Fude Zhengshen ('',Keith G. Stevens, Chinese Mythological Gods, Oxford University Press, USA, (November 8, 2001), pages 60, 68, 70, lit. Righteous God of Virtue and Blessing) is a God of Prosperity in

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...

. He is often considered to be similar as

Tu Di Gong Tudigong ( "Lord of the Soil and the Ground") or Tudishen ( "God of the Soil and the Ground"), also known simply as Tudi ( "Soil-Ground") is a tutelary deity of a locality and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion and Tao ...

(Earth Deities) or the name was considered as an official title of the later, but actually both of them are deities of different ranking. As one of the oldest deity by age, he is often considered as subordinate of

Houtu Hòutǔ () or Hòutǔshén (), also Hòutǔ Niángniáng (in Chinese either or ), otherwise called Dimǔ () or Dimǔ Niángniáng (), is the deity of deep earth and soil in Chinese religion and mythology. Houtu is the overlord of all the Tu Di ...

.Yayasan kelenteng sam po kong semarang. ''Dewa-Dewi Kelenteng''.

Legends

One of the legend said that there was a man who lived under the reign of

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 ...

; his name was ''Zhang Fu De''. He was born at 1143 BC on the second year of King Wu's reign, on the second day of second month of Chinese Calendar. He was a bright yet kind hearted as a kid.Purnama. 2008

From http://www.hoktekbio.com/ftcs.htm . When he was 7 years old, he already learned old Chinese Classics and empathized the poor.Anonimous. "Kitab Suci Amurva Bumi (Hok Tek Ceng Sin)". Zhang Fu De became a government tax officer when he was 36 and he was a wise and good officer and people loved him. He died when he was 102 years old at 1042 BC on the reign of

King Cheng of Zhou King Cheng of Zhou (), personal name Ji Song (姬誦), was the second king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1042–1021 BCE or 1042/35–1006 BCE. His parents were King Wu of Zhou and Queen Yi Jiang (邑姜). King Cheng w ...

. But after three days, his deceased body had not rotten and amazed all the people. His position was taken by Wei Chao that oppressed people by his greedy and cruelty character. Many people left their homeland and farms, and they wished to had a wise new officer just like Zhang Fu De. They worshiped him and called him Fude Zhengshen. One poor family had wished to built an altar for him, but they just could afford four pieces of

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

s to built. They used three bricks as the walls and one as the roof, wrote down the name of Fude Zhengshen inside it and use a broken crock as

tripod A tripod is a portable three-legged frame or stand, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The three-legged (triangular stance) design provides good stability against gravitational loads ...

to put the incense. Unexpectedly, the poor family became rich and many people turned to believed on Zhang Fu De; built a temple for him. A poem said that the kindness of Zhang Fu De moved

Jade Emperor The Jade Emperor or Yudi ( or , ') in Chinese culture, traditional religions and myth is one of the representations of the first god ( '). In Daoist theology he is the assistant of Yuanshi Tianzun, who is one of the Three Pure Ones, the three ...

whose in turned sent

Ba Xian The Eight Immortals () are a group of legendary '' xian'' ("immortals") in Chinese mythology. Each immortal's power can be transferred to a vessel () that can bestow life or destroy evil. Together, these eight vessels are called the "Covert Eight ...

to picked him up to heaven.

Cult

Both Fude Zhengshen and

Tudigong Tudigong ( "Lord of the Soil and the Ground") or Tudishen ( "God of the Soil and the Ground"), also known simply as Tudi ( "Soil-Ground") is a tutelary deity of a locality and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion and Tao ...

are described as sitting white haired old men with white long beard. The main differences between the two deities are that Fude Zhengshen is a wealth deity with no connection to the earth while Tudigong are a group of low-ranking earth deities with limited length of service. While Fude Zhengshen's altar is placed high above the floor; Tudigong's altar are built just on the ground and usually accompanied by Tudipo his wife and Hu Ye or tiger deity who will assist Tudigong to ward off evil.

References

{{reflist Chinese gods Fortune gods