Caishen () is the
mythological figure
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...
worshipped in the
Chinese folk religion and
Taoism. He has been identified with many historical figures, viewed as his embodied forms, among whom
Zhao Gongming (,
Wade–Giles: ''Chao Kung-ming''; also known as Zhao Gong
Yuanshuai "Lord Zhao the Marshal"),
Fan Li, and
Bi Gan.
A large temple of Caishen has been built in the 2000s in
Zhouzhi
Zhouzhi County () is a county under the administration of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, China. It is the most spacious but least densely populated county-level division of Xi'an, and also contains the city's southernmost and westernmost ...
,
Xi'an,
Shaanxi.
Caishen's name is often invoked during the
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...
celebrations.
He is often depicted riding a black
tiger and holding a golden rod. He may also be depicted with an iron tool capable of turning stone and
iron into
gold.
Historical personages
Several versions of Caishen's incarnations' political affiliation and way of deification are circulated.
It is unclear whether they are genuine historical figures, though most of the stories agree that Caishen's most popular incarnation lived during the early
Qin dynasty. Most probably it represents the merging of several heterogeneous legends, the one of Bi Gan being the most ancient.
Legend has it that Bi Gan had a wife with the surname
Chen. His son was Quan (). After Bi Gan was put to death by his nephew
King Zhou of Shang, Bi Gan's wife and son escaped into the woods. His death eventually marked the collapse of the
Shang dynasty. Later on, Quan was honoured as the ancestor of all
Lins by
King Wu of Zhou
King Wu of Zhou () was the first king of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BC and ended three years later in 1043 BC.
King Wu's ancestral name was ...
.
Notwithstanding the above, there is another legendary character of the Chinese God of Wealth which is generally known as Caibo Xingjun () amongst Chinese communities. Li Guizu () was born in the
Zichuan District in
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
Province and held position as a country magistrate. Li Guizu contributed significantly to the district, whilst people built a temple to worship Li Guizu after his death. The late Li Guizu was then conferred the title Caibo Xingjun by the Wude Emperor of
Tang dynasty.
The Caishen of all directions
Caishen sometimes appears as a
door god in
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
and
Taoist temples, usually in partnership with the
Burning-Lamp Taoist.
Buddhism
Though Caishen is a Chinese folk deity, many
Pure Land Buddhists venerate him as a buddha. In
esoteric Buddhist schools he is identified as
Jambhala Jambhala (also known as Dzambhala, Dzambala, Zambala or Jambala) is the God of Fortune and Wealth and appropriately a member of the Jewel Family (see Ratnasambhava). He is sometimes equated with the Hindu deity Kubera. Jambhala is also believed to ...
.
Notes
External links
*
{{Authority control
Chinese gods
Fortune gods
Holiday characters
Deified Chinese men