Tudigong

Tudigong
Tudigong
	A shrine to a local Tudigong along the Ping Shan Heritage Trail, in Hong Kong
Chinese	土地公
Literal meaning	Lord of the Land
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Tǔ dì gōng
IPA	[tʰù.tî.kʊ́ŋ]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	tóu deih gūng
Jyutping	tou2 dei6 gung1
IPA	[tʰou˧˥.tei˨.koŋ˥]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	Thó-tī-kong/Thó͘-tī-kong
Alternative Chinese name
Chinese	土地
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Tǔ dì
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	tóu deih
Jyutping	tou2 dei6
Second alternative Chinese name
Chinese	土公
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Tǔ gōng
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	tóu gūng
Jyutping	tou2 gung1
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	Thó͘-kong

A Tudigong (Chinese: 土地公; lit. 'Lord of the Land') is a kind of Chinese tutelary deity of a specific location.^[1] There are several Tudigongs corresponding to different geographical locations and sometimes multiple ones will be venerated together in certain regions.^[2]

They are tutelary (i.e. guardian or patron) deities of locations and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.^[3] They are portrayed as old men with long beards.^[4]

The definitive characteristic of Tudigongs is that they are limited to their specific geographical locations. The Tudigong of one location is not the Tudigong of another location^[1]

They are considered to be among the lowest ranked divinities,^[5] just below City Gods^[3] ("God of Local City"), and above landlord gods.

Often, a specific person who did a great service to their local community will be seen as becoming a Tudigong after their death.^[6]

When people move from one location to another, they will say goodbye to their local Tudigong and worship the one of the new location^[5]^[7]

The deities are considered to have a kind of appointed position like an alderman, with different deities being appointed to different areas.^[8]

Houtu is the overlord of all the Tudigongs ("Lord of Local Land"), Sheji ("the State"), Shan Shen ("God of Mountains"), City Gods ("God of Local City"), and landlord gods worldwide.

^ ^a ^b "Tudi Gong | Chinese deity | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
^ 基隆市政府 (2020-08-26). "Nuannuan Twins Tudigong Temple". 基隆市政府. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
^ ^a ^b The Encyclopedia of Malaysia, vol. Religions & Beliefs, edited by Prof. Dr M. Kamal Hassan & Dr. Ghazali bin Basri. ISBN 981-3018-51-8
^ Cite error: The named reference Stepanchuk Mooncakes and Hungry Ghosts Tudigong was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b "tudigong, god of the land, Manray Hsu". Retrieved 2024-02-06.
^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Shiv Visvanathan, “Mrs Brundtland’s Disenchanted Cosmos” (1991) in The Geopolitics Reader, eds. Gearóid Ó Tuathail, Simon Dalby, and Paul Routledge (London: Routledge, 1998).
^ Hall, Christopher A. (2009-01-01). "Tudi Gong in Taiwan". Southeast Review of Asian Studies. 31: 97–113.

[:3-1] "Tudi Gong | Chinese deity | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-04-09.

[:6-2] 基隆市政府 (2020-08-26). "Nuannuan Twins Tudigong Temple". 基隆市政府. Retrieved 2023-04-07.

[sbnum-3] The Encyclopedia of Malaysia, vol. Religions & Beliefs, edited by Prof. Dr M. Kamal Hassan & Dr. Ghazali bin Basri. ISBN 981-3018-51-8

[Stepanchuk_Mooncakes_and_Hungry_Ghosts_Tudigong-4] Cite error: The named reference Stepanchuk Mooncakes and Hungry Ghosts Tudigong was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:7-5] "tudigong, god of the land, Manray Hsu". Retrieved 2024-02-06.

[:4-6] Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[7] Shiv Visvanathan, “Mrs Brundtland’s Disenchanted Cosmos” (1991) in The Geopolitics Reader, eds. Gearóid Ó Tuathail, Simon Dalby, and Paul Routledge (London: Routledge, 1998).

[8] Hall, Christopher A. (2009-01-01). "Tudi Gong in Taiwan". Southeast Review of Asian Studies. 31: 97–113.

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