Jerome Yuchien's Ph.D Thesis
Chapter Three: the Land God in Chinese Popular Religion (part I)
I. Introduction:
Divine stones and trees are most often worshipped in Taiwan as the Land God. The Land God (Tho.-tt-kong or Tudi Gong) is the most renowned deity in Chinese popular religion. He can be seen almost in every family and village, along roads, on the banks of canals, etc (cf. Chamberlayne 1966:167; Brim 1974; Werner 1977:528).(note.1) For instance, older residents of Tainan City claim that in former times every neighbourhood had its own Land God, and evidence gathered by Kristofer Schipper appears to bear them out (Schipper 1975; cf. Wolf 1974:134). John C. Ferguson says that: "the most persistent type of religious worship in China is that offered to the spirits of the Earth" (qtd. in Day 1974:59).(note.2) In Yilan County, there are 67 kinds of deities venerated in 545 temples (and shrines) registered themselves in the county goverment. Among these temples, 168 are dedicated to the Land God. There are, I guess, more than two hundred Land God shrines which are not registered. Therefore, it is evident that he is the most popular deity in Yilan, and, possibly, in Taiwan.
The God is conceived of as in charge of a specific geographically defined jurisdiction. But even though the locality he controls is small,(note.3) he has a specific place in Chinese popular religion and is universally worshipped throughout Chinese societies. Thus arose the proverb, "The Land God is worshipped at the both sides of the field (Chhan-tau Chhan-bue Tho.-ti-kong)," attesting to the profusion of small shrines dotted amongst the fields and rice paddies.
Although not as powerful as the Heavenly Emperor or the Royal Lords, the deity is in charge of many things. Every house has its own Land God as guardian of the family.(note.4) Businessmen worship him for wealth and to guard their riches. Farmers worship him for agricultural fertility and harvests. Those who are in mountain areas adore him, because he is regarded as a god of mountains (Suan-sin).
Moreover, the graves of the properly buried and remembered each have their own tutelary deity. Although the deity is also said to be a kind of Land God, he is formally known, according to the title inscribed on the stone tablet beside every grave, as "Houtu" or "the Earth Governor" (Feuchtwang 1992:95; see figure 112).(note.5) When every year offerings are placed at the graves of ancestors, the Earth Governor receives side offerings accompanied by gold spirit-money (Feuchtwang 1992:49).
II. Names and Images of the God:
According to Yang (1961:97), the Cult of the Land God was introduced in the first century BCE. Schipper (1977:662-64) maintains that the indroduction derives from the politico- religious mass movement of that time. This mass movement tried to realise the ideal society of the past in a new world order based on the principle of Great Equality (Taiping).
The official name of the Land God is "Hok-tek cheng-sin" ("Fude Zhengshen"), which is translated as "Orthodox Spirit of Good Merit" by Schipper (1977:660).(note.6) However, he is colloquially called "Pak-kung" by Hakka people (Suenari 1985:36) and "Tho.-tt-kong" by Hollo people in Taiwan. That the Land God is referred to as "kong" might mean therefore that his image is always depicted as an old man. Many Chinese male deities are often referred to by this title.
There is no consensus among foreign scholars for the translation of the term Tho.-ti-kong (Tudi Gong). It is translated as "the earth god" (e.g. Ahern 1973:6; Fried 1974:131; Maspero 1981:3; Suenari 1985:36), "the Earth God" (e.g. Diamond 1969:99; Brim 1974:98; Wei & Coutanceau 1976:28; Werner 1977:413f), "the Earth Gods" (e.g. Berkovits and others 1969:77), "the local earth gods" (e.g. Baity 1975:58), "the local god" (e.g. Smith (1899) 1969:138; Bredon & Mitrophanom 1927:456), "the Place Gods" (e.g. Sangren 1987:61). "the God of the locality" (e.g. Burkhardt 1958b:151), "the Locality God" (e.g. Wolf 1974:134; Feuchtwang 1992:47) "the gods of the Locality" (e.g. Maspero 1981:110), "the Tutelary Deity" (e.g. Baity 1975:273), "land gods" (e.g. Hsiao Kung-chuan 1960:275f). Moreover, Ling Shun-sheng translates it as "the local deities" (1967:133), "the god of earth" (1967:133) and "local divinities" (1967:136) to indicate the same deity in an article. Chamberlayne translates it as "the earth-god" (1966:167), the local gods (1966:166), "the local earth gods" (1966:164) and "the god of the soil (1966:167) to indicate the same deity in a article also. Some scholars even reserve the Hollo term "Tho.-ti-kong" to describe the god (e.g. Ahern 1973:7; Wang Shih-ch'ing 1974:81; Harrell 1981:131). These English translations are all valid, and indeed, they reflect different understandings of this deity.
In Taiwan, "Tho.-ti-kong" is sometimes thought of as a single being for all localities, and sometimes as a class of beings each of which rules over a particular piece of land. However, the most important function of the God is to be in charge of a piece of land or sometimes related to the land as a whole. Therefore, I shall translated the term "Tho.-ti-kong" as "the Land God" and it will be capitalised hereinafter.(note.7)
The Land God can be worshipped with a stone or tree representing him and without any image or deity statue. However, if being worshipped with an image, he is usually depicted in pictures and in statues as a mild-faced, kind elder with a long white beard (e.g. Wei & Coutanceau 1976:28f; Proksch 1984:39; Sangren 1987:124),(note.8) wearing a round cap and the costume of local elder (Weller 1987:39).(note.9) Moreover, He is sometimes portrayed as holding a long walking stick in the right hand and nothing in his left hand, some with a long walking stick in the right hand and a golden ingot (guan-po) in left hand, some with a jade sceptre (Ju-i) in the right hand and a golden ingot in his left hand.(note.10)
I asked some respondents if there is any preference among these diverse images. They told me that it depends on the area the believers inhabit and the cult to which they adhere. For example, if the God is worshipped as the Earth Governor (Houtu; see figure 112), a statue with a long walking stick is preferred as they believe that without a stick to help him walking, the old God would be reluctant to patrol. But if the Land God is identified with a guardian of business or a god of wealth, a statue with a golden ingot and a jade sceptre is favoured because both objects in Chinese culture symbolise wealth (Schipper 1977:660).
Schipper also identifies the round cap that the God wears as "Yuanwai Mao" of wealthy country elders with no official rank but great influence.(note.11) The portrayal is typical to the traditional local leaders whose virtue and experience have earned them the respect of all (1977:660-64). We might say that because respect for the aged is an important value in Chinese social ideology, in order to pay respect to the Land God much beloved by adherents, they moulded him as a kind, old local elder with a round cap.
However, there are some divergences. For example, some statues of the Land God wear the official hat and official robe. I was told in some field sites that as long as an official who was born in this locality governed the Land God, the statue of the Land God of the locality is permitted to wear official clothes.
The God also appears riding on the back of a tiger (cf. Wei & Coutanceau 1976:28f). I was told that only the Land God who governs the mountain areas is depicted as tiger-riding. In addition, at the ritual of the universal salvation (pudu), the God is constructed with bamboo and paper as brightly coloured, human-sized images with fearsome faces standing directly in front of the temple that hosts the ritual (Weller 1987:18).
Once the specific function of the Land God is decided, people go to a deity statue sculpture workshop. They explain to the sculptor what image they prefer. The sculptor, then, mold a statue according to a image book. The image book consists of the statue images of most popular deities.
III. Distinctive Traits of the God:
There are some traits that distinguish the Land God from other Chinese deities. The most important of these is that he is territorially bound.
1, Territorially Bound:
There are some Chinese sayings such as "the God at the East end of the village is helpless at the West" (Burkhardt 1958a:155) or "if the God of the Soil of the east mountain goes to the west mountain, he will not be efficacious", so that "the T'u-ti at the east end is powerless at the west end" (Chamberlayne 1966:171). Nonetheless, the saying that "The Land God is worshipped at both sides of the field (Chhan-thau Chhan-bue Tho.-ti-kong)", on the one hand, portrays the popularity of the God, but on the other hand, it illustrates the fact that the God of one part of a locality has no control over the rest of that locality.(note.12) Actually, the Land God is conceived of as in charge of a specific geographically defined jurisdiction, within which his duties are usually compared by informants to those of a "local policeman" or "local junior official" (cf. Jordan 1994:153).(note.13)
Because of the territorial boundedness of the God, usually he is worshipped only by those people belonging to his district and not by outsiders. Whoever moves to a new district must accept the duties of the cult there, and whoever leaves a district is likewise relieved of any and all cult responsibilities.
2, Office instead of Person:
It is of interest that the term "Land God" or "Fude Zhengshen" is a title of office and not the honourific title of a single specific person. Usually, even though worshippers do not care much about the distinction, for the ritual specialists and people who take more than a casual interest in temple affairs, the divine titles of deities can be commonly divided into two types, personal titles and titles of office. The divine title such as "Fuyou Dijun" ("the Trusted and Helpful Imperial Lord") for the god Lyu Dongbin, "Kaizhang Shengwang" ("First Divine Patriarch of Zhangzhou Prefecture") for the god Chen Yuanguang, "Zhongtan Yuanshuai" ("Guardian of the Central Altar") for the deity Li Nozha, are all titles for specific persons. They are usually thought of as particular deified persons with saintly qualities, the emphasis being on the deity's moral character and good works (cf. Wolf 1974:140f).
On the other hand, there are titles of office, the most notable of which are "Tian'gong", "Chenghuang" and "Fude Zhengshen". These titles are explicitly compared with the imperial bureaucracy and often treated as administrative positions that can be occupied by different people. Any person may be elected to an office after his death. There are many legends telling of changes made in who should be deified as the Land God, or the City God. The previous one was either promoted or demoted and a new person took over (cf. Werner 1977:528; Cohen 1987:291). Partly due to this specific trait, there are so many different legends delineating the origins of the Land God (Baity 1975:245). I shall narrate these legends in the following sections of this chapter and in the next chapters.
