Yu Shi
Chinese god of rain
Yu Shi (traditional Chinese: 雨師; simplified Chinese: 雨师; pinyin: Yǔ Shī; lit. 'Master of Rain') is a Chinese spirit or god of rain, also known as or conflated with Red Pine (Chisong, 赤松, or Chisongzi, Master Red Pine), among other names. Translations of Yu Shi into English include "Lord of Rain" and "Leader of Rain".
01As Yu Shi
Yu Shi in Chinese folk religion and Chinese mythology generally appears in association with Feng Bo, the god of the wind; and Lei Gong, the god of thunder. There are both current religious activities and historical mythical stories associated with Yu Shi. Various references in poetry and popular culture also exist, for example in the Chu ci poems "Tian Wen" and "Yuan You". His consort is Yu Shiqie (雨师妾; 雨師妾; 'Rain Master Concubine').

02As Chisongzi
According to certain versions, a certain Chisongzi (Chinese: 赤松子; pinyin: Chì-Sōng-Zǐ; Wade-Giles: Ch'ih-sung-tzu; lit. 'Master Red Pine') during the reign of Shennong ended a severe drought by sprinkling water from an earthen bowl and was rewarded by being made the Lord of Rain with a dwelling on the mythical Kunlun Mountain.
In another form, Chi Songzi is depicted as a chrysalis of a silkworm who has a concubine whose face is black, holds a snake in each hand, and has a red snake coming out of one ear and a green snake coming out of the other.
03Historical myths
Yu Shi (together with Feng Bo) is said to have aided Chiyou in his struggle against the Yellow Emperor during the Battle of Zhuolu, but was defeated by the intervention of the drought goddess Ba.
04Current
Yu Shi is worshiped by Han Chinese, Maonan people, and other people in modern southwest China as an important rain god with ritual prayer ceremonies performed to entreat for rain.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Yu Shi”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- 海外東經-雨師妾國.svg by 胡文焕 (1596-1650), Public domain
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