In China, folk worship prevails everywhere. A good example is the character of “fu” (meaning blessing) which is stuck on the right middle of front doors during Spring Festival. There is also the pious bow students make at the Wenchang Temple before the College Entrance Examination, the picture of the god of longevity used on birthday celebrations for the aged, the scroll hung above doorframes in farmhouses bearing the words “enjoying happiness everywhere”, and the eternally burning joss sticks and candles placed in front of the god of wealth in shops and restaurants. The folk worship of gods of blessing, prosperity, longevity, happiness and wealth is common in every corner of Chinese people’s lives.
The god of blessing started from the admiration of ancestors for Jupiter, a legendary master in charge of agriculture. Ancient people considered that the places shone on by Jupiter enjoyed good luck and blessing. Therefore, more than two thousand years ago there were already temples built by governments to offer sacrifices to Jupiter. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the image of the god of blessing changed. A prefectural governor of the Dao state called Yang Cheng was reputed to be the god of blessing. Previously, the Dao state was home to many short people and the royal court demanded that they serve as eunuchs. After Yang Cheng assumed office, he couldn’t bear to see the pain of common families being separated forever, so he risked death to submit a written statement to the royal authority. Finally, the practice was abolished. People recalled with deep gratitude his kindness and respected him as the god of blessing. After the Song and Yuan dynasties (960-1368), as the influence of Taoism deepened, the sky officer, one of three posts in the divine system of Taoism which include sky, ground and water, became the god of blessing. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), this image basically hasn’t changed significantly.
The god of prosperity came from the worship of the prosperity star by our predecessors. The prosperity star used to be one of the six stars in the Wenchang Temple and later evolved into the Wenchang Star with responsibility for prosperity. After the imperial examination system emerged in the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907), ordinary people could change their own fates by studying to secure official positions. As a result, the prosperity star came to be particularly admired. As the imperial examination featured in written articles, the star was also called the “civil star”. Although the god of prosperity was related to career prospects, becoming an official was, after all, an ambition for only a small minority and ordinary people were much more concerned about offspring. Then, in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the god of prosperity became analogous to the God Zhang who was responsible for sending offspring. The picture of the god of prosperity we now see is of a ministry councilor embracing a baby. At present, the worship of the god of prosperity is mostly embodied in joss sticks and candles burning at the Wenchang Temple. Whenever there is an important exam, people go to offer sacrifices to the god of prosperity in the hope of being blessed.
