The earliest mention of a group of pestilence gods in
Chinese mythology is from the
Li wei xi ming zheng , an apocryphal
Confucian commentary dating from the
Han dynasty. This describes three sons of the Emperor
Zhuanxu, all three of whom died at birth and became spirits of disease. Over time, these spirits became conflated with the "five wet ghosts" of the
Longyu hetu and formed the basis for later groupings of pestilence gods. The term Wen Shen is used to refer to the
Five Commissioners of Pestilence . The Five Commissioners, who governed Heaven's Ministry of Epidemics, were Zhang Yuanbo , Liu Yuanda ,
Zhao Gongming , Zhong Shigui , and Shi Wenye . The first four were associated with the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, and winter respectively) while Shi Wenye was associated with the center and was the superior god of pestilence. In the
Zhengyi wensi bi dushen dengyi , which dates from the
Tang dynasty, the five gods are associated with the points of the compass. As another alternative, the
Taoist exorcist
Lu Shizhong claimed that the deities could be exorcised by simply calling their name three times.
Crab apples were regarded as talismans against Wen Shen. ==References==