Tudigong

A **Tudigong** is a kind of Chinese tutelary deity of a specific location. There are several Tudigongs corresponding to different geographical locations, sometimes multiple ones will be venerated together in certain regions.

They are tutelary (i.e. guardian or patron) deities of locations and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion 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 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 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.

## Names

Tudigongs go by a variety of names, including **Tudigong** or **Tudishen**, also known simply as **Tudi** and translated as **Lord of the Earth**,

Commoners often call their local Tudigong "grandfather" (*yeye*), which reflects the close relationship with the common people.

## History

The earliest known sheshen was Gou Long , 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; 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 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.

## Variants

### Tudipo

In the countryside, they are sometimes given wives, *Tǔdìpó* ("Grandmother of the Soil and the Ground"), placed next to them on the altar. They may be seen as just and benevolent deities on 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 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 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.

### Ông Địa and Thần Tài

Vietnam and Cambodia also observe the tradition of enshrining the Earth God at home and in businesses, with the addition of the images of Ông Địa (the earth god who bears a similar appearance to Budai (Hotei), or Maitreya of Buddhism as adaptation), and Thần Tài (the wealth god who is, in fact, Caishen). In Vietnam, Ông Địa takes the role of the earth god in a similar fashion to both Tudigong and Dizhushen, with Thần Tài serving as his partner or assistant.

## Festivals

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 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.

## Gallery

Quanshan Tudi Gong Gong - furnace - DSCF8527.JPGA Tudigong temple in Quanzhou, Fujian.四結福德廟 20141206.jpgA temple dedicated to Fude in Wujie, Yilan, Taiwan.Tu Di Gong shrine.jpgA small altar for Tudi, part of a Chinese tomb, Indonesia.Pagoda of Tua Pek Kong Temple.JPGTower of the Temple of Dabogong (locally *Tua Pek Kong*) in Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia.HongKongSpiritSeat.jpgA doorway spirit tablet dedicated to Tudigong in Hong Kong. It invokes Tudigong to bring blessings.Altar Tho Ti Kong di Pattaya.jpgA small altar in a private house, Pattaya, Thailand.福德正神香火神位.jpgA roadside shrine to Tudigong in Miaoli, TaiwanTudi Gong at Hongludi 20060202.jpgA large statue of a Tudigong at the Hongludi Temple in Zhonghe District, Taiwan.

## References

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5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://glossary.mg-lj.si/referential-fields/tudigong/tudigong
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7. ↑ Shiv Visvanathan, “Mrs Brundtland’s Disenchanted Cosmos” (1991) in *The Geopolitics Reader*, eds. Gearóid Ó Tuathail, Simon Dalby, and Paul Routledge (London: Routledge, 1998).
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11. ↑ 参见《〈辞海〉1999年索引本（音序）》第1480页。