Yu Shi () is a Chinese spirit or god of rain, also known as or conflated with Red Pine (Chisong, , or Chisongzi – Master Red Pine), among other names. Translations of ''Yu Shi'' into English include "Lord of Rain" and "Leader of Rain".
As Yu Shi
Yu Shi in
Chinese folk religion
Chinese folk religion comprises a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. This includes the veneration of ''Shen (Chinese folk religion), shen'' ('spirits') and Chinese ancestor worship, ances ...
and
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural tradit ...
generally appears in association with
Feng Bo, the god of the wind; and
Lei Gong, the god of thunder. There are both current religious activities and historical mythical stories associated with Yu Shi. Various references in poetry and popular culture also exist, for example in the ''
Chu ci
The ''Chu Ci'', variously translated as ''Verses of Chu'', ''Songs of Chu'', or ''Elegies of Chu'', is an ancient anthology of Chinese poetry including works traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States period, ...
'' poems "
Tian Wen"
[ and " Yuan You". His consort is Yu Shiqie ().
]
As Chisongzi
According to certain versions, a certain Chisongzi () during the reign of Shennong
Shennong ( zh, c=神農, p=Shénnóng), variously translated as "Divine Farmer" or "Divine Husbandman", born , was a mythological Chinese ruler known as the first Yan Emperor who has become a deity in Chinese and Vietnamese folk religion. H ...
ended a severe drought by sprinkling water from an earthen bowl and was rewarded by being made the Lord of Rain with a dwelling on the mythical Kunlun Mountain.
In another form, Chi Songzi is depicted as a chrysalis of a silkworm who has a concubine whose face is black, holds a snake in each hand, and has a red snake coming out of one ear and a green snake coming out of the other.
Historical myths
Yu Shi (together with Feng Bo) is said to have aided Chiyou
Chiyou () is a mythological being that appears in Chinese mythology. He was a tribal leader of the Nine Li tribe () in ancient China. He is best known as a king who lost against the future Yellow Emperor during the Three Sovereigns and Five Empero ...
in his struggle against the Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch, or Huangdi ( zh, t=黃帝, s=黄帝, first=t) in Chinese, is a mythical Chinese sovereign and culture hero included among the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. He is revered as ...
during the Battle of Zhuolu
The Battle of Zhuolu () was the second battle in the history of China as recorded in the '' Records of the Grand Historian'', fought between the Yanhuang tribes led by the legendary Yellow Emperor and the Jiuli tribes led by Chiyou. The battl ...
, but was defeated by the intervention of the drought goddess Ba.
Current
Yu Shi is worshiped by Han Chinese
The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...
, Maonan people
The Maonan people (; Maonan: ''Anan'', literally "local people") are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. There are a total of 101,192 Maonan as of 2010, mostly living in northern Guangxi and so ...
, and other people in modern southwest China as an important rain god with ritual prayer ceremonies performed to entreat for rain.[Yang, 243]
See also
*Meng Haoran
Meng Haoran (; 689/691–740) was a Chinese poet and a major literary figure of the Tang dynasty. He was somewhat an older contemporary of Wang Wei, Li Bai and Du Fu. Despite his brief pursuit of an official career, Meng Haoran spent most of hi ...
* Shangyang (rainbird), a mythical one-legged bird
*Wong Tai Sin
Wong Tai Sin or Huang Daxian () is a Chinese Taoist deity popular in Jinhua, Zhejiang, and Hong Kong with the power of healing. The name, meaning the "Great Immortal Wong (Huang)", is the divine form of Huang Chuping or Wong Cho Ping (; c. 328 ...
*Yinglong
Yinglong () is a winged dragon and rain deity in ancient Chinese mythology.
Name
This legendary creature's name combines ''yìng'' "respond; correspond; answer; reply; agree; comply; consent; promise; adapt; apply" and ''lóng'' "Chinese drag ...
Notes
References
References
*Christie, Anthony (1968). ''Chinese Mythology''. Feltham: Hamlyn Publishing. .
*Yang, Lihui, ''et al.'' (2005). ''Handbook of Chinese Mythology''. New York: Oxford University Press.
{{Authority control
Chinese gods
Rain deities