Three Marshals: Deng, Xin, and Zhang

The three surnames identify a grouping within Leibu, not three interchangeable names for one god. Reading them together shows their shared place in the thunder order; reading each separately reveals differences in divine titles, iconography, and associated ritual traditions.

Marshal Deng is named Deng Xie, with Bowen given as his courtesy name. Titles connect him with authority over thunder and with thunder-fire imagery. He is also called Deng Tianjun, Heavenly Lord Deng. The several titles associated with him should be read in their textual settings rather than combined into a newly invented official name.

Marshal Xin is commonly named Xin Hanchen; Zhongyi is another name in the materials. Titles associate him with thunder commands and the designation Qingdi. Xin Tianjun means Heavenly Lord Xin. His identity is established through the combination of personal name, divine title, and transmitted account, not by the surname Xin alone.

For Marshal Zhang, the materials give Zhang Yuanbo and also names such as Zhang Ya or Zhang Yu. Feijie Shizhe, a swift messenger, is an associated title. These variations require attention to individual passages and roles. They should not automatically be used to merge every religious figure named Zhang Yuanbo into one entity.

Some accounts add Marshal Tao to form the four-marshal grouping Deng, Xin, Zhang, and Tao. Other thunder traditions use groups of twenty-four or thirty-six generals. These arrangements have their own contexts; the three marshals do not exhaust Leibu, and a larger list is not necessarily a correction of the smaller one.

The group can be understood by moving between three scales: the wider thunder pantheon, the shared position of the three marshals, and the particular traditions of each marshal. Shenxiao provides one important setting for these relationships, while differences between texts and lineages remain part of the subject.