What are the door gods in China?

Door gods are the gods who follow folk customs in Taoism in China. It is said that putting two gatekeepers on the gate will scare away all monsters.

The folk belief in door gods in China has a long history. From the pre-Qin period, the door gods were worshipped from the emperor to Shu Ren.

According to Shan Hai Jing, there is a Dushuo Mountain in the vast sea, and there is a big peach tree on the mountain with branches winding for three thousand miles. There is a gate of hell in the northeast of Zhi Tao. There are two gods at the gate, one is Shen Tu and the other is Lei Yu. They guard the ghost gate and specialize in monitoring the ghosts that harm people. Once you find them, tie them up with a rope made of reeds and throw them to the tiger at the foot of the mountain.

So the Yellow Emperor paid tribute to them. /kloc-When he was 0/8 years old, he worshipped them, painted portraits of Shen Tu, Lei Yu and the tiger on the door, and hung a reed rope. If there is a fierce ghost, Er Shen will catch it and feed it to the tiger.

Later, the view that Shen Tu, Lei Yu, Hu Weisuo and Taomu were ghosts and gods was handed down by people.

Peach is a plant that people have worshipped for a long time. People think that peach is a symbol of longevity, so it can eliminate disasters and avoid evil spirits. The tiger is the king of beasts, and it can "knock down the ghost eater", so "draw a tiger at the door, and ghosts dare not enter".

This belief has been passed down to this day. Therefore, on New Year's Eve, people often put pictures of Er Shen and the tiger on their doors, and hang peach branches or peach people or reed ropes to ward off evil spirits.

Besides Shen Tu and Lei Yu, there were Zhong Kui in Tang Dynasty, and Qin Qiong and Weichi Gong after Yuan Dynasty.

In the old days, Suzhou people also worshipped Wen Qiao in the Jin Dynasty, or General Wen and Marshal Yue Fei under Emperor Dongyue. Taoism also worships dragons and white tigers, and some regions believe in Zhao Yun, Zhao Gongming, Sun Bin and Pang Juan.

In other places, door gods are divided into three categories, namely, learning door gods, martial arts door gods and praying door gods.

The literati painted some civil servants dressed in royal robes, such as Tianguan, Xian Tong, Liu Haichan and Empress Matsuko. The door gods of martial arts are all the images of military commanders. Although they appeared in different times and geographical backgrounds with Weichi Gong, they are still widely read up to now, with, Zhong Kui and Weichi Gong having the deepest influence. Here and Weichi Gong appeared after the Tang Dynasty, and also originated from the legend that they became door gods.

According to legend, Qin Qiong and Weichi Gong were two generals around Li Shimin, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. On one occasion, Li Shimin was ill, and heard a ghost calling outside the door, so he couldn't sleep all night. So he asked the two generals to stand by with weapons, and there was no ghost harassment that night.

Later, Li Shimin thought it was too difficult for the two generals to keep vigil every night, so he drew them and put them on the door. Later, it worked. As a result, this move began to spread among the people, and Weichi Gong became a keeper.

After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the door gods of military commanders all over the country were different. For example, the door gods worshipped by Henan people are Zhao Yun and Ma Chao of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period; The door gods worshipped by Hebei people are Ma Chao and Ma Dai; Northwest Hebei was dedicated to Xue and Gaisu in Tang Dynasty. The door gods worshipped by Shaanxi people are Sun Bin and Pang Juan, Huang San Taihe and Yang Wuxiang; The goalkeeper worshipped by Chongqing people is Qin Liangyu, the famous female coach of "White Pole Army" in the late Ming Dynasty. Most of the posters posted in Hanzhong are Meng Liang and Jiao Zan.

In addition to Qin Qiong and Weichi Gong, there are Jie Zhen, Anta, Lv Fang and Guo Sheng in China's famous novel Water Margin.

Because the quadrangles in Beijing are very big, the area often extends to the hutongs behind. Therefore, in Beijing's houses, there is also a kind of gatekeeper who sticks to the back door. There is only one caretaker at the back door of Beijing residential building, because the back door is usually single. Who are you posting to? Most of them were Zhong Kui, the ghost catcher, and Wei Zhi, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.

As we all know, Zhong Kui catches ghosts and gods, and it is also recorded in writing that Kevin·Z became the back door guard. In the novel The Journey to the West, it is said that after Wei Zhi, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, beheaded the old dragon king of Jinghe, the ghost of the old dragon king felt very wronged and went into the inner palace every night to beg for the life of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin.

Said with Weichi Gong two generals, standing outside the palace. The ghost of the Old Dragon King dared not walk under Shuang Bian's double mace. They turned to the back door of the palace and smashed bricks and tiles.

At this time, Weichi Gong and I were already at the front door to meet them, so the Prime Minister had to personally hold the Dragon Sword and guard the back door at night. With the passage of time, the ghost of the old dragon king gradually declined, and the dragon sword in Wei Zhi's hand was no longer held high, but stood aside.

Wei Zhi was originally a virtuous civil servant in The Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties. He was the first Taoist priest of Sanqing view in Erxianzhuang, Lucheng County, and was later regarded as a door god by the people. His image is also full of heroism.

There are door gods everywhere on the doors of every household in Beijing. For example, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Taoist priests burned lanterns, Zhao Gongming, Yao Qi and Ma Wu, anti-Jin heroes Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, and the most lovely thing is that the door gods worshipped in Miyun area in the north of Beijing are actually husband and wife: Yang Zongbao and Mu.

Most of the door gods posted in Beijing residential buildings are taken from heroes in China's classic works. These heroes, who are superb in martial arts, charitable and loyal to the country, are well known to women and children, have a wide influence and are deeply worshipped by the people.