Tudigong
Guardian or patron deity of a locality in Chinese folk religion / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A Tudigong (Chinese: 土地公; lit. 'Lord of the Land') is a kind of Chinese tutelary deity of a specific location.[1] There are several Tudigongs corresponding to different geographical locations and sometimes multiple ones will be venerated together in certain regions.[2]
Tudigong | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Chinese | 土地公 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | Lord of the Land | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 土地 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 土公 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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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.[3] They are portrayed as old men with long beards.[4]
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[1]
They are considered to be among the lowest ranked divinities,[5] just below City Gods[3] ("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.[6]
When people move from one location to another, they will say goodbye to their local Tudigong and worship the one of the new location[5][7]
The deities are considered to have a kind of appointed position like an alderman, with different deities being appointed to different areas.[8]
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.