Mastodawn

Leigong

Leigong, or Leishen, is the god of thunder in Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology, & Taoism.

In Taoism, when ordered by Heaven, Leigong punishes both earthly morals guilty of secret crimes & evil spirits who have used their knowledge of Taoism to harm human beings. He carries a drum & mallet to produce thunder, & a chisel to punish evildoers. Leigong rides a chariot driven by a young boy named A Xiang.

Since Leigong’s power is thunder. He has assistants capable of producing other types of heavenly phenomena. Leigong’s wife, Dianmu, is the goddess of lightning across the sky. Other companions are Yun Tong (“Cloud Youth”), who whips up clouds, & Yu Shi (“Rain Master”), who causes downpours by dipping his sword into a pot. Roaring winds rush forth from a type of goatskin bag manipulated by Fengbo (“Earl of Wind”), who was later transformed into Fang Po Po (“Lady Wind”).

Leigong is pictured as a fearsome creature with claws, bat wings, & a blue face with a bird’s beak who wears only a loincloth. Temples dedicated to him are rare. Some people honor him, in the hope he’ll take revenge on their personal enemies.

Leigong began life as a mortal. While on Earth, he encounters a peach tree that originated from Heaven during the struggle between the Fox Demon & 1 of the Celestial Warriors. When Leigong took a bite out of 1 of its fruits, he was transformed into his godly form. Soon he received a mace & a hammer that could create thunder.

The Jade Emperor instructed Leigong to kill only bad people. But the sky got really dark whenever he struck people. Sometimes he killed the wrong people, since he couldn’t find his target. Dianmu, his wife, was 1 such victim. (We’re about to get into some dark territory here.)

Dianmu lived with her mom in the countryside, where they worked as rice farmers. One day, she dumped a husk of rice into a river because it was too hard for her mom to eat. When Leigong witnessed this, he got enraged. He thought that she was wasting food. So when he saw her dumping the husk out, he killed with 1 of his lightning bolts.

The Jade Emperor found out what Leigong had done & was furious that he killed the wrong person again. So the Jade Emperor revived Dianmu & made her into a goddess. He also told Diamnu to marry Leigong as punishment for her murder. He killed her, so it was his fault, & responsibility to take care of her. (So yes, you read that right. She had to marry her murderer.)

Dianmu’s job is to work with Leigong. She uses mirrors to shine light onto Earth so Leigong can see who he hits & makes sure they can’t innocent. This is why lightning comes before thunder.

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