Page 669 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

LEIFA 627

leifa

Thunder Rites; Thunder Rituals

This influential class of exorcistic ritual became part of many of the new Taoist
ritual systems from the twelfth century onward. At its core is a repertoire of
administrative, judicial, and meditative methods that it makes available to
adepts interested in harnessing the vitalizing and punitive powers of thunder
on a more regular and consistent basis in their ritual practice. Incorporating
local gods and practices into a grand scheme laid out in liturgies and scriptures,
and often including compounding the "inner elixir" (*neidan), the Thunder
Rites were part of the transformation of Taoism that took place between
the tenth and fourteenth centuries. Most of the extant textual material in the
Ming Taoist Canon that deals with absorbing and deploying the powers of
thunder derives from various twelfth- to fifteenth-century traditions in south
China. Priests who became part of these traditions acted their parts in this
bureaucracy, assuming the bearing of a mandarin when dealing with higher
deities and their fellows in the heavenly bureaus, and becoming a fierce judge
when dealing with uncooperative demons.
The sources and forms of this class of ritual remain obscure. Studies to date
suggest multiple origins with roots in cults to local thunder deities (*Leishen).
By the tenth century they seem to have begun coalescing into traditions
centering on various revealed methods meant to help practitioners deal with
groups of thunder deities. One of the earliest and most enduring varieties
of Thunder Rites dealt with the Five Thunder gods (wulei li~) who were
linked to the Jiangxi *Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) order (see *Daofa huiyuan,
j. 56-64, 101-3, and 188-97). Liu Yongguang fil Jfl Jt (II34-1206) also relied on
the rites of the Five Thunder deities. Another later variety was known as the
Thunderclap (leiting ~~) legacy. The *Shenxiao (Divine Empyrean) master
*Wang Wenqing (1093-II53) played a major role in establishing and propagat-
ing this class of ritual within the new Taoist liturgies. His efforts made it
popular among many Shenxiao traditions in twelfth- and thirteenth-century
Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, andJiangxi. Those who venerated *Chen Nan,
*Bai Yuchan, and their disciples, meanwhile, also made Thunder Ritual central
to their practice. Thunder Ritual was not only formative in the rise of the
*Qingwei (Pure Tenuity) legacy and its own variety of thunder rituals, but
also appears in the *Jingming dao (Pure and Bright Way) of the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries. Later varieties of the *Lingbao dafa (Great Rites of the
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