The Chosŏn Iconography of Thunder God in the Illustrated Guide to Moral Deeds

Abstract

This article explores the origin of the Thunder God image and its iconographical features that appear in the <i>Exempla of Filial Sons in the Illustrated Guide to the Three Bonds</i> (Filial Sons, hereafter), published during the reign of King Sejong (r. 1418-1450), and <i>An Illustrated Guide to the Five Moral Imperatives</i> (<i>Five Moral Imperatives</i>, hereafter), compiled during the reign of King Chǒngjo (r. 1776-1800). As attested by the textual descriptions in the <i>Shanhai jing</i> and the <i>Lunheng</i> and the visual depictions in the pictorial stones from the Wu Family Shrine and the mural paintings in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, the Chinese iconography of Thunder God primarily takes on the form of a muscular man, sometimes added with beast-headed or winged variations, striking a series of drum connected together. Drawing on Buddhist paintings of the Koryŏ, the <i>Filial Sons</i> of the Chosŏn shows Thunder God as a beast-headed man with four sticks held in both hands and feet surrounded by a series of drum attached together. The Thunder God image in the <i>Five Moral Imperatives</i> continues to follow the iconographical convention adopted in the <i>Filial Sons</i> in the sense that it symbolizes thunder and lightning. However, it takes on a bird form as a schematization of the image of a bird-headed man with wings, which was widely adopted by the late Chosŏn painting. The earliest known case of depicting Thunder God as a bird-headed man with wings appears in the <i>Moon Reflection and the Biography of the Buddha</i> (<i>Wŏrinsŏkpo</i>). This particular iconography of Thunder God seems to have been inspired by the iconography of the Buddhist guardian Garuḍa and that of the Daoist Thunder Marshal “Heavenly Lord Deng, the Governor of Thunder,” depicted in the Daoist scripture Yushu jing, reflecting the transition from the form of a beast-headed man to a bird-headed man with wings. The latter form became the dominant iconography of Thunder God in the late Chosŏn period. It frequently appeared in the Eight Scenes of the Buddha’s Life or the Sweet Dew Painting. Yun Tu-sŏ (1668-1715) also adopted that iconography since it conformed to the depiction of Thunder God in the illustrations of books imported from Ming and Qing China.