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60-542: They are tutelary (i.e. guardian or patron) deities of locations and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion , Buddhism , Confucianism , and Taoism . They are portrayed as old men with long beards. The definitive characteristic of Tudigongs is that they are limited to their specific geographical locations. The Tudigong of one location is not the Tudigong of another location They are considered to be among

120-546: A Tudigong A notable example in Nuannuan District has two Tudigong temples next to each other for different Tudigongs. Many temples house small shrines with the image of Tudigong, commonly located under the main altar, or below the house door. Many worshippers supplicate with the intention of gaining wealth or maintaining their physical health. They are also traditionally worshipped before the burial of deceased persons to thank him for using his land to return their bodies to

180-613: A Tudigong is that of a simply clothed, smiling, white-bearded man. His wife, the Grandmother of the Village, Tǔdìpó , looks like a normal old lady In later generations, they became associated with Wish trees . In the countryside, they are sometimes given wives, Tǔdìpó ( 土地婆 "Grandmother of the Soil and the Ground"), placed next to them on the altar. They may be seen as just and benevolent deities on

240-509: A kind of appointed position like an alderman , with different deities being appointed to different areas. Houtu is the overlord of all the Tudigongs ("Lord of Local Land"), Sheji ("the State"), Shan Shen ("God of Mountains"), City Gods ("God of Local City"), and landlord gods worldwide. Tudigongs go by a variety of names, including Tudigong ( Chinese : 土地公 ; lit. 'Lord of

300-650: A man was his Genius , that of a woman her Juno . In the Imperial era , the Genius of the Emperor was a focus of Imperial cult . An emperor might also adopt a major deity as his personal patron or tutelary, as Augustus did Apollo . Precedents for claiming the personal protection of a deity were established in the Republican era , when for instance the Roman dictator Sulla advertised

360-464: A powerful, evil entity had the ambition to conquer the immortals and gods in heaven and proclaim sovereignty over the entire universe. This evil entity also went into retreat and meditation to expand its power, though later than the Jade Emperor did. He passed through 3,000 trials, each trial lasting about 3 million years. After its final trial, it felt confident that no one could defeat it. It re-entered

420-408: A stream. Niu Lang fell instantly in love with her and stole her magic robe which she had left on the bank of the stream, leaving her unable to escape back to Heaven. When Zhinü emerged from the water, Niu Lang grabbed her and carried her back to his home. When the Jade Emperor heard of this matter, he was furious but unable to intercede, since in the meantime his daughter had fallen in love and married

480-485: A year on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar , he allows them to meet on a bridge over the river. The story refers to constellations in the night sky. Zhinü is the star Vega in the constellation of Lyra east of the Milky Way, and Niu Lang is the star Altair in the constellation of Aquila west of the Milky Way. Under the first quarter moon (7th day) of the seventh lunar month (around August),

540-457: Is a temple in A Kung Ngam , Hong Kong , dedicated to the Jade Emperor. In the mid 19th century, people from Huizhou and Chaozhou mined stones in the hill for the development of the central urban area. They set up a shrine to worship Yuk Wong. At the beginning of the 20th century, the shrine was developed into a small temple and was renovated many times. The latest renovation was in 1992. Early Catholic missionaries to China wrote often about

600-407: Is called Chilseok . In Vietnam , it is called Thất Tịch and if it rains on that day, it is said to be Zhinü crying tears of happiness for being reunited with her husband. There are several stories as to how the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac were chosen. In one, the Jade Emperor, although having ruled Heaven and Earth justly and wisely for many years, had never had the time to actually visit

660-554: Is located at the foot of Penang Hill at the Air Itam suburb near George Town , Penang 's capital city. Aside from Thni Kong Tnua , the Chew Jetty in the heart of George Town is another focal point of the Jade Emperor's Birthday celebrations; the festivities in this particular location was captured for a 2014 Malaysian film, The Journey . Yuk Wong Kung Tin (Cantonese romanisation) ( 玉皇宮殿 ) also known as Yuk Wong Po Tin ( 玉皇寶殿 )

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720-503: Is now. People had to deal with a variety of monstrous beings, and they did not have many gods to protect them; in addition, many powerful demons were defying the immortals of heaven. The Jade Emperor was an ordinary immortal who roamed the earth helping as many people as he could. He was saddened because his powers could only ease the suffering of humans. He retreated to a mountain cave to cultivate his Tao. He passed 3,200 trials, each trial lasting about 3 million years. On earth at this time,

780-500: Is patron of yogis and renunciants. City gods and goddesses include: Influenced by the religion of Islam , Indonesian people believe in jinn , particularly on the island of Java. Those jinn who adhere to the religion of Islam are generally benevolent, however, non-Muslim jinn are considered to be mischievous. Some of them guard graves. If a pilgrim approaching the grave has evil intentions, they would cause severe illness or even death. Spirits called shedim are mentioned twice in

840-559: Is the patron of military personnel and police, while Mazu is the patron of fishermen and sailors. A similar concept in Christianity would be the patron saint example of archangels "Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, etc." or to a lesser extent, the guardian angel . In Hinduism , personal tutelary deities are known as ishta-devata , while family tutelary deities are known as Kuladevata . Gramadevata are guardian deities of villages or regions. Devas can also be seen as tutelary. Shiva

900-597: The civitas of the Remi in Gaul adopted Apollo as its tutelary, and at the capital of the Remi (present-day Rheims ), the tutelary was Mars Camulus . Tutelary deities were also attached to sites of a much smaller scale, such as storerooms, crossroads, and granaries. Each Roman home had a set of protective deities: the Lar or Lares of the household or familia , whose shrine was a lararium ;

960-977: The genius loci or guardian spirit of the site, Hercules , Silvanus , Fortuna Conservatrix ("Fortuna the Preserver") and in the Greek East Aphrodite and Agathe Tyche . The Lares Compitales were the tutelary gods of a neighborhood ( vicus ) , each of which had a compitum (shrine) devoted to these. Their annual public festival was the Compitalia . During the Republic, the cult of local or neighborhood tutelaries sometimes became rallying points for political and social unrest. Chinese folk religion , both past and present, includes myriad tutelary deities. Exceptional individuals, highly cultivated sages, and prominent ancestors can be deified and honored after death. Lord Guan

1020-505: The Hebrew Bible . In both of these instances ( Psalm 106 :37 and Deuteronomy 32:17) the shedim are associated with child sacrifice or animal sacrifice . The term " shedim " is believed by some to be a loan-word from the Akkadian shedu , which referred to a spirit which could be either protective or malevolent. In Korean shamanism , jangseung and sotdae were placed at

1080-532: The Latin town of Lanuvium and the Etruscan city of Veii , and was often housed in an especially grand temple on the arx (citadel) or other prominent or central location. The tutelary deity of Praeneste was Fortuna , whose oracle was renowned. The Roman ritual of evocatio was premised on the belief that a town could be made vulnerable to military defeat if the power of its tutelary deity were diverted outside

1140-465: The Penates who guarded the storeroom (penus) of the innermost part of the house; Vesta , whose sacred site in each house was the hearth; and the Genius of the paterfamilias , the head of household. The poet Martial lists the tutelary deities who watch over various aspects of his farm. The architecture of a granary ( horreum ) featured niches for images of the tutelary deities, who might include

1200-469: The Sheshen belief system Sheshen (社神), also known as Tudigongs, are Chinese deities associated with the soil. The character 社 is now primarily associated with Society, being present in such compounds as socialism ( 社会主义 ; Shèhuì zhǔyì ) and sociology (社会学, Shèhuì xué) and social media (社群媒體, Shè qún méitǐ). However, originally the character 社 meant soil, and had a connotation of divinity; see

1260-554: The goddess Victory as his tutelary by holding public games ( ludi ) in her honor. Each town or city had one or more tutelary deities, whose protection was considered particularly vital in time of war and siege. Rome itself was protected by a goddess whose name was to be kept ritually secret on pain of death (for a supposed case, see Quintus Valerius Soranus ). The Capitoline Triad of Juno , Jupiter , and Minerva were also tutelaries of Rome. The Italic towns had their own tutelary deities. Juno often had this function, as at

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1320-611: The myths and folk religion of Chinese culture , the Jade Emperor or Yudi is one of the representations of the primordial god . In Taoist theology , he is the assistant of Yuanshi Tianzun , who is one of the Three Pure Ones , the three primordial emanations of the Tao . However, some Taoists in history were skeptical of his benevolence because his buildings and infrastructure in heaven and earth were sometimes seen as interfering with

1380-540: The Cat missed the meeting with the Jade Emperor and was replaced by the Pig . The Jade Emperor was delighted with the animals and so decided to divide the years up amongst them. When the cat learned of what had happened, he was furious with the Rat and that, according to the story, is why cats and Rats are enemies to this day. The Cat can be seen as the domesticated Tiger or leopard the third of

1440-460: The Chinese lunar calendar. The second day of the second month is said to be Tudigong's birthday. Today these deities are associated with Ritual opera . Tudigong temples are common across China, Tibet, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong. In Chinese, Spirit houses are called 土地神屋 or Tudigong House, representing a link between the concept and the concept of a Tudigong temple dedicated to a landlord deity or

1500-492: The Earth personally. He grew curious as to what the creatures looked like. Thus, he asked all the animals to visit him in heaven. The Cat , being the most handsome of all animals, asked his friend the Rat to wake him on the day they were to go to Heaven so he wouldn't oversleep. The Rat, however, was worried that he would seem ugly compared to the Cat, so he didn't wake the cat. Consequently,

1560-734: The Goddess Weaver, daughter of the Jade Emperor and the Celestial Queen Mother, who weaves the Silver River (known in the West as the Milky Way ), which gives light to heaven and earth. In other versions, she is a seamstress who works for the Jade Emperor. Every day Zhinü descended to earth with the aid of a magical robe to bathe. One day, a lowly cowherd named Niu Lang ( Chinese : 牛郎 ; pinyin : niú láng ) spotted Zhinü as she bathed in

1620-584: The Heavenly Master of the Dawn of Jade of the Golden Door ( 金闕玉晨天尊 ). The characters for both are stamped on the front of the arms of his throne. In two folk automatic writing texts produced in 1925 and 1972, Guan Yu became the 18th Jade Emperor in about 1840 AD; however, some have disagreed that Guan Yu has succeeded, and thus the Jade Emperor and Guan Yu are often worshiped separately. In Tienti teaching,

1680-468: The Jade Emperor. He can also be regarded as a traditional figure among the White Lotus secret society. It was said that Jade Emperor was originally the crown prince of the kingdom of Pure Felicity and Majestic Heavenly Lights and Ornaments. At birth, he emitted a wondrous light that filled the entire kingdom. When he was young, he was kind, intelligent and wise. He devoted his entire childhood to helping

1740-412: The Jade Emperor. (Using the given figures, this period before his becoming the Jade Emperor lasted for a total of about 327 million years.) One of the myths describes how the Jade Emperor became the monarch of all the deities in heaven. It is one of the few myths in which the Jade Emperor really shows his power. In the beginning of time, the earth was a very difficult place to live, much harsher than it

1800-457: The Jade Emperor. They noticed that, "The stories of Jesus and the Jade Sovereign are, in certain aspects, quite similar. In both cases it is claimed that a god incarnated as a human being." On the other hand, they denounced the cult of the Jade Emperor as "superstitious," and compared unfavorably the "legends" about the Jade Emperor with what they claimed was a solid historical record documenting

1860-484: The Land';) or Tudishen ( 土地神 ; 'God of the Land'), also known simply as Tudi ( 土地 ; 'land', 'soil') and translated as Lord of the Earth , Other names of the god include: Extended titles of the god include: Commoners often call their local Tudigong "grandfather" ( yeye ), which reflects the close relationship with the common people. Tudigongs are believed to have originally developed out of

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1920-476: The animals in the classical Chinese Zodiac text. Once a great drought had spread across the land. Four dragons from the sea noticed the plight of the people and traveled to beseech The Jade Emperor in the Heavenly Palace to bring the rains to the people. He was very busy ruling the heavens, earth, and sea and distractedly agreed to send the rains on the next day if they would return to the sea, but soon after

1980-505: The city, perhaps by the offer of superior cult at Rome. The depiction of some goddesses such as the Magna Mater (Great Mother, or Cybele ) as " tower-crowned " represents their capacity to preserve the city. A town in the provinces might adopt a deity from within the Roman religious sphere to serve as its guardian, or syncretize its own tutelary with such; for instance, a community within

2040-504: The concept of safety and thus of guardianship. In late Greek and Roman religion , one type of tutelary deity, the genius , functions as the personal deity or daimon of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit is the familiar spirit of European folklore. Socrates spoke of hearing the voice of his personal spirit or daimonion : You have often heard me speak of an oracle or sign which comes to me … . This sign I have had ever since I

2100-474: The cowherd. As time passed, Zhinü grew homesick and began to miss her father. One day, she came across a box containing her magic robe which her husband had hidden. She decided to visit her father back in Heaven, but once she returned, the Jade Emperor summoned a river to flow across the sky (the Milky Way ), which Zhinü was unable to cross to return to her husband. The Emperor took pity on the young lovers, and so once

2160-541: The diagram on the right for more info on its relationship with the Oracle bone script The character 社 alone historically referred to such deities. It is a combination of deity (示) and soil (土), meaning "god of the land" Sheshen are associated with soil and grain (shèjì, 社稷), with both sometimes being personified as husband and wife Tudigong means Tu (earth), Di , Gong (grandfather/duke) Sacrifices to Sheshen transitioned to sacrifices to Tudigong The earliest known sheshen

2220-415: The dragons departed, he forgot his promise. After ten days, the rains still did not come and the people began to die of starvation. The dragons could not simply stand by and do nothing, and so they decided to use their bodies to capture great masses of water from the sea, taking it upon themselves to bring the rain. The people were grateful and prayed their thanks to the Jade Emperor, who soon discovered what

2280-535: The dragons ensuring that the people of China would never be without water again. The Jade Emperor was originally the assistant of the Divine Master of the Heavenly Origin, Yuanshi Tianzun . Yuanshi Tianzun is said to be the supreme beginning, the limitless and eternal creator of Heaven and Earth, who picked Yu-huang, or the Jade Emperor, as his personal successor. The Jade Emperor will eventually be succeeded by

2340-709: The dragons had done, and became angry that they intervened without his blessing. The Jade Emperor ordered Mountain God to trap the four dragons. However, from each mountain that trapped a dragon there sprang a new river. From Yellow Dragon came the Yellow River , from Long Dragon the Yangtze River , from Black Dragon the Amur River , and from Pearl Dragon the Pearl River . The rivers thereafter flowed from west to east and north to south,

2400-610: The earth It is reported that the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty was born in a Tudigong shrine. During the cultural revolution , many Tudigong shrines were destroyed. However, many were recently rebuilt. Tutelary deity A tutelary ( / ˈ tj uː t ə l ɛ r i / ; also tutelar ) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses

2460-632: The edge of villages to frighten off demons. They were also worshiped as deities. Seonangshin is the patron deity of the village in Korean tradition and was believed to embody the Seonangdang . In Meitei mythology and religion ( Sanamahism ) of Manipur , there are various types of tutelary deities, among which Lam Lais are the most predominant ones. In Philippine animism , Diwata or Lambana are deities or spirits that inhabit sacred places like mountains and mounds and serve as guardians. In Shinto ,

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2520-492: The figures, which gave rise to human sickness and physical abnormalities. (The most common alternative Chinese creation myth states that human beings were once fleas on the body of Pangu .) In another myth, Nüwa fashions men out of the mud from the Yellow River by hand. Those she made became the richer people of the earth. After getting tired of it, she dipped her scarf into the mud and swung it around. The drops that fell from

2580-404: The five sacrifices and wines) to honor the deities below the Jade Emperor. The household then kneels three times and kowtows nine times to pay homage and wish him a long life. In Penang , Malaysia , a focal point of the Jade Emperor's Birthday celebrations is Thni Kong Tnua , which gained worldwide fame as one of the featured locations for The Amazing Race 16 . The temple, built in 1869,

2640-409: The gods, immortals, and humans proclaimed the Jade Emperor the supreme sovereign of all. The world started with wuji ( 無極 , nothingness) according to the Chinese creation myth . The Jade Emperor was the head of the pantheon, but not responsible for creation. In another creation myth , the Jade Emperor fashioned the first humans from clay and left them to harden in the sun. Rain deformed some of

2700-554: The highest land deity was the Houtu ("Queen of the Earth"). Ranked beneath City Gods , the Tudigongs have been very popular among villagers as the grassroot deities since the 14th century during the Ming dynasty . Some scholars speculate that this change came because of an imperial edict, because it is reported that the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty was born in a Tudigong shrine. The image of

2760-509: The lighting condition in the sky causes the Milky Way to appear dimmer, hence the story that the two lovers are no longer separated on that one particular day each year. The seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is a holiday in China called Qixi Festival , which is a day for young lovers much like Valentine's Day in the West . In Japan , it is called Tanabata (star day). In Korea , it

2820-405: The lowest ranked divinities, just below City Gods ("God of Local City"), and above landlord gods . Often, a specific person who did a great service to their local community will be seen as becoming a Tudigong after their death. When people move from one location to another, they will say goodbye to their local Tudigong and worship the one of the new location The deities are considered to have

2880-734: The many natural laws or dao . He is often identified with Śakra in Chinese Buddhist cosmology and identified with Yu the Great in Chinese mythology . The Jade Emperor is known by many names, including Yu, Heavenly Grandfather ( 天公 , Tiāngōng ), which originally meant "Heavenly Duke", which is used by commoners; the Jade Lord; the Highest Emperor; Great Emperor of Jade ( 玉皇上帝 Yu Huang Shangdi , or 玉皇大帝 Yu Huang Dadi ). There are many stories in Chinese mythology involving

2940-603: The needy (the poor and suffering, the deserted and single, the hungry and disabled). Furthermore, he showed respect and benevolence to both men and creatures. After his father died, he ascended the throne. He made sure that everyone in his kingdom found peace and contentment. After that, he told his ministers that he wished to cultivate Tao on the Bright and Fragrant Cliff. After 1,750 eons, each eon lasting for 129,600 years (360 years), he attained Golden Immortality. After another one hundred million years of cultivation, he finally became

3000-736: The ninth day of the first lunar month. On this day, Taoist temples hold a Jade Emperor ritual ( 拜天公 , Mandarin : bài Tiāngōng ; Hokkien : pài Thinn-kong , literally "heaven worship") at which priests and laymen prostrate themselves, burn incense and make food offerings. In the morning of this birthday, Chinese, Taiwanese as well as Hokkien and Peranakan Malaysian Chinese and Singaporean Chinese who practice Buddhism , Taoism and other traditional Chinese religions set up an altar table with 3 layers: one top (containing offertories of six vegetables ( 六齋 ), noodles, fruits, cakes, tangyuan , vegetable bowls, and unripe betel , all decorated with paper lanterns) and two lower levels (containing

3060-400: The reigning Jade Emperor has 55 predecessors. However this is from the point of view of Chinese Folk religion , and many orthodox Taoists do not believe these claims to be true. Elements from the supreme god Shangdi and his worship were incorporated into theology about the Jade Emperor and the two were often thought to be the same being. The Jade Emperor's Birthday ( 天公誕 ) is said to be

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3120-468: The same rank as their husbands, or as grudging old women holding back their husband's benedictions, which explains why one does not always receive fair retribution for good behavior. Another story says that Tudipo is supposed to be a young lady. After Tudigong received a heavenly rank, he gave everything that the people asked for. When one of the Deities went down to Earth to do inspections, he saw that Tudigong

3180-401: The scarf became the poorer humans. In another story, popular throughout Asia and with many differing versions, the Jade Emperor has a daughter named Zhinü ( simplified Chinese : 织女 ; traditional Chinese : 織女 ; pinyin : zhī nǚ or Chih'nü, literally: weaver girl). She is most often represented as responsible for weaving colorful clouds in the heaven. In some versions, she is

3240-520: The spirits, or kami , which give life to human bodies come from nature and return to it after death. Ancestors are therefore themselves tutelaries to be worshiped. Some tutelary deities are known to exist in Slavic Europe, a more prominent example being that of the Leshy . In Vietnamese folk religion , Thành hoàng are gods who protect and bring good things to the village. Jade Emperor In

3300-461: The world and recruited an army of demons with the purpose of attacking heaven. The immortals, being aware of the threat, gathered themselves and prepared for war. The gods were unable to stop the powerful demon and it defeated them all. The Jade Emperor finished his cultivation during this war. When he was changing the land to make it more liveable for men and repelling a variety of monsters, he saw an evil glow radiating from heaven and knew something

3360-432: Was Gou Long  [ zh ] , a son of Gonggong who was appointed as a god of the soil by Zhuanxu . Tudigongs developed from land worship. Before Chenghuangshen ("City Gods") became more prominent in China, land worship had a hierarchy of deities conforming strictly to social structure, in which the emperor, kings, dukes, officials, and common people were allowed to worship only the land gods within their command;

3420-470: Was a child. The sign is a voice which comes to me and always forbids me to do something which I am going to do, but never commands me to do anything, and this is what stands in the way of my being a politician. The Greeks also thought deities guarded specific places: for instance, Athena was the patron goddess of the city of Athens . Tutelary deities who guard and preserve a place or a person are fundamental to ancient Roman religion . The tutelary deity of

3480-418: Was amiss. He ascended and saw that the evil entity was too powerful to be stopped by the gods. He challenged it, and they fought. Mountains shook and rivers and seas toppled. Due to his deeper and wiser cultivation, his benevolence instead of his might, the Jade Emperor won the battle. After the evil entity was defeated, its army was scattered by the gods and immortals. Because of his noble and benevolent deeds,

3540-560: Was distributing blessings unnecessarily. Soon after that, the Deity went to the Celestial Palace and reported to the Jade Emperor . After the Jade Emperor knew this, he found out that there was a lady that was going to be killed, but she was not guilty. Thus, the Jade Emperor told a Deity to go down to Earth and bring the lady to heaven. When the lady was brought to the Celestial Palace, the Jade Emperor bestowed her to Tudigong as his wife. She

3600-400: Was ordered to look after how many blessings Tudigong distributes and that they not be unnecessarily distributed. This is why many people do not want to pay respect to Tudipo, because they are afraid that she will not let Tudigong give much wealth to them. In Taiwan, festivals dedicated to Tudigong typically take place on the second day of the second month and the 15th day of the eighth month on

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