Tubo (Chinese: 土伯; pinyin: tǔbó) in Chinese mythology is the warden of

Youdu Youdu () in Chinese mythology is the capital of Hell, or Diyu. Among the various other geographic features believed of Diyu, the capital city has been thought to be named Youdu. It is generally conceived as being similar to a typical Chinese capit ...

, the capital of

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

. He is a vassal under

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 ...

, but some scholars also suggest that he was the primordial overlord of the Diyu.

Body

According to Chu Ci Zhao Hun(楚辞·招魂), Tubo has a tiger head, a cow body, three bulging eyes, a pair of sharp horns, a blood-stained hand that banishes the poor ghost and regard people as delicious food. (土伯九约，其角觺觺些；敦血拇，逐人駓駓些；参目虎首，其身若牛些。王逸注：“土伯，后土之侯伯也。约，屈也。觺觺，犹狺狺；角利貌也。言地有土伯执衞门户，其身九屈，有角觺觺，主触害人也”。) ''Chu Ci Zhao Hun, 《楚辞·招魂》及王逸注''

In Other Regions

Sichuan

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

mythology, Tubo is the first Emperor of Ghost(鬼帝). In ancient times Sichuan Basin was resided by two different ethnic groups, Ba people and Shu people. With the continuous exchanges in terms of religion, culture and ideologies, some common beliefs and identities were formed and shared. And Tubo is one of such common gods worshiped by both ethinic groups, as the first Emperor of Ghost. Some historians argue that Tubo was a tribe leader of the Ba peple, because in

Eastern Zhou The Eastern Zhou (; zh, c=, p=Dōngzhōu, w=Tung1-chou1, t= ; 771–256 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the second half of the Zhou dynasty. It was divided into two periods: the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States. History In 770 ...

dynasty,

where Tubo lives was the capital of

Ba (state) Ba () was an Ancient Chinese states, ancient state in eastern Sichuan, China. Its original capital was Yicheng (Enshi City), Hubei. Ba was conquered by Qin (state), Qin in 316 BC. The historical Bo people (China), Bo people and the modern Tujia pe ...

, while the some tribes of the Ba people were called ''Gui Zu'' (鬼族, Ghost clan).四川丰都鬼城之谜 - 四川市人民政府
/ref>

Hubei, Hunan

, people of Chu made sculptures of Tubo, and put them into graves as ''Zhen Mu Shou''(镇墓兽), which are monster sculptures to soothe the soul of the deceased while protecting it from wandering ghost. The sculptures were usually made of wood and brass, and antlers were often used. Most such sculptures are found in Chu graves belong to

scholar-bureaucrat The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class. Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...

class who followed Wu Shamanism(巫觋). They usually believe that Zhen Mu Shou could bring their spirit to the Tian Jie and thus become immortal. Although the faces of the existing monster sculptures are mostly obscure, other characteristics such as sharp horns, curved body, bulging eyes, ghostly expression, and close link to the underworld all bear remarkable similarity to descriptions of Tubo in historical texts.土伯 - 故宫博物院
/ref>

In Popular Culture

In the popular Chinese webfiction ''Mu Shen Ji''(牧神记), Tubo is the incarnation of the

Tao ''Tao'' or ''Dao'' is the natural order of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom, as conceived in the context of East Asian philosophy, East Asian religions, or any other phil ...

of the underworld (幽都大道). The unbreakability of the Tubo Contract(土伯之约) derives power from his horns.

References

{{Reflist