Original Text
Wang Congjian, a native of Bozhou in Anhui, had his mother sitting indoors when a light rain began to fall and the sky grew dim. Suddenly, she saw the Thunder God, wielding a great hammer and flapping his wings, fly into the room. Terrified, Mother Wang hastily poured the contents of a chamber pot over the Thunder God. The deity, now covered in filth as if struck by a blade, turned and fled in haste. He strained to spread his wings and soar into the air, but could not lift off, and so collapsed into the courtyard, bellowing like an ox. The dark clouds above gradually descended until they were level with the eaves, and from within came a whistling sound like a horse's neigh, echoing the Thunder God's roars. Soon, a torrential rain poured down, washing the filth from the Thunder God's body, and only then did he depart with a thunderclap.
Commentary
This is a short story that combines mythology with folk legends. From a scientific perspective, this tale is utterly absurd to the extreme. Yet according to folk tradition, Wang Congjian's mother using filth to prevent the so-called Thunder God from inflicting harm is well-founded. The belief that all manner of divine, ghostly, and demonic sorceries fear and shun filth is a recurring theme in ancient Chinese literary works; the story "The Ling Guan" in the first volume of this book also contains related content, which may be consulted for comparison.