al and Highly-honoured Head
of the Nine Orbits of the Heavens, Voice of the Thunder, and Regulator
of the Universe. His birthday is celebrated on the twenty-fourth day
of the sixth moon.

The Duke of Thunder

The Spirit of Thunder, for whom Lei Tsu is often mistaken, is
represented as an ugly, black, bat-winged demon, with clawed feet,
monkey's head, and eagle's beak, who holds in one hand a steel
chisel, and in the other a spiritual hammer, with which he beats
numerous drums strung about him, thus producing the terrific noise
of thunder. According to Chinese reasoning it is the sound of these
drums, and not the lightning, which causes death.

A. Gruenwedel, in his _Guide to the Lamaist Collection of Prince
Uchtomsky,_ p. 161, states that the Chino-Japanese God of Thunder,
Lei Kung, has the shape of the Indian divine bird Garuda. Are we to
suppose, then, that the Chinese Lei Kung is of Indian origin? In modern
pictures the God of Thunder is depicted with a cock's head and claws,
carrying in one hand the hammer, in the other the chisel. We learn,
however, from Wang Ch'ung's _Lun Heng_ that in the first century B.C.,
when Buddhism was not yet introduced into China, the 'Thunderer' was
represented as a strong man, not as a bird, with one hand dragging
a cluster of drums, and with the other brandishing a hammer. Thus
Lei Kung existed already in China when the latter received her first
knowledge of India. Yet his modern image may well owe its wings to the
Indian rain-god Vajrapani, who in one form appears with Garuda wings.

Lei Kung P'u-sa, the avatar of Lei Kung (whose existence as the Spirit
of Thunder is denied by at least one Chinese writer), has made various
appearances on the earth. One of these is described below.

Lei Kung in the Tree

A certain Yeh Ch'ien-chao of Hsin Chou, when a youth, used to climb
the mountain Chien-ch'ang Shan for the purpose of cutting firewood and
collecting medicinal herbs. One day when he had taken refuge under
a tree during a rain-storm there was a loud clap of thunder, and he
saw a winged being, with a blue face, large mouth, and bird's claws,
caught in a cleft of the tree. This being addressed Yeh, saying:
"I am Lei Kung. In splitting this tree I got caught in it; if you
will free me I will reward you handsomely." The woodcutter opened the
cleft wider by driving in some stones as wedges, and liberated the
prisoner. "Return to this spot to-morrow," said the latter, "and I
wil