Ji Shenzhai's ( 1746-1825) "Praying for Rain" and its matching ritual are well-known in modern times because the author was proficient in the eight trigrams, geographical divination, and the spirit of Confucian Yi learning practice. Meanwhile, we can find many innovative subtle features in Ji's operation settings. First of all, for the setting of this ritual, its principle is completely derived from the Primordial Yi, a pure and ideal concept for the intellectuals who received education to pass the imperial examination. As for the practice method, it claims both monks and Daoists performed at the same time. However, the implementation is neither Buddhist nor Daoist, so the ritual tradition of Buddhism or Taoism has not accepted it. In addition, the ritual text was created by Ji, who was a local official, to pray for rain for the people. Therefore, that text was praised and used by many local officials of the same rank and was widely circulated among Confucian scholars for nearly a century. In this article, I use various types of extant materials, including different versions and inscriptions of the Rain Praying Section, Ji's anthology and works, and local gazetteers. The sources are used to analyze the ritual setting and the effective narrative examples of praying for rain and to discuss the attitude and knowledge adopted by Confucian officials to meet the population's needs and create the ceremony. This may be a very special example of integrating Buddhism and Daoism and adhering to the Confucian standard.
