RAS-1961 — Page 76

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch

ORASHKB and author

72

Vol. 1 (1961)

ISSN 1991-7295

hua-pên (story-tellers* prompt-book), we can hardly know their origin or the invaluable part played by the author of the Fêng-shên in transforming them into interesting characters.

Li Ching, bearing the same name as the historical hero in the early part of the T'ang dynasty, is no doubt derived from the Buddhist heavenly king Vaisravana.

We know from many Buddhist texts the legends of the Four Heavenly Kings. According to the Abhiniskramana-sutra (0* 行集經)

#) translated by Jnanagupta in 587, they are,

MS Dhritarashtra or Chih-kuo T'ien-wang in the East, who leads the gandharvas N, musicians in heaven; Virudhaka WX or Tseng-chang T'ien-wang E in the South, who is the sovereign of the kumbhandas or deformed demons; Virupaksha YX or Kuang-mu T'ien-wang X¤ in the West, who is king of the nagas E who dwell in their palaces at the bottom of the lakes; and Vaisravana or To-wên T'ien-wang HE in the North, who is head of the yakshas

X, strong and brave genii,

The author of the Fêng-shên Yen-i adapted these four heavenly kings in his novel (Chs.31-40) and called them "the four generals of the Mo family" (R). He made them brothers and commanders who took charge of the Chia-mêng Pass under the command of the Premier Wên T'ai-shih H. Their individual names are Mo Li-ch'ing, Mo Li-hung, Mo Li-hai # and Mo Li-shou A. But in Ch.31 when they are summoned by Premier Wên T'ai-shih, the author writes, "The four heavenly kings (ssu l'ien-wang XE) strode forward,” thus unconsciously revealing their origin, and afterwards in Ch.99 they are given the titles of Tsêng-chang T'ien-wang (Mo Li-ch'ing), Kuang-mu T'ien-wang (Mo Li-hung), To-wên T’ien-wang (Mo Li- hai) and Ch'ih-kuo T'ien-wang (Mo Li-shou) respectively. In Ch.40 the author describes the weapons of these four brothers through the mouth of General Huang Fei-hu

as follows:

**

The eldest brother Mo Li-ch'ing is twenty-four feet in height, with a face resembling that of a crab, and his beard is like copperwires. He fights always on foot with a long spear, and he has a sword which is called "Blue Cloud", on which there are charms and a seal saying "earth, water, fire and wind. The wind caused by the brandishing of this magic sword is a black wind in which hundreds of thousands of spears would run and cut off the limbs of men. Following the wind is a blaze in which flaming golden serpents cover the atmosphere with black smoke. The weapon of Mo Li-hung is an umbrella

* chúan 16, Shê-kung Ch'w-chia P'in ( ELKH ).