Chapter 26 Section 3 Popular Taoist God Belief in Ming and Qing Dynasties

Various Taoist god beliefs that were widely popular in Ming and Qing societies, such as City God, Land, Kitchen Lord, Medicine King, God of Wealth, Guan Gong, Tianfei Mazu beliefs, etc., have long influenced the family life and social life of Chinese people. The God of City God was originally the protector of the city in Chinese folk belief. He protects the people of one side from floods, droughts and diseases at ordinary times;The earliest recorded in historical documents is the Wuhu City God built in the second year of Wu Chiwu in the Three Kingdoms (AD 239). It can be seen that the worship of the City God was mainly popular in the south at first.The Song Dynasty listed it as one of the national sacrificial activities.In the Yuan Dynasty, the City God of Dadu was granted the title of the King of Protecting the Country and Baoning, and the wife of the City God was named the Princess of Protecting the Country and Baoning.This is the beginning of Mrs. Chenghuang also being bestowed.In the Ming Dynasty, worshiping the City God was more prosperous.In the second year of Hongwu (AD 1369), Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, issued an edict to the world, conferring the titles of king, duke, marquis, and uncle on the town gods of the capital, government, prefecture, and county respectively.For example, the city god of the capital city was conferred the title of Chengtian Jianguo Simin Shengfu Mingling King, which is the first grade;In the second year, the imperial edict went to the city god, but called the god of a certain prefecture, state, and county, and sacrificed it.It also formulated the architectural specifications of the Town God's Temple, stipulating that the government, prefecture, and county Town God's Temples have the same high and wide specifications as the local government offices.In the Qing Dynasty, the practice of the previous dynasties was largely inherited. The imperial court offered sacrifices to the City God every mid-autumn;

Beginning around the Song Dynasty, Taoism incorporated the city god into its own system of gods, taking him as the god who governs the souls of the dead, and is responsible for capturing all kinds of ghosts and goblins that harm the place. The "Taishang Laojun Said the City God's Induction and Disaster Elimination Collection of Blessings" endowed the city god with extremely high power, and it became a Taoist god who ruled the world and prestiged all nations. Many customs in various parts of China are related to the prevalence of the City God belief.Such as City God Tournament, City God Tour, City God Temple City Temple Fair and so on.During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the City God's Temple Fair in Beijing and Tianjin were very famous. Today, the City God's Tour on May 10 in Taipei City is still a large-scale festival.

Land is the patron saint of ancient villages, and one of the so-called land gods in Taoism, which is lower than the city gods.It is said that it can bless the place with tranquility, good weather and abundant grain.Most of the niches set up in various places are small niches, in which a father-in-law with white hair and black clothes is modeled, and there is always a land grandmother next to him.There are also slightly larger temples. Kitchen King, also known as Kitchen King, is said to be in charge of a family's diet, and later evolved into a god who can control the life and death of a family.Its origin is very early, and the names passed down in different eras are different.In ancient legends, the image of the kitchen god was also different for men and women, but later it was fixed as a male god.After the Tang and Song Dynasties, it became a custom to offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month every year.It is said that the kitchen god records the merits and demerits of the family on weekdays, and reports to the heaven on this day.It is a folk custom to enshrine the kitchen god on the kitchen head, and put some candy in front of the kitchen god's seat on the day when he goes to heaven, hoping to stick his mouth so that he will not speak ill of his family in the heaven.On New Year's Eve, to greet him to drop back.Among the Taoist classics are "Taishangdong Zhen'an Zao Jing", "Taishang Lingbao Sutra of Replenishing and Xie Stove King" and so on.The kitchen god is probably lower than the land, but it penetrates into every household, and its actual impact is not trivial.Sacrificing stoves has evolved into one of the important customs of the year in China.

There are two types of God of Wealth: civil and military.The God of Wealth and Wealth is said to be Fan Li during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. He was Tao Zhugong who helped King Goujian of Yue defeat Wu, and later took the beauty Xi Shi to the sea in a light boat and became very rich.The God of Wealth is called Zhao Gongming, also called Marshal Zhao Gong.According to Taoism, when Zhang Daoling practiced elixir, he asked the Jade Emperor to send a god to protect him. The Jade Emperor sent this person, and he was also named "Marshal of Zhengyi Xuantan".This God of Wealth has great supernatural powers. He can drive away thunder and lightning, eliminate plague and disaster, and make people rich in business.Its image has a black face and thick beard, an iron crown on its head, an iron whip in its hand, and a black tiger on its body, so it is also called "Black Tiger Xuantan".The incense of the God of Wealth is stronger than that of the God of Wealth.Later, Guan Yu Guan Yunchang, the "sage of martial arts" who was raised to almost equal status with Confucius, was also regarded as the God of Wealth.

The God of Medicine King is Sun Simiao, who also enshrines the legendary doctor Bian Que.Yaowang temples are spread all over the cities and villages of old China.According to Pan Rongbi's "Ji Sheng at the Age of Emperor Beijing" in the early Qing Dynasty, "there are many temples of the King of Medicine in the capital", four of which are the most famous, namely the East, West, South and North Temples of the King of Medicine. "From mid-April to the 28th of the year is the birthday of the King of Medicine, and the incense is very prosperous; but it continues all night from New Year's Eve to New Year's Day. Many people worship the temple and are not allowed to enter the temple. There are several incense ponds outside Shenlu Street, where incense is burned and worshiped at a distance. "Except for the strong incense during the birthday of the medicine king in April, there are more people worshiping the medicine king on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, and those who cannot enter the temple have to temporarily set up cases in the distance to burn incense and worship.From this record, we can see the grand occasion of worshiping the King of Medicine at that time.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Guan Yu, a general of the Shu Han Dynasty, was worshiped as a god after his death, and both Buddhism and Taoism competed to win him over.Buddhism enshrines Guan Yu as the protector of the Dharma; in Taoism, first in the Song Dynasty, Guan Yu responded to the call of Zhang Tianshi in Longhu Mountain, appeared in front of the emperor, and the story of subduing demons and monsters was spread. , and called it Guan Zhuang Miao Gong.During the Wanli period, some Taoist priests invited the emperor to enter the title of honor and named Guan Yu the emperor. Later, Guan Yu was named "the great emperor of the three realms who subdue the demons, the mighty and far-shattering heavenly emperor Guan Shengdijun".Starting from Song Huizong, there were 15 emperors before and after, including Emperor Tongzhi of Qing Dynasty, who gave Guan Yu a title and a plaque.In the Qing Dynasty, Zhao Yi said: "Today, as far as the Antarctic Ridge is concerned, and the North Pole is the fortified wall, there is no child or woman who does not shake their might." The Chinese traveled across the ocean and spread overseas.In the early 1990s, the Guandi Temple was completed in Chinatown in Yokohama, Japan.

Concubine Tian, ​​also known as Queen of Heaven, is called Mazu or Matsu among the folks in southern Fujian and Taiwan.It turned out to be the patron saint of fishermen and boat households in Putian, Fujian.It is said that Mazu is the name for unmarried girls in southern Fujian.Judging from some legends, this Mazu may be the sixth daughter of Lin Yuan, who was a soldier and horse envoy of the King of Fujian in the Five Dynasties, and he was from Putian.In the fifth year of Xuanhe Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty (1123 A.D.), she was named a god and was given the title "Shunji", so Mazu was also called "Shunji Holy Concubine" later.During the reign of Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, she was conferred the title of "Concubine Protecting the Country", and during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, she was conferred the title of "Holy Mother of Heaven".

The belief in Tianfei originated from the folks in Fujian, but it became widely popular after being conferred by the emperor.Taoism has "Taishang Laojun Says Tianfei's Efficacy Sutra", which says that Tianfei is a beautiful girl born on March 23. She has many magical powers to calm the waves, rescue boats and bring the dead back to life.The Tianhou Palace can be seen everywhere in Taiwan, Fujian, and the southeast coast of Zhejiang.The legend of Tianfei's "miracle" mainly focuses on protecting fishermen's fisheries and all nautical activities.It was originally sealed, and it is said that it was obtained after the envoy protected the ship on which the envoy sent to Goryeo from sinking, and the envoy returned to Beijing to play the emperor.

As for the gods who protect the reproduction of descendants and have many children and many blessings, because the Buddhist Avalokitesvara is very popular, there is no Taoist god who can rival it in this respect.But in Taishan, there is a Bixia Yuanjun God called "Taishan Grandma", who is still enjoying the incense in the world until today.Like Zhao Xuanlang, she is also a god created by Song Zhenzong advocating Taoism.Among the people who have climbed the Eighteen Plates of Mount Tai for hundreds of years, I don’t know how many people went up the mountain to pray for a happy marriage, to send off their children and grandchildren, and to pray for disaster relief!

In addition, the more important Taoist gods include Emperor Zitong, Erlang God, and some fierce and evil gods that originally belonged to folk beliefs, such as Wutong God and so on. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, some Taoist gods were also very popular among the people.The most famous ones are the three stars of Fu Lu Shou and the Eight Immortals.Few people do not wish for blessings, wealth and longevity, so almost every household in this three-star family must worship.The name of the Eight Immortals appeared very early, but it was not until the Ming Dynasty that they were identified as Zhang Guolao, Tieguai Li (Li Tieguai), Han Zhongli (Zhongli Quan), Lu Dongbin, Cao Guoshu, Han Xiangzi, He Xiangu, Lan Cai and these eight .In the Yuan Dynasty mural "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" in Yongle Palace, Ruicheng, Shanxi, there is no image of the young, beautiful and understanding He Xiangu in later generations.Among the Eight Immortals, Lu Dongbin and Lu Chunyang are the most well-known.There is Chunyang Hall in Yongle Palace, and the murals are all based on the legend of Lu Dongbin.

Someone in the Qing Dynasty said: "I have tasted that Guanyin among Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Chunyang among gods, and Guan Zhuangmiao (Guan Yu) among ghosts and gods are all the most fortunate among the sacred. Those who arrest women and children will all yearn for them, and the incense will be consumed." (Liu Xianting's "Guangyang Miscellaneous Notes" Volume 4) Indeed, the Buddhist Avalokitesvara, Taoist Lu Dongbin and Guan Yu were the most popular in Ming and Qing society Yes, their temples and palaces are all over the land of China, and almost everyone knows about them.