the emperor or one of his representatives exposing his body to the
　　　　  rays of the sun, causing rainfall by a kind of reverse sympathetic
　　　　  magic.(54) But when this ritual exposure failed to produce a result,
　　　　  stronger measures were called for.
　　　　  Our first account comes from the biography of an official called Dai
　　　　  Feng in the Hou Han shu (History of the Later Han): "That year (90
　　　　  C.E.) there was a great drought. Feng prayed and petitioned [for
　　　　  rain] without success. So, he piled up firewood and sat on top in
　　　　  order to burn himself, as the fire rose, thereupon there was a heavy
　　　　  downpour of rain."(55)
　　　　  The rain presumably extinguished the fire, since Feng survived. The
　　　　  second account, also from the Hou Han shu, nicely demonstrates that
　　　　  autocremation was considered a further stage after the failure of
　　　　  ritual exposure of the body. Liang Fu first "exposed himself in the
　　　　  courtyard" but this did not bring rain, so, "He piled up firewood,
　　　　  and gathered water-chestnut reeds together, making a circle of them
　　　　  around him and set fire to the edge. He was about to burn himself
　　　　  when ... it rained."(56)
　　　　  This ritual is attested not only in the Han, even as late as the
　　　　  Song people vowed to burn themselves alive in order to bring rain.
　　　　  In 991 the empire was suffering from drought and plagues of locusts.
　　　　  When praying for rain failed to work, the emperor himself, Song
　　　　  Taizong (r. 976-97), vowed to burn himself alive. The next day it
　　　　  rained and the locusts died.(57) In all these cases the threat of
　　　　  autocremation was enough to produce a result, but sometimes it did
　　　　  not rain in time, and the vow was carried out so that the
　　　　  participant actually burned to death.(58)
　　　　  Such acts did not remain the prerogative of the state; Buddhists
　　　　  also burned themselves in order to bring rain. In the year 1000,
　　　　  there was a great drought:
　　　　  The master (Zhili 960-1028) together with the repentance master of
　　　　  Tianzhu (Tianzhu chanzhu, i.e., Zunshi) prayed for rain and obtained
　　　　  a result.(59) The Xingye ji says, "The master together with Zunshi
　　　　  jointly performed the Luminous and Bright Repentance (guang ming
　　　　  chan). They prayed for rain for three days. When it did not rain,
　　　　  they resolved to burn one hand as an offering to the Buddha. Before
　　　　  this act for the Buddha was complete, there was a great downpour of
　　　　  rain. The Ciyun Xingye ji says "[That year] there was a great
　　　　  drought in Siming.(60) The master commenced repentance, and prayed