A RECORD OF ALL THINGS UNDER HEAVEN
As gathered from the oldest accounts that remain
PROLOGUE — CHAPTER FIFTEEN
On the Matter of Tudi Gong — 土地公 — the Lord of the Land
His name is Tudi Gong — 土地公.
Tu — 土 — means earth. Soil. Land.
Di — 地 — means ground. Earth. Territory.
Gong — 公 — means lord. Duke. Grandfather.
Together — 土地公 — the Lord of the Land.
He is also called Tudishen — 土地神 — God of the Land.
He is also called Fude Zhengshen — 福德正神 — the Righteous God of Blessing and Virtue.
He is also called Fudegong — 福德公 — Lord of Blessing and Virtue.
He is also called Tudiye — 土地爺 — Grandfather Earth.
He is also called Sheshen — 社神 — God of the Soil.
He is also called Shegong — 社公 — Lord of the Soil.
In Southeast Asia he is called Tua Pek Kong — 大伯公 — the Great Uncle.
Commoners call him Yeye — 爺爺 — grandfather. This is the name said in households. This is the name said in fields. This is the name said at roadside shrines at night.
He is not one god.
He is every god of every place.
There is one for every field. One for every street. One for every bridge. One for every house. One for every district. One for every village. One for every building that requires protection.
The Tudi Gong of one place is not the Tudi Gong of another place.
They are not manifestations of a single being in heaven.
They are individual deities who live among the people they protect.
This is recorded in every account.
---
On the origin of Tudi Gong in the oldest records.
The oldest form of Tudi Gong is the Sheshen — 社神 — God of the Soil.
In the oldest times the land deity had no face and no form.
He was a pile of earth — 土堆 — tu dui.
The character Tu — 土 — shows a pile of earth rising from the ground. A mound. A small hill of earth marked as sacred. This character is the origin of the deity's name.
Landowners approached the mound. They made offerings. They prayed for good crops.
This is the earliest form of Tudi Gong worship.
It was not a personal deity.
It was the earth itself.
The earth became personal later.
---
On the first named Sheshen — 社神.
The oldest named Sheshen is Gou Long — 句龍.
Gou Long was the son of Gonggong — 共工 — the water god who broke the sky.
He is the same Gonggong whose act of rage required Nuwa — 女媧 — to repair heaven with five colored stones.
Gou Long did not inherit his father's rage.
He was appointed God of the Soil by Zhuanxu — 顓頊 — the second of the Five Emperors.
He governs the earth — 地 — di — the solid ground beneath everything.
He holds back the floods his father caused.
He ensures the earth remains stable.
He is the first ancestor of all Tudi Gong.
---
On the hierarchy of earth worship.
Before the City Gods — 城隍 — Chenghuang — became prominent, land worship had a strict hierarchy.
The emperor worshipped the land of the entire empire.
Kings worshipped the land of their kingdoms.
Dukes worshipped the land of their dukedoms.
Officials worshipped the land within their command.
Common people worshipped only the land directly beneath their feet.
Each person was permitted to worship only the land within their authority.
To worship beyond one's authority was a violation.
The highest land deity was Houtu — 后土 — the Queen of the Earth.
She governed all land gods.
Below her: the City Gods.
Below the City Gods: the Tudi Gong.
The Tudi Gong is the lowest ranking deity in the pantheon.
He is also the one worshipped by the most people.
---
On the origin account of Zhang Fude — 張福德.
The most widely known account of Tudi Gong's personal identity names him as Zhang Fude — 張福德.
Zhang — 張 — is a family name.
Fu — 福 — means blessing. Fortune.
De — 德 — means virtue. Character. Moral excellence.
Together: Zhang Fude — 張福德 — Zhang of Blessed Virtue.
He was a tax official — 稅務官 — shui wu guan — in the imperial court.
He worked with money every day.
He was known for his honesty — 誠實 — chengshi — and his compassion — 慈悲 — cibei — toward the people.
He served without corruption.
He died.
A poor person who knew him set up a memorial tablet — 牌位 — paiwei — in his honor.
The poor person worshipped before the tablet.
The poor person grew rich.
Word spread.
Other poor people began to worship Zhang Fude.
Merchants contributed money to build a temple.
More temples followed.
King Mu of Zhou — 周穆王 — Zhou Mu Wang — heard of these events.
He declared Zhang Fude the Earth God — 土地神 — Tudishen.
This is why Tudi Gong is also called the Righteous God Fude — 福德正神 — Fude Zhengshen.
This is why he is depicted holding an imperial staff — 龍頭杖 — longtou zhang — topped by a dragon head.
---
On his appearance.
He is depicted as a benign and friendly old man — 和藹可親的老人 — he'ai keqin de laoren.
He has gray hair — 灰白頭髮 — huibai toufa.
He has a white beard — 白色鬍鬚 — baise huxu — three parts, extending almost to his waist.
He wears a high square black hat — 方形黑帽 — fangxing heimao — the hat of an official.
He wears a long robe — 長袍 — changpao — with long sleeves.
He wears a bright red undergarment — 紅色內衣 — hongse neiyi — the color of good fortune — 福 — fu.
He sits on a throne or horseshoe chair — 太師椅 — tashi yi.
In one hand he holds a boat-shaped gold ingot — 元寶 — yuanbao — representing wealth.
In the other hand he holds a wooden staff — 木杖 — mu zhang — or places his hand firmly on his knee.
He has the posture of an official.
He has the face of a grandfather.
---
On Tudi Po — 土地婆 — the Wife of Tudi Gong.
Her name is Tudi Po — 土地婆 — Old Lady Earth.
She is also called Tudi Niangniang — 土地娘娘 — Lady Earth.
In some depictions she is a young beautiful woman.
In later depictions she is an older woman in official robes.
She sits beside her husband.
She was given to Tudi Gong by the Jade Emperor — 玉皇大帝 — Yu Huang Dadi.
The story is as follows.
Tudi Gong was generous beyond measure.
He gave blessings to everyone who asked.
He gave blessings to everyone who did not ask.
A deity descended to inspect the earth.
The deity saw Tudi Gong distributing blessings without limit.
The deity reported to the Jade Emperor.
The Jade Emperor investigated.
At the same time there was a woman who was to be killed on a false accusation.
She was innocent.
The Jade Emperor sent a deity to bring her to heaven.
The deity brought her.
The Jade Emperor gave her to Tudi Gong as his wife.
Her purpose: to watch over how many blessings Tudi Gong distributes.
She ensures they are not given unnecessarily.
This is why many people do not wish to pay respect to Tudi Po.
They fear she will prevent Tudi Gong from giving them what they want.
Many temples display Tudi Gong alone without Tudi Po for this reason.
This is recorded in the texts without judgment.
---
On the Tiger — 虎爺 — Hu Ye.
In many depictions of Tudi Gong, a tiger — 老虎 — laohu — crouches beneath his throne.
The tiger is called Hu Ye — 虎爺 — Tiger Grandfather.
He is the subordinate and mount of Tudi Gong.
He protects the deity and the temple grounds.
He is also worshipped separately in some southern Chinese and Taiwanese traditions.
Children who are sickly are sometimes presented to Hu Ye for healing.
The tiger sits beneath Tudi Gong's feet.
What is beneath the lowest god is still a tiger.
---
On his jurisdiction.
The jurisdiction — 管轄範圍 — guanxia fanwei — of Tudi Gong is strictly limited.
A bridge has its own Tudi Gong.
A street has its own Tudi Gong.
A temple has its own Tudi Gong.
A private house has its own Tudi Gong.
A field has its own Tudi Gong.
A market has its own Tudi Gong.
A grave has its own Tudi Gong.
The Tudi Gong of the bridge has no authority over the street.
The Tudi Gong of the street has no authority over the house.
Each governs only what is specifically under his care.
When a person moves from one place to another, they say farewell to the Tudi Gong of their old location.
They begin worshipping the Tudi Gong of their new location.
The new Tudi Gong takes responsibility for them.
The old one releases them.
---
On his duties.
He ensures crops grow — 莊稼生長 — zhuangjia shengzhang.
He ensures livestock are productive — 牲畜繁殖 — shengchu fanzhi.
He protects the village from disaster — 保護村莊 — baohu cunzhuang.
He manages matters of human life and death — 人的生死 — ren de shengsi — within his jurisdiction.
He protects graves — 保護墳墓 — baohu fenmu — from disturbance by demons.
He reports to the City God — 城隍 — Chenghuang — who reports upward to heaven.
Every family is monitored. Every birth and death in his jurisdiction is recorded. Every event of significance is noted.
The report goes upward through the celestial bureaucracy.
He is the first point of contact between humans and heaven.
---
On his shrines.
The shrine of Tudi Gong is always placed low — 低處 — di chu.
Near the ground.
Below the main altar of any temple.
Beside the door of a house.
At the base of a tree.
At the side of a road.
This is because he governs the earth beneath the feet.
He is closest to the ground.
His shrine is closest to the ground.
In Hong Kong — 香港 — Xianggang — small shrines for Tudi Gong are placed near the entrances of shops and restaurants at street level.
In Taiwan — 台灣 — Taiwan — there is an average of more than seven Tudi Gong temples per square kilometer in some districts.
In Indonesia — 印度尼西亞 — Yindunixiya — the Chinese diaspora built altars to Tudi Gong in their new homes. They brought him from their old villages. They placed him in their new ones. He traveled with them across the sea. He took responsibility for the new ground.
In rural China, villagers who had no temple built a shrine from three stones. Two stones at the base. One stone on top. Together they form the character Lei — 磊 — which means upright and honest. Which means built from solid things. Incense was burned at the stone shrine.
The stone answered.
---
On how a person becomes Tudi Gong.
Virtuous people may be appointed as Tudi Gong after death.
The City God — 城隍 — Chenghuang — reviews the dead within his jurisdiction.
Those who served the community with virtue in life are eligible.
The City God recommends them to higher authority.
If approved, the virtuous person is assigned a location to protect.
They become the Tudi Gong of that location.
They do not forget who they were.
They carry their virtue into the next form.
This is the mechanism by which the lowest gods are continuously renewed.
The pool of potential Tudi Gong is every person who ever lived and served their community well.
The pool is large.
It has never been empty.
---
On the problem of a failing Tudi Gong.
If misfortune visits a locality repeatedly, it is judged that the Tudi Gong has lost interest in his duty.
Or lost the power to fulfill it.
Or been corrupted.
In such cases, the local community replaces him.
A new patron is chosen.
The old tablet is removed.
A new tablet is installed.
The new Tudi Gong takes up the responsibility.
The old one goes wherever failing gods go.
This is recorded without speculation on where that might be.
---
On the festivals.
His birthday is the second day of the second lunar month — 二月初二 — er yue chu er.
This day is called Tou Ya — 頭牙 — the First Tooth Ceremony.
Offerings are made. Incense is burned. Prayers are spoken.
Farmers pray for good crops for the coming season.
The second major festival is the sixteenth day of the eighth lunar month — 八月十六 — ba yue shi liu.
In some traditions this falls on the same day as the Mid-Autumn Festival — 中秋節 — Zhongqiu Jie.
The rituals are combined.
The last ceremony of the year occurs on the sixteenth day of the twelfth lunar month — 十二月十六 — shi er yue shi liu.
It is called Wei Ya — 尾牙 — the Last Tooth Ceremony.
This ceremony is the last offering of the year.
It marks the end of the annual cycle of worship.
---
On the second and sixteenth of each month.
On the second day — 初二 — chu er — and the sixteenth day — 十六 — shi liu — of each lunar month, merchants make offerings to Tudi Gong.
This practice is called Zuo Ya — 做牙 — Doing the Tooth.
The name comes from the old practice of placing fresh meat beside the flagpole of a merchant's stall.
The flagpole was called a Ya Qi — 牙旗 — Tooth Flag.
The offering was called Zuo Ya.
The offering asks Tudi Gong for good business.
Good sales. Good relationships. No theft. No fire.
The merchants who do not make the Zuo Ya offering are considered to have disrespected their local deity.
This is noted.
---
On Tudi Gong and the dead.
Before a burial, the family of the deceased makes offerings to the Tudi Gong of the burial ground.
They thank him for allowing the body to be placed in his earth.
They ask him to protect the spirit.
They ask him to protect the grave from demons.
Some graves have a small Tudi Gong shrine placed before them.
He guards the grave the way he guards the living house.
He guards the dead the way he guards the living.
His jurisdiction does not end at the boundary between the living and the dead.
It covers both.
---
On Tudi Gong in Southeast Asia.
The Chinese diaspora carried Tudi Gong with them when they left China.
They carried him to Malaysia — 馬來西亞 — Malaixiya.
They carried him to Singapore — 新加坡 — Xinjiapo.
They carried him to Indonesia — 印度尼西亞 — Yindunixiya.
They carried him to Thailand — 泰國 — Taiguo.
They carried him to Vietnam — 越南 — Yuenan.
They carried him to Taiwan — 台灣 — Taiwan.
In Southeast Asia he is most commonly called Tua Pek Kong — 大伯公 — the Great Uncle.
He is the first deity the Chinese diaspora establishes in a new place.
Before the community builds a temple to any other god, they build one for Tua Pek Kong.
He marks the territory as Chinese territory.
He protects the newcomers until they are established.
He is the god of the displaced.
He is the god of those who carried their culture across the water.
He is the god of people who had to start again.
He received them in the new ground the way he received them in the old.
---
On the proverb.
There is a proverb in Chinese.
It says: You tu si you cai — 有土斯有財.
It means: where there is land, there is wealth.
It explains why Tudi Gong is also worshipped as a god of wealth — 財神 — Caishen — in urban areas.
The land is where everything grows from.
The land is what everything is built on.
The man who owns the land holds the foundation.
The man who has Tudi Gong's protection holds the foundation even if he owns nothing.
END OF CHAPTER FIFTEEN