A severe drought occurred in Guangdong, and Governor-General Sun Gong(孫公) prayed to the gods for rain, but it was ineffective. At that time, while he was inspecting Chaozhou, he saw over a thousand people gathered on a hill ahead. He sent someone to inquire, and the answer he received was, “Watching the immortal child.”
Previously, in Chaozhou, there was a villager surnamed Sun. His twelve-year-old son, along with a group of village boys, was playing on the hill. One child playfully threw a punch at the young Sun, and as the fist was thrown, his feet lifted several feet off the ground. Another child threw a stone at him, but the higher they threw, the higher he rose, and the stone never touched his body. The children ran to the village spreading the news, causing a sensation among the villagers, and people from miles away came to witness it. The parents of the child cried and called for him to come down, but he just bent down, smiled, and said nothing.
Upon hearing about this extraordinary event, the governor and officials walked to witness it. Looking up, they saw a child with a green bamboo hat on his back, a cowherd whip hanging from his waist, standing in mid-air.
The governor, worried about the drought, bowed to him and said, “Are you really a celestial being? If you can bring rain within three days to save the crops, I will build a temple to worship you.” The child nodded with a smile. After a while, a dark rain cloud floated over, and the child standing in the air suddenly disappeared. The governor then boarded his carriage and left.
Soon after, there was a torrential downpour, and within a few days, reports came from all over Guangdong that there was abundant rain, and the ditches and rivers were full. The governor ordered a statue of the child to be sculpted, sent artists to the Sun family, and asked the child’s parents to recall his appearance to paint an image. However, the parents, being illiterate peasants, couldn’t describe the child’s features in words. The artist, despite numerous attempts, couldn’t capture an accurate likeness.
At a loss, they suddenly saw the child descending from the sky, smiling, and saying, “I came specifically for you to draw my likeness.” The artist then created the image accordingly. The parents wanted to keep him, but he suddenly disappeared.
The governor then had a statue of the child erected in San Xuan Temple(三玄宮) in Guangzhou, titled “Feathered Immortal Sun Zhenren(羽仙孫真人),” and the temple became highly popular. This event occurred in the fifty-second year of the Qianlong era, in May.
While touring eastern Guangdong, Hong Jieting(洪介亭) of She County saw the statue of Sun’s child and inquired about the details. Fearing there might be doubts, he planned to verify everything when visiting Governor Sun Bushan in person later.
Translated from《仙童行雨》in 《子不語》:
粵東亢旱，制軍孫公禱雨無驗。時值按臨潮郡，途次見民眾千餘聚集前山坡上。遣人詢之，云：「看仙童。」先是潮之村民孫姓子，年十二，與村中群豎牧犢，嬉於山坡，一兒戲以拳擊孫氏子。方擊去，忽孫子兩腳已離地數尺。又一兒以石擊之，愈擊愈高，皆不能著體。于是群兒奔說，哄動鄉鄰，十數里外者俱來嘩睹。其父母泣涕仰喚，童但俯笑不言。
制軍聞是，異，與司道群官徒步往觀。仰視一童子背掛青笠，牛鞭插於腰際，立空中。制軍方以天旱為憂，便祝曰：「爾果仙乎？能三日致雨以救禾稼，當祠祀爾。」童笑而頷之。頃之，浮雲一朵，迷失莫睹。制軍亦登輿行。
俄大雨滂沱，數日風，粵境疊報：得雨遍滿溝澤。制軍於是命塑其像，遣畫師赴其家，使憶而圖之。童父母蓋愚農也，苦難形容其狀，雖易屢幅莫似。方無計間，忽童自空而下，笑曰：「特來為繪吾面目。」遂圖而成之。父母將挽留之，倏失所在，遂塑其像於五羊城內三玄宮，題曰「羽仙孫真人」，香火甚盛。
此乾隆五十二年五月事。歙邑洪介亭游粵東，親見迎孫童子像，因詢其顛末，恐有缺疑，他日當謁補山相公證之。