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Chapter 15 Zhenwu 真武, or the Perfected Warrior, was the single most
important Daoist deity in the Great Ming Empire. From the
Enshrining the Dark reign of the Yongle 永樂 emperor (r. 1403–24), who claimed
to have received help from Zhenwu in the civil war that
Troops: The Printing of brought him to the throne, the deity was regarded as the
protector of the Ming empire and the divine source of
Daoist Books in the Early military power for Ming rulers. Honoured with the exalted
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title ‘Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven’ (Xuantian
Ming Dynasty shangdi 玄天上帝) or the Dark Emperor, Zhenwu was the
only deity enshrined in one of the main halls situated along
the central axis of the Forbidden City when Beijing was
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inaugurated as the capital in 1421. Known as Qin’an dian
Maggie Chui Ki Wan 欽安殿 (Hall of Imperial Peace), this building was solely
dedicated to Zhenwu when it was first established and has
remained so down to the present day. The extant
architecture of the Hall of Imperial Peace preserves many
imperial religious artefacts, and its furnishings have been
the subject of research. What remains little known are five
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large paintings on paper adhering to the northern interior
wall of the building. Dated to the Ming dynasty, the central
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painting depicts the image of ‘Five Dragons holding the
Saintly (Zhenwu)’ (Wulong peng sheng 五龍捧聖). The
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remaining four panels, probably of a later date, portray a total
of 12 martial figures, each holding weapons (Pl. 15.1a–b;
Table 1). These figures are thunder marshals – active ritual
agents responsible for subjugating demonic entities in a type
of Daoist ritual called thunder rites (leifa 雷法). At either end
of the eastern and western walls are images of the Inspectors
of Years (Zhinian 值年), Months (Zhiyue 值月), Days (Zhiri 值日)
and Hours (Zhishi 值時). The Furnishing Archives of the Qing
Palace (Qinggong chenshe dang’an 清宮陳設檔案), compiled in
1756, 1840 and 1910, leaves no record of these painted figures
except those in the central panel. This chapter does not
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intend to investigate this particular set of paintings, but takes
it as a point of departure for understanding the relationship
between Zhenwu and thunder marshals in the Ming court
during the first half of the 15th century. In particular, it
considers the process whereby thunder marshals were
accepted by the imperial court as the troops of Zhenwu, and
the role of Daoist books in contributing to this process of
religious change.
Compared with Zhenwu, thunder marshals have
received far less scholarly attention and were seldom
recognised as protectors of the Ming dynasty. Daoist studies
in recent decades, however, have revealed the significant
development of thunder traditions and liturgies in Chinese
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society from the Song dynasty (960–1279) onwards. Mark
Meulenbeld has shown that thunder rituals began as a kind
of martial ritual developed by Daoists in the 12th century to
establish judicial control over threats posed by illicit spirits
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that inhabited the local soil. Drawing on the deified power
of thunder, thunder rituals aim to search, interrogate and
punish noxious spirits that cause unrest and calamities.
Since at least the early 13th century, the major celestial
organ responsible for disciplining deviant spirits within the
Daoist jurisdiction has been the Thunder Inspectorate
(Leiting dusi 雷霆都司), which reports directly to Zhenwu as
the Dark Emperor. The Inspectorate has the power to
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annihilate unruly spirits, or compel them to submit to the
celestial jurisdiction headed by the Jade Emperor and

134 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450