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.'' Encyclopædia Britannica''
"Ts'ai Shen"
/ref> 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

* {{commonscat-inline, God of Wealth Chinese gods Fortune gods Holiday characters Deified Chinese people