Gods

**Gods**, also known as **Heavenly Officials** (神官, *Shénguān*) are exceptional humans who ascended to the Heavenly Court.

## Mythology

The Gods and Heavenly Court of *Heaven Official's Blessing* are based on the Chinese belief that the heavens are constructed just like Chinese bureaucracy. The heavens are led by the Jade Emperor (*yùdì*) just like the mortal realm is led by the Son of Heaven (*Tianzi*, another name for Emperor of China). The Jade Emperor then divided his administration into bureaus to take responsibility for a certain domain or function. In *Heaven Official’s Blessing*, these domains consist of **Civil Gods** (also known as Scholar Gods or Literature Gods), **Martial Gods** and **Elemental Masters**. As they are acting as officials in the court of the Jade Emperor (or, in this case, Jun Wu's) these ascended beings are known as **Heavenly Officials**.

These gods can be described as being of the *xian* archetype which is described by as the following:

> *They are immune to heat and cold, untouched by the elements, and can fly, mounting upward with a fluttering motion. They dwell apart from the chaotic world of man, subsist on air and dew, are not anxious like ordinary people, and have the smooth skin and innocent faces of children.*
>
>

## Canonical Setting

In Xianxia novels, notable humans commonly can reach the status of godhood through cultivation. However, in the setting of *Heaven Official's Blessing*, cultivation does not seem to be a condition as one could ascend through outstanding merits reached while being a mortal. There are those who ascended purely through their cultivation like Mu Qing, those who ascended through their incredible deeds like The Rain Master and those who ascended through both like Xie Lian.

The Heavenly Court is full of these outstanding people, many of whom were once princes, princesses or great generals as mortals (pre-ascension). As such, it's common for everyone to continue calling one another by their respective mortal titles in the Heavenly Court. This often caused confusion and misunderstanding, especially in the gossip mill, as some shared the same title (though of different states, in different periods of history) during their mortal lives.

Gods are powered by the faith and worship of their believers, so much so that the currency used in heaven are the number of incense sticks burnt in the temple of each official. These incense sticks are called "merits". Without the faith and worship of their followers, gods would simply fade away into nonexistencewhile gods with a high number of followers will become stronger.

As they live and die by the belief of humans, Heavenly Official needs a good reputation to survive. This means sometimes using deception to maintain their followers; for example, a female Civil God like Ling Wen has to disguise herself as a man whenever she visits her believer's dream as the people believed no woman could become a competent Civil God and thus worshiped her as a man.

This means that the mythology created by and the perception of one's god follower might not be accurate. The chief example is the relationship between Water Master Wudu and Wind Master Qingxuan. Though they are blood brothers and usually worshiped in the same temple because of their close relationship, their followers found it distasteful to worship two male gods in one temple and Shi Qingxuan is changed into a female god by popular culture. This twisted their original mythology from a pair of brothers into brother and sister or even wife and husband. Consequently, as more people believed in a female Wind Master, Shi Qingxuan is more powerful in female form just like Ling Wen is more powerful in male form.

The gods/Heavenly Officials of Chinese beliefs are not all-powerful like the western conception of God. Rather, they too are bound by the *dao* (道) which has many meanings in Chinese culture but can be understood in layman’s terms as "fate". Though powerful and immortal, whether these gods have the potential to ascend or not are decided by the *dao* and it cannot be controlled (though, in certain situations, can be tricked). This bondage can be clearly seen in Xie Lian’s incapability of killing Lang Ying in book 2 at the height of Xianle civil war. Lang Ying has been chosen by fate to become king and thus are untouchable by the divine hands of gods.

## Heavenly Court

The Heavenly Court (天庭, *Tiāntíng*), also simply called Heaven or Heavenly Realm, is a term used to refer to the collective of all Gods and the realm of deities. It is divided into the Upper Heaven and the Middle Heaven. The Middle Heaven used to be called Lower Heaven, but they changed it due to Lower Heaven sounding too cheap when Gods of that rank would announce it to mortals.

### Upper Heaven

Humans who have ascended due to their own capabilities and talents are referred to as part of the Upper Heaven.

### Middle Heaven

When Heavenly Officials of the Upper Heaven come to fancy certain mortals due to their potential or simply because they were people close to them in their mortal life, they have the ability to appoint them to the Heavens, making them part of the so-called Middle Heaven or Middle Court. Heavenly Officials of the Middle Court are usually referred to as deputy generals or deputy gods and their main duty is to serve the main god of their palace.

Should their ruling Heavenly Official be banished, so will they be, but they will not receive a Cursed Shackle and are capable of being reappointed by other gods without complications. Despite already being part of the Heavenly Court, they still have the ability to ascend on their own and rise in status.

Known Deputy Gods

Former Deputy Gods

Heavenly Officials who used to be deputy gods but have ascended on their own later on include Mu Qing, Ling Wen, Quan Yizhen and Shi Qingxuan.

## Martial Gods

The Martial Gods are Heavenly Officials who ascended through their military might and/or cultivation height. They are the vanguard of heaven and their duties towards their followers are to ward off evil ghosts and bring protection and peace. Naturally, most of the people ascending into this position have high physical capabilities and many have achieved high cultivation.

They are chiefly worshiped for protection against evil spirits, though sometimes there are rare instances of Martial Gods being worshiped for other reasons, such as Nan Yang temples being frequented by women praying for satisfaction in their marital beds.

Some of the strongest Martial Gods are assigned great chunks of regions that cover the four cardinal directions with the exception of General Nan Yang and General Xuan Zhen who share the South.

Former Martial Gods

## Civil Gods

Civil gods are Heavenly Officials in charge of reports, paperwork, and logistics in the heavens. The most well-known of the Civil God Palace is the Palace of Ling Wen.

The Civil Gods are patrons of scholars and civil workers. Thus many of their followers worshiped them asking for a promotion, for successfully passing the civil service examination or gaining insight to be better at their jobs.

The Civil Gods commonly ascend to heaven through an appointment.

Known Civil Gods

Former Civil Gods

## Elemental Masters

The Elemental Masters are Heavenly Officials in charge of the five natural elements. They are Water, Wind, Earth, Thunder and Rain.

They are worshiped for luck relevant to their element; Water Master worshiped for a safe voyage, Rain Master for plentiful rainfall, Thunder Master for no destructive thunders and so on. The Elemental Masters has control over the element under their jurisdiction and are naturally very powerful. The control of their power is chiefly channeled through their spiritual weapon without which some of them are completely defenseless.

The Elemental Masters commonly ascends without the need for cultivation or physical strength. Rather, it seemed like they are chosen for their affinity with their relevant elemental. Traditionally when one ascends as an Elemental Master, they would change their first name into their titles (ex: Shi Qingxuan (师青玄, *Shī Qīngxuán*) into Lord Wind Master Qingxuan (风师青玄, *Fēng Shī Qīngxuán*)).

The above mentioned 'Masters' are the chief God of each element. Other than the five Elemental Masters, there are lesser Elemental Gods that reside in smaller temples and have fewer believers like the Earth God living in a small street-side shrine in the Yu Jun Mountain region.

## Trivia

* Mo Xiang Tong Xiu confirmed in an interview that Heavenly Officials, banished or not, are not included in the wheel of reincarnation after death.
* Heavenly Officials possess an "Identity Pass" which can grant them access to certain halls.
* Medical Masters, Heavenly Officials who seem to be deities in the fields of medicine, exist.
* Mo Xiang Tong Xiu mentioned that most Heavenly Officials of the Middle Court are useless.
* There are humans who Heavenly Officials call "zealous worshipers". They generally belong to one of the following three categories:
	+ Wealthy people who would burn a lot of incense and pay for new temples to be built;
	+ Missionaries who preached to other people;
	+ People who are completely committed to their faith and belief.

## References

2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Novel, Book 1, Chapter 2: The Scrap Immortal, Third Time Entering the Heavenly Capital
3. ↑ Novel, Book 1, Chapter 12: A Ghost in Red Sets Fire Upon the Military and Civil Temples
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Novel, Book 1, Chapter 35: Enter the Ghost City! Rendezvous With the Ghost King
5. ↑ Novel, Book 3, Chapter 91: Temple of a Thousand Lights Endlessly Illuminating the Lingering Night
6. ↑ Stephen Teiser, *The Spirits of Chinese Religion*
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Novel, Book 1, Chapter 3: The Scrap Immortal, Third Time Entering the Heavenly Capital II
8. ↑ Novel, Book 2, Chapter 73: To Meet You in the Mortal Realm; To Find Flowers Beneath the Rain
9. ↑ Novel, Book 1, Chapter 5: Discussion Between Three Fools In The Ju Yang Temple At Night
10. ↑ Novel, Book 3, Chapter 90: The Mid Autumn Festival; Battling Lanterns on Moon Watch Eve
11. ↑ Novel, Book 1, Chapter 4: Discussion Between Three Fools In The Ju Yang Temple At Night
12. ↑ Interview with Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (translation)
13. ↑ Novel, Book 1, Chapter 32: In the Great Martial Hall; Crown Prince Meets Crown Prince
14. ↑ Novel, Book 3, Chapter 162: This Jade Refuses to be a Thrown Away Brick IV
15. ↑ Novel, Book 3, Chapter 125: Unravel the Dead Knot; Water Master Battles Demon Xuan II (Author's Notes)
16. ↑ Novel, Book 1, Chapter 3: The Scrap Immortal, Third Time Entering the Heavenly Capital II