eapon, Huo-lung Piao, and hit him on the leg. Just at that moment
Chiang Tzu-ya arrived with his goblin-dispelling whip and felled him
with a blow. He was able, however, to rise again, and took to flight.

The Plague-disseminating Umbrellas

Resolved to avenge his defeat, he joined General Hsue Fang, who was
commanding an army corps at Ch'uan-yuen Kuan. Round the mountain he
organized a system of entrenchments and of infection against their
enemies. Yang Chien released his celestial hound, which bit Lue Yueeh
on the crown of his head. Then Yang Jen, armed with his magic fan,
pursued Lue Yueeh and compelled him to retreat to his fortress. Lue
Yueeh mounted the central raised part of the embattled wall and opened
all his plague-disseminating umbrellas, with the object of infecting
Yang Jen, but the latter, simply by waving his fan, reduced all the
umbrellas to dust, and also burned the fort, and with it Lue Yueeh.

Similar wonderful achievements are related in short notices in the
_Feng shen yen i_ of the four other officers of the Ministry.

Li P'ing, the sixth officer of the Ministry, met a like fate to that
of Lue Yueeh after having failed to induce the latter to abandon the
cause of the Shang dynasty for that of Chou.

The Five Graduates

In Pere Henri Dore's _Recherches sur les Superstitions en Chine_
is given an interesting legend concerning five other gods of
epidemics. These gods are called the Wu Yueeh, 'Five Mountains,'
and are worshipped in the temple San-i Ko at Ju-kao, especially in
outbreaks of contagious diseases and fevers. A sufferer goes to the
temple and promises offerings to the gods in the event of recovery. The
customary offering is five small wheaten loaves, called _shao ping_,
and a pound of meat.

The Wu Yueeh are stellar devils whom Yue Huang sent to be reincarnated on
earth. Their names were T'ien Po-hsueeh, Tung Hung-wen, Ts'ai Wen-chue,
Chao Wu-chen, and Huang Ying-tu, and they were reincarnated at
Nan-ch'ang Fu, Chien-ch'ang Fu, Yen-men Kuan, Yang Chou, and Nanking
respectively. They were all noted for their brilliant intellects,
and were clever scholars who passed their graduate's examination
with success.

When Li Shih-min ascended the throne, in A.D. 627, he called together
all the _literati_ of the Empire to take the Doctor's Examination
in the capital. Our five graduates started for the metropolis, but,
losing their way, were robbed by brigands, and had to beg help in
order