Tudigong

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tudigong
Tudigong statue in the Zhonghe district of New Taipei, Taiwan

Tudigong or Tu Di Gong ( 土地公 , Tǔdì gōng ), also Tudishen ( 土地 神 , Tǔdì shén ), is a deity from the Chinese popular belief . He is considered an "earth deity" and is revered as the protector of a locality and the people who live there.

Designations

There are different names for Tudigong:

  • Fude Zhengshen ( 福德正神 , Fúdé Zhèngshén , "rightful god of blessings and virtues " - a formal address)
  • Tuzhigong (土 治 公)
  • Sheshen (社 神, "community god")
(and others more)

In addition to the more formal titles and addresses, more confidential ones , such as 爺爺 , Yéyé  - "grandfather" or 大 伯公 , Dà bógōng  - "great older man" are used.

Sometimes Tudigong is assigned a Tudipo ( 土地婆 ) wife .

Chinese popular belief

In traditional Chinese folk beliefs, the world is filled with a multitude of deities and spirits. These spiritual forces can be detrimental to people or cause them harm. However, humans are not at the mercy of the gods and spirits, but can influence them by communicating with them and neutralizing the forces that are hostile to them through magical practices and ritual acts. Despite the abundance of spiritual powers, there is no chaos in the Chinese gods, but rather a relatively strict hierarchical order. There are lower and higher deities. The influences of the lower deities can be canceled out by those of the higher.

Tudigong Altar in Hong Kong

Adoration

Tudigong is a god who is kind to people. He is often portrayed as a friendly smiling elderly man with a white beard. He is usually dressed in a magnificent robe of red and yellow and wears equally magnificent headgear. The color yellow identifies him as a higher official in the world of gods. Tudigong and Cai Shen , the god of wealth, are often worshiped in the same personification. In a standing position, Tudigong often holds a long staff or a kind of scepter and a piece of gold in the other hand as a symbol of wealth and luck.

To western viewers he looks like a bishop figure , a kind of Santa Claus . The shrine or altar for Tudigong is usually placed in a particularly favorable place in terms of Feng Shui . These can be very different places - anywhere in the house, but also selected places in the great outdoors.

His position in the hierarchy of gods is low. He is literally a "near-earth" god, close to humans and far from the heaven of gods. Tudigong is not a "god of the earth" and cannot be compared with the earth mother Gaia , but a deity of a local place, i.e. the genius loci . He is subordinate to the respective city god ( Chenghuang , 城隍 ). When people change residence, they say goodbye to the local Tudigong and begin to worship the Tudigong of their new place of residence. Tudigong is therefore more of a rank and title than a single god.

Festivities in honor of the deity typically take place on the 2nd day of the 2nd month and the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar .

After the Communists came to power in China, worship of Tudigong and, more generally, ancient Chinese customs fell into disrepute. Many temples and shrines were particularly destroyed during the Cultural Revolution . After Mao Zedong's death , many were rebuilt. Tudigong worship is still widespread, especially in southern China, where traditionally closer ties have existed with the Chinese communities in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc. He is also honored many times in Taiwan.

Web links

Commons : Tu Di Gong  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Earth God Of Wealth - Fu De Zheng Shen (福德正神). (pdf) South Taiwan University of Science and Technology (STUST), accessed on October 28, 2018 (English).
  2. ↑ a b Cheng Shuiping: Earth God 福德正神. Executive Yuan Cultural Affairs Council, archived from the original on 2009 ; accessed on October 28, 2018 (English).
  3. ^ Matthias Eder: Chinese Religion . In: Asian Folklore Studies - Monograph No.6 . Tokyo 1973 (English).
  4. ↑ Chinese color symbolism. forumchina.de, accessed on October 28, 2018 .
  5. ^ Hui-Chih Yu: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Symbolic Meanings of Color . In: Chang Gung Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences . tape 7 , no. 1 , April 2014, p. 49-74 (English, pdf ).
  6. ↑ 財神爺 (Cai Shen ye). Taiwan Ministry of the Interior (National Religious Information Network), accessed November 29, 2018 (English, Chinese).
  7. ^ A b Robert Kelly: The Tao of Taiwanese Temples. BBC News, October 5, 2011, accessed October 28, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Chien Hui-ju, Loa Iok-sin: Tudigong worshiped on 5km walk. Taipei Times, accessed October 28, 2018 .