hi was a spiritual hen-pheasant
(some say a spiritual vixen). She transformed herself into smoke and
disappeared. To reward Yin Chiao for his filial piety and bravery
in fighting the demons, Yue Ti canonized him with the title T'ai Sui
Marshal Yin.

According to another version of the legend, Yin Chiao fought on
the side of the Yin against Wu Wang, and after many adventures was
caught by Jan Teng between two mountains, which he pressed together,
leaving only Yin Chiao's head exposed above the summits. The general
Wu Chi promptly cut it off with a spade. Chiang Tz[u)]-ya subsequently
canonized Yin Chiao.

Worship of T'ai Sui

The worship of T'ai Sui seems to have first taken place in the reign
of Shen Tsung (A.D. 1068-86) of the Sung dynasty, and was continued
during the remainder of the Monarchical Period. The object of the
worship is to avert calamities, T'ai Sui being a dangerous spirit
who can do injury to palaces and cottages, to people in their houses
as well as to travellers on the roads. But he has this peculiarity,
that he injures persons and things not in the district in which he
himself is, but in those districts which adjoin it. Thus, if some
constructive work is undertaken in a region where T'ai Sui happens
to be, the inhabitants of the neighbouring districts take precautions
against his evil influence. This they generally do by hanging out the
appropriate talisman. In order to ascertain in what region T'ai Sui
is at any particular time, an elaborate diagram is consulted. This
consists of a representation of the twelve terrestrial branches
or stems, _ti chih_> and the ten celestial trunks, _t'ien kan,_
indicating the cardinal points and the intermediate points, north-east,
north-west, south-east, and south-west. The four cardinal points are
further verified with the aid of the Five Elements, the Five Colours,
and the Eight Trigrams. By using this device, it is possible to find
the geographical position of T'ai Sui during the current year, the
position of threatened districts, and the methods to be employed to
provide against danger.

CHAPTER VI

Myths of Thunder, Lightning, Wind, and Rain

The Ministry of Thunder and Storms

As already noted, affairs in the Otherworld are managed by official
Bureaux or Ministries very similar to those on earth. The _Feng shen
yen i_ mentions several of these, and gives full details of their
constitution. The first is the Ministry of Thunder and Storms. This