The old earth temple and its couplets

The Old Earth Temple

1934: The Earth Temple in Lishui, Yunnan (interior)

1909: The Earth Temple in Badong, Hubei

1909: Earth Temple in Changyang, Hubei Province

1909: Earth Temple in Yichang, Hubei Province

1910: Earth Temple in Daningchang, Sichuan

1922: Shaowu Earth Temple in Fujian Province Temple

1929: Tutu Temple in Meixian, Guangdong

1930: Tutu Temple in Xinbin, Liaoning

1934: Tutu Temple in Lishui, Yunnan (outdoor scene)

1934: Tutu Temple in Lishui, Yunnan (outdoor scene)

1936: Tutu Temple in Fushun

1937: Yangzhou Tutu Temple

1939: The Earth Temple in Chaoyang Town, Jilin

1940: The Earth Temple in Qingyan Town, Guiyang, Guizhou

The Earth Temple is a place (temple) where folk worship the "God of Earth". There are more small-scale private temples established spontaneously by the people. Buildings are distributed throughout the countryside. According to the custom of the Han people, everyone is born with a "temple king's land" - that is, the land temple to which they belong, similar to everyone's place of origin; after death, when a person performs a salvation ceremony, that is, when he goes to the ashram, he will obtain the land temple to which he belongs. The birthday of the Earth God is the second day of February. In the old days, officials and people went to the Earth Temple to burn incense and worship.

Due to their low divine status and low-level beliefs, most earth temples are simple in shape. The simple ones are placed under a tree or on the side of the road. They use two stones as the wall and one as the roof to become the earth temple, commonly known as the earth temple. "Lei" type earth temple. There are also small temples that are simply built with cement or bricks.

The God of the Earth, also known as "Eunuch of the Earth", "Gong of the Earth", "Lord of the Earth", or "Earth" for short, is one of the most common gods in folk belief. It is popular in Han areas and some areas influenced by the Han people. The Jiangnan region is no exception to the cultural influence of ethnic minorities.

As the saying goes: "People cannot stand without soil, and cannot eat without grain." Land is vast and boundless, carrying all things, generating wealth for people to use, and is the material basis for people's survival, which motivates people to Thank it; but sometimes it seems to be angry and unwilling to bear the load, knocking down and destroying things on the ground, making people afraid of it. Therefore, people have worshiped the land since ancient times, respectfully calling it "hou soil" or "earth god", building temples and worshiping on time to show their inner reverence and repayment of merit. In traditional Chinese culture, offering sacrifices to the earth god means offering sacrifices to the earth, which means praying for blessings, ensuring peace, and ensuring harvests.

The worship of land gods among Han people, including those in the Jiangnan area, has gone through a long process: from worshiping the natural attributes of the land and its influence on social life to worshiping the authority of the land gods in managing the land.

In the beginning, people regarded the land as a natural god, worshiped the natural properties and functions of the land, and directly offered sacrifices to the land.

In fact, land is a lower-status god among the Taoist gods.

"Somewhat impressive; he is an official." Horizontal criticism, "dominating one side". This is a couplet often written in the Tutu Temple in the old days. This wonderful couplet vividly outlines the "divine personality" and characteristics of the earth god. Another couplet:

"It doesn't matter whether it's rice wine or white wine; roosters and hens must be fat." Hengpiao, "just bring it."

Connected with the first couplet, it vividly illustrates that the status of the land god is humble and the requirements for offerings are not high. However, after all, he is the "god" who "dominates one side" and cannot be neglected, just like in the human world. Both the security chief and the armor chief cannot afford to offend, so there is another clever couplet:

Don’t laugh at me for being old and incompetent, just make a wish and try;

Even if you are rich and kind, , look at it without burning incense!

Therefore, whenever important folk sacrificial activities are held to pray for blessings and ward off disasters, the earth god must be placed on the altar and invited to be present.

From the evolution of the Han folk's worship of land mentioned above, we can clearly see that the Han folk mold the statues of land gods completely based on the human body's institutions, ethics and morals. That’s why the land god was given a wife, and the earth god was regarded as the same as the officials in the Yang world, who needed to be replaced. When the city developed rapidly and the city god worshiped the city god, the earth god became the subordinate god of the city god. This is a very interesting phenomenon in the evolution and development of land worship.

In folklore, the images of land gods come in various shapes and personalities.

There is a wise land god, a land god who is addicted to gambling, and a land man who chases his wife...

Although the temple has little regard for life and death. The Tutu Temple, also known as Fude Temple and Bogong Temple, is a place and temple spontaneously established by the people to worship the "God of the Earth". Most of the Tutu Temples dedicated to the God of the Earth are relatively simple, and there are also some large temples with a statue of the Earth God in the hall. who. It is the most widely distributed small sacrificial building and can be found in rural areas of Jiangnan and other Han areas. The birthday of the Earth God is the second day of February. In the old days, both officials and common people went to Tutu Temple to burn incense and worship. The Tudong is also the God of Wealth worshiped by businessmen. On the second and sixteenth day of every month, businessmen have to worship the Tudong, which is called "doing" (or making teeth). The second day of the second lunar month is called "Tou Ning", and the 16th day of December is called "Tou Ning". Nowadays, the custom of burning incense in the Tutu Temple on the first and half of the first lunar month during the Chinese New Year still exists among Jiangnan folk.

The God of the Land is a highly functional god. As the "local administration" god of a township, he protects the peace and tranquility of the township. Some people think that he belongs to the city god and is in charge of the "household registration" of the deceased in the township. , is the administrative god of the underworld. The God of the Land has many responsibilities:

1. Produce and nourish all things: The land carries all things and nourishes all things. It grows grains to nourish the people. This is the reason why the Chinese love the land and worship the land. "Taiping Yulan" quoted "Book of Rites" as saying, "The country is based on the people, and food is the first thing for the people. Therefore, when the country is founded, the monarch and the people first order the establishment of a community. The land is vast and there are many valleys, and it is not possible to offer sacrifices all over the country. Therefore, it is established within the national city. Sacrifice it on the altar."

2. Managing the local area: Since the Eastern Jin Dynasty, with the gradual improvement of the feudal country’s bureaucracy from the central to the grassroots level, the land god has also evolved into the lowest level among the Taoist gods who can only manage the local area. Little god. He ensures the safety of the homes and families in his hometown, the prosperity of his family, the prosperity of his livestock, and his fairness to people. Therefore, there are often couplets in Tutu temples in the Jiangnan area: "My father-in-law is fair in his actions, and my mother-in-law speaks with sincerity."

3. Underworld administration: It is a custom in many areas of the Han nationality that everyone is born with a "temple king's land" - that is, the land temple to which they belong, similar to everyone's place of origin; after a person dies, Taoist priests perform salvation During the ceremony (that is, doing the Taoist temple), they will go to the local temple where they belong to perform sacrificial activities. Or the family members of a newly deceased person go to the Earth Temple and report the name, birth date and other information of the deceased in order to ask the Earth God to guide the deceased.

People in the Jiangnan area, as well as southern Fujian and Taiwan, believe that the land god can bless agricultural harvests, businessmen can do business smoothly, travelers have safe journeys, and even protect tombs from evil spirits.

In the folk world, although the land is a lower-status god among the Taoist gods, it belongs to the grassroots gods. It has a small official position, but it manages a lot of things. Within the jurisdiction, all weddings and funerals, natural and man-made disasters, and roosters, dogs, and robbers must be involved. Moreover, the land god looks like a kind old man and is relatively close to people, so people like to confide in him and pray to him.

Zhong Fulan

November 16, 2011 in Shanghai

Tu Tu Temple Couplet

My father-in-law is very fair, and my mother-in-law is caring.

Don’t laugh at my old age and incompetence, try making a wish; even if you are rich and kind, don’t burn incense and have a look.

Don’t laugh at the small gods in my temple, don’t come and burn incense and try it; stop relying on your power and power, if you want to do evil, look at it.

I, the old man, go to Nanmu and Beichou from time to time; in the upper village and lower village, the villagers only come once every year. (The Tutu Temple before liberation)

Mother-in-law should not wear modern red to be wary of spies’ plans; father-in-law should keep a beard to prevent the security guard from arresting young men.

Everyone in this street is laughing, but my second brother never makes a sound. (A Tutu Temple next to the brothel)

It doesn’t matter whether it’s rice wine or white wine, as long as the roosters and hens are fat. (A land temple that accepts all tributes as ordered)

If I had a spirit, I wouldn’t have piles of dust everywhere and pieces of bones and muscles falling off. Don’t have any delusions. You must know that diligence and thrift are all possible, and laziness is nothing. .

(sarcasm of the Earth Temple)