This time, let’s talk about this City God. There are City God's Temple in many places, especially in Shanghai, where the City God's Temple is the most famous. Generally, when traveling to Shanghai, the Bund and the City God's Temple are must-see places. So what kind of god is the City God worshiped in the City God Temple?
Let’s talk about the word “city god” first. The city refers to the city wall, and the god refers to the moat. As for the moat, if there is no water, it is just a trench, which is called Huang; if there is water, it is called Chi, which means a city, a city, or a city. That's how it came about. Therefore, the one with water in the moat is called the city, and the one without water is called the city god.
The origin of the City God is very early. Sacrifice to the City God began in the Zhou Dynasty. At that time, at the end of the year, a grand sacrificial activity would be held. The book recorded, "The Emperor's Big Laba", that is, eight kinds of gods were sacrificed in Laba. Alas, so the twelfth month of our lunar calendar also It’s called the twelfth lunar month. So who are these eight kinds of gods? The first one is Xianxi, who is Shennong; the second one is Sisi, which is Houji, the god of agriculture; then there is the farmer; and there is the watchmaker, this one is The wood at the junction of wells and fields is used as a mark; the fifth is cat tiger, cat and tiger; the sixth is square, which is the river embankment; and then there are water barriers and insects, a total of eight species. Then this Shui Yong is the City God. The water is the moat, and the water is the city wall.
In ancient times, in people's minds, the City God was the god of nature. Therefore, wherever there was a city, there was the City God who was in charge of the city. Therefore, the City God temple was built to worship him. According to the research of historians, the first City God Temple was built in Wuhu, Wuhu in 239 AD during the Three Kingdoms period. Alas, it is also known as the first City God Temple in China. You can go and see it if you have the opportunity. Later, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were more and more records about worshiping the City God in this document. After the Song Dynasty, the City God began to be personified. Originally, the City God was a virtual god, and he was worshiped in various places. But now it is different. The City Gods in various places have become different people. In fact, the City Gods in various places are all made up of The local people elected themselves, so the selection criteria are loyal martyrs who died for their country, or upright and intelligent historical figures.
arrived at and in the Ming Dynasty, which was even more remarkable. Zhu Yuanzhang began to confer knighthoods on the city gods. The capital at that time was Yingtian Mansion, which was Nanjing. He named the city god of Yingtian Mansion as "Chengtianjianguo Simin promoted to Fu Mingling King". Ah, this is the first-class king, and there are Bianzhou, Haozhou, Jiuzhou and so on. Zhou, Hezhou, Chuzhou, alas, the so-called land of Longxing, he also gave the city gods of these places the title of king. The other prefectural city gods are all dukes of the second rank, Wei Linggong; further down, the state city gods are named Wei Linghou, the third rank; the county town gods are called "Xianyou Bo", which is the fourth rank. In the Qing Dynasty, the city gods of Beijing, Nanjing, Xi'an and Fuzhou were also named "Capital Gods". What is a capital god? The capital god is the duke, Wei Linggong. This is at the provincial level, ah, in charge of a province. Further down, there is the Fucheng God, which is the Marquis, the Marquis of Appeasement, in charge of a government; and then there is the County City God, the earl, Xianyou Bo, who is in charge of a county.
As for the city god, he was the god who guarded the city in the beginning. After he became personified, he had new functions. That is, he was responsible for the affairs of the underworld in this area. Alas, the county magistrates, state magistrates, etc. appointed by this government should be responsible for the matters in the world. The City God is in charge of matters in the underworld. At the same time, he was also equipped with many subordinates, such as Wenjianjian, Wujianjian, the great gods of various divisions, General Ganliu, General Fan Xie, General Ox and Horse, alas, that is, the bull-headed horse-faced one, and the Japanese travel god, Night Wanderer, General Shackles, etc. You see, there is an article in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" called "Testing the City God", which says that if you die, you can still pass the exam and become the City God.
As we just said, the City God is elected by the local people, so who are the City Gods in various places? Let me tell you a few. The city god of Wuhu we just talked about was the famous general Xu Sheng of Soochow. Because Xu Sheng was guarding Wuhu at that time to resist Cao Wei. At the same time, he governed Wuhu very well, so after his death he became It’s the City God of Wuhu. As for the city gods in Hangzhou, there are two. One is Wen Tianxiang , alas, this is a national hero, and the second one is Zhou Xin, an upright official of the Ming Dynasty. There are three city gods in Shanghai. The old city god is Huo Guang from the Han Dynasty. The second city god is a politician, writer and calligrapher in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties - Qin Yubo . The new city god is a famous anti-British general and national hero in the Qing Dynasty - Chen Huacheng. . As for the City God of Beijing, he was also Wen Tianxiang at the beginning, but in the late Ming Dynasty, he slowly changed his name to Yangjiao Mountain. Yangjiao Mountain is Yang Jisheng, and Jiaoshan is his nickname. He once impeached the traitor Yan Song was tortured to death as a result of "Five Rape and Ten Deadly Sins". He was fearless of power, upright and loyal, so the people of Beijing later elected him as the City God. If you go to Beijing now, in Dazhiqiao Hutong outside the gate of Xuanwu , there is also the Yangjiaoshan Former Residence.
Dazhiqiao Hutong outside Xuanwumen
Yangjiao Mountain Temple
