou a woman in white wearing black shoes ... hired a boat ..., and when people ... [... take a closer look at their passenger] they saw thousands of foot-long black snakes intertwined in a tangle. {cf. [Aztec] goddess Cihua-coatl ‘skirt-[of-]snakes’} ... She laughed and said : "... I have come to spread the snake plague (hsing she-wen ...). ...""
41	*"rivers full ... monsters like the Yu: ..., which infected unsuspecting travellers by shooting them with poisonous pellets." (Schafer : The Vermillion Bird, pp. 130-4)*

pp. 58, 79 plague-quelling deities

p.	*deity*	*source*
58	"the Perfected Man Sa (Sa Chen-jen ...) ... expelled a marauding troupe of plague demons" : "in a flash of thunder magic, he eradicates all the plague demons".	*Ten C^ih-mo : Wu-tai Sa C^en-jen Te-tao C^ou-tsao C^i. 1603 Chr.E. 10^th chapter*
79	"the Tantric Buddhist martial deity and demon-queller named At.avaka or At.avika ... shares a number of iconographical features in common with Marshal Wen, inasmuch as both of them have green faces, red hair, and long ferocious teeth. Furthermore, one of At.avaka’s favorite weapons is a wheel of fire, also a common feature of Wen’s iconography."	T 1237; T 1238; T 1239

pp. 67-68 boat-festival to expel plague-daimones

p.	*festival*	*source*
67	On the 5^th day of the 5^th lunar-month, "the people of Li-chou ... (in Hunan) organize the Five Plague [Gods] Association (Wu-wen she ...). ... They ... make a huge boat ... . The people of the prefecture all have their names, birthdates, and the nature of the rite to be performed written on a petition (chuang ...). This is placed on the boat, which is then floated away on the Li River. This custom is called "Sending Away Epidemics" (sung-wen ...)."	*C^uan C^>o : C^i-lei Pien. 1133 Chr.E.*
68	"deities expelled on a plague boat ... included the Five Commissioners of Epidemics and the Twelve Kings of Epidemics."	("Ming woodblock print from Hunan")

pp. 82-88 marshal Wen’s biography (= TT 557 = CT 780) compiled in 1274 Chr.E.by Huan Kun-c^in, who had formerly been a C^>an (Zen) disciple

p.	*biography*
82	"Marshal Wen was a man named Wen Ch>iung who was born in Wenchow’s P>ing-yang County ... . ... his mother became pregnant with him after dreaming of a huge sunwheel (jih-lun ...), approaching from the south and making a thunderous sound. ... Kuo had a dream in which Wen transformed himself into a huge one-horned black snake ... . Wen became aware of this, and subsequently ... made his living as a butcher ... . ["the Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heavens (Hsu:an-t>ien shang-ti ...) and the Patriarch of the Clear Stream (Ch>ing-shui tsu-shih ...) ..., both were butchers" (fn. 12).]
83	... a yellow-robed Taoist with dishevelled hair appeared before him, telling him he was destined to serve the Emperor of the Eastern Peak in the afterlife and that he should set up a statue of himself inside the temple. After having been told by one of the temple’s spirit mediums that he would enter the Emperor’s service upon the transformation of his statue, ... some of the apprentices in the temple painted his statue green and stuck tusks in its mouth. When ... Wen came before the statue ... (at the Hour of the tiger = 3-5 a.m.), he was transformed into a deity on the spot, as were the ... apprentices ... . Wen’s body did not decay after his death (a sigh that he had attained immortality), prompting the imperial court to enfeoff him as the Grand General of Manifest Virtue (Hsien-te ta chiang-chu:n ...). ... A year later, on the anniversary of his death, Wen received a post in the court of the Emperor of the Eastern Peak at the recommendation of master Ping-ling, his responsibilities being to administer the registers of life and death."
84	*"in provinces such as Szechwan, Fukien, Chekiang, and Anhwei ... Wen ... as a "ferocious general" (meng-chiang* ...) ... frequently overcomes demons who spread epidemics".**
87	"One day the Northern Emperor [Pei-ti ...] transmitted one thousand pills of plague poison (wen-yao ...) to the Emperor of the Eastern Peak, ordering him to deploy as commissioner to spread the plague ... . Upon receiving this edict, the Emperor of the Eastern Peak summoned Wen to spread the plague ... . ... Thereupon he ... faced north ..., and swallowed all the pills. {cf. "Kes`in (Muni) drinking vis.a (... ‘poison’) with Rudra" according to the R.c Veda – S`iva drank the halahala-poison according to BAP Pbh Adh 25, VP Adh 54, MBh 1:18:42 (CR-S`, p. 34)}
88	... because the Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heavens prized Wen ... he submitted a memorial pleading for forgiveness of Wen ... . This was approved by the Northern Emperor".

BAP = Brahma-an.d.a Puran.a

VP = Vayu Puran.a

MBH = Maha-bharata

CR-S` = Mahadev Chakravarti : The Concept of Rudra-S`iva through the Ages.

other hagiographies

p.	*hagiography*	*source*
84	"During his travels in Fukien, a Taoist named Wu Tao-hsien ... enountered a deity who used a form of sorcery known as "Gold Cocoon Ku Poison" (chin-chien ku-tu ...) to control people by capturing their souls ... . ... In order to destroy this ..., Wu utilized the ... ritual technique of catoptromancy (summoning a deity by use of a mirror) to call on Marshal Wen".	Ti-c^>i S^an-c^ian Wen T>ai Pao C^uan (TT 557 = CT 780) 6b-10b
85	"Wu used similar magic to destroy a Fukien temple to the Five Fierce Administrators of Epidemics (Wu-ch>ang wen-ssu ...)."

p. 84, fn. 19 "See Feng Han-yi and John K. Shryock, "The Black Magic in China Known as Ku," Journal of the American Oriental Society 55 (1935):1-30".

pp. 88-90 marshal Wen, according to the stele inscription dated 1355 Chr.E. in Wenchow

p.	*inscription*
89	"He also dies standing up ... and ... rid Szechwan of various "noxious vapours" (li-ch>i ...)." Wen’s title is "The Mighty and Fierce Loyal and Pacifying King of Orthodox Blessings and Manifest Response (Cheng-fu hsien-ying wei-lieh chung-ching wang ...). "Wen was born on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month (the date of Dragon Boat Festival) ... .
90	The inscription supplies the names of both his parents – father = Wen Min-wang ...; mother = Chang Tao-hui ... . ... Tao-hui ... dreamed of a huge deity descending from heaven carrying a fiery pearl in his hand ... . He revealed to her that he was "the essence of the great fire" (ta-huo chih ching ...), and that he would enter her womb in order to be reborn. ... At this time, she became pregnant. When Wen was born, twenty-four seals written in a special "thunder script" (chen-chuan ...) were discovered under his left armpit, with half that total under his right one. At age seven, Wen could perform the Steps of Yu: (Yu:-pu ...), while by age fourteen he had already mastered the Five Confucian Classics, ... at age twenty-six ..., he formulated 36 charms and transmitted them to others, saying : "With these you can master all the spirits in the world." When he had finished this task, he suddenly too the form of a yaksha (yeh-ch>a ...), and died standing erect."
	*Wen "wore a red robe ... and carried a jewelled sword. Riding a swift steed, he would assist Taoist priests performing rituals of interrogation and summoning (ho-chao* ...)."**

pp. 93-95 marshal Wen, according to the San-c^iao Yu:an-liu Sou-s^en Ta-c^>u:an (‘3-Religions’ Origins of Deities Complete-Compendium’)

p.	*biography*
93	"His family’s residence is given as Whitestone Bridge (Pai-shih ch>iao ...) ["The 1915 edition of the PYHC mentions the earliest location of Wen’s temple as having been at Whitestone Well (Pai-shih ching ...). See 45:12b." (fn. 42)] in P>ing-yang, and *his mother made offerings to Lord Millet (Hou-t>u ...) instead of the Emperor on High. She became pregnant with Wen after a visitation by one of the six chia* ... spirits ... . ...**
94	The number of seals under Wen’s armpits has been increased to 40 (left = 24; right = 16) ... . ... Wen ... suddenly spotted a dragon which dropped a pearl at his feet. He picked up the pearl and swallowed it, while the dragon danced and pranced in the sky, obscuring the sun with its body. Wen thereupon grasped the dragon and bent it into a circle, wrapping it around his arm. At the same time, his face turned green and his hair red. His body became blue in color ... . ... he was awarded a title by the Jade Emperor (The General of Manifest Martial Prowess who Aids the Spirits – Chief Military Administrator of Infantry and Cavalry). The Jade Emperor also presented him with a jade flower (ch>iung-hua ...; said to confer immortality), a jade circlet, and a gold tablet inscribed with the words "The Carefree Man of the Empyrean" (wu-chu: hsiao-han ...) in seal script. He ... was the only marshal permitted an audience before the Jade Emperor."
95	*"The Complete Compendium* also gives ... Marshal Wen’s iconography, portraying his as grasping a steel baton (chien ...) in his right hand and a jade circlet in his left".**

p. 95 The Complete Compendium is an "account of Wen’s cult in Kiangsu."

pp. 97-99 marshal Wen, according to the 19^th chapter of the Journey to the North (Pei-yu C^i)

p.	*journey*
97	"the Jade Emperor summoned one of the Five Commissioners of Epidemics, Chung Shih-kuei (in charge of epidemics during
98	the winter months), and ordered him to use plague poison ... . Chung took his poison down to the Earth God of the village, and instructed him to scatter it in every well the next morning during the Hour of the Snake (9-11 a.m.). ... But there is one man, named hsiao Ch>iung ..., who makes a living selling beancurd. ... The Earth God stood behind him and said : "... Tomorrow at the Hour of the Snake all the water will be poisoned ... . ..." ... Hsiao Ch>iung went to the village well the very next day. Before long, he spotted an old man approaching the well with a packet of poison in his hand. ... Hsiao ... snatched the packet away, and swallowed the lot. ... The Earth God ... promptly took Hsiao’s ... souls (san-hun ch>i-p>o ...) ... to the Jade Emperor. ... the Jade Emperor ordered Hsiao to be enfeoffed
99	as the Mighty Spirit and marshal of epidemics (Wei-ling Wen yu:an-shuai ...; here the character wen ... means epidemics), and bestowed on him a hat, a jade flower, and a golden tablet inscribed with the characters "The Carefree Man of the Divine Empyrean"".

p. 99, fn. 50 "Seaman’s translation of this story may be found in Journey to the North, pp. 175-177."

p. 99, fn. 51 "In Taiwan, spirit mediums may be largely responsible for creating 132 different surnames of the Lords (wang-yeh) who populate that island’s temples."

pp. 209-212 festival of marshal Wen in Hangchow, according to the Han-su Yi-fen (The Lost Customs of Hangchow) by Fan Tsu-s^u

p.	*festival*
209	"Wen’s birthday is celebrated on the eighteenth day of the fifth lunar month ... . ... The well (Wen jumped into) lies ... at a temple named the Temple of Manifest Virtue. ... Other temples [in Hangchow] include" those of :-
210	*__ Yu:an-s^uai (marshal __)*	*at __*
	Ts>an	Censor-in-Chief’s
	T>un	Pure River city-ward
	Kan	Sweet Springs
	P>i	leather-market (p>-s^ih)
211	"a pair of placards reading "The Carefree Man of the Empyrean ...""
212	martial dancers include a pair of men, "one of whom wields a Wolf-tooth’s Pole (Lang-ya pang ...), and the other the Heaven and Earth Rings (Ch>ien-k>un ch>u:an ...). These weapons are over ten feet long ...; both are made of tin.
	"Wen is accompanied by an adjutant having the surname Yang, who is also known as the Cloud Immortal Commissioner (Yu:n-hsien shih-che ...). ... His face is white and ... His ... banners and ... robes are also white. ... His assistants also carry ... the Heaven-painted Spear (T>ien-hua chi ...; a two-pronged weapon) ... . Yang’s palanquin proceeds in front of Wen’s."

Paul R. Katz : Demon Hordes and Burning Boats. State U of NY Pr, 1995.