Law
lose their protection. They are described and represented as follows:

Mo-li Ch'ing, the eldest, is twenty-four feet in height, with a beard
the hairs of which are like copper wire. He carries a magnificent
jade ring and a spear, and always fights on foot. He has also a magic
sword, 'Blue Cloud,' on the blade of which are engraved the characters
_Ti, Shui, Huo, Feng_ (Earth, Water, Fire, Wind). When brandished,
it causes a black wind, which produces tens of thousands of spears,
which pierce the bodies of men and turn them to dust. The wind is
followed by a fire, which fills the air with tens of thousands of
golden fiery serpents. A thick smoke also rises out of the ground,
which blinds and burns men, none being able to escape.

Mo-li Hung carries in his hand an umbrella, called the Umbrella of
Chaos, formed of pearls possessed of spiritual properties. Opening
this marvellous implement causes the heavens and earth to be covered
with thick darkness, and turning it upside down produces violent
storms of wind and thunder and universal earthquakes.

Mo-li Hai holds a four-stringed guitar, the twanging of which
supernaturally affects the earth, water, fire, or wind. When it is
played all the world listens, and the camps of the enemy take fire.

Mo-li Shou has two whips and a panther-skin bag, the home of a creature
resembling a white rat, known as Hua-hu Tiao. When at large this
creature assumes the form of a white winged elephant, which devours
men. He sometimes has also a snake or other man-eating creature,
always ready to obey his behests.

Legend of the Diamond Kings

The legend of the Four Diamond Kings given in the _Feng shen yen i_
is as follows: At the time of the consolidation of the Chou dynasty
in the twelfth and eleventh centuries B.C., Chiang Tzu-ya, chief
counsellor to Wen Wang, and General Huang Fei-hu were defending
the town and mountain of Hsi-ch'i. The supporters of the house of
Shang appealed to the four genii Mo, who lived at Chia-meng Kuan,
praying them to come to their aid. They agreed, raised an army
of 100,000 celestial soldiers, and traversing towns, fields, and
mountains arrived in less than a day at the north gate of Hsi-ch'i,
where Mo-li Ch'ing pitched his camp and entrenched his soldiers.

Hearing of this, Huang Fei-hu hastened to warn Chiang Tzu-ya of the
danger which threatened him. "The four great generals who have just
arrived at the north gate," he said, "are marvellously powe