Local Treasures Series: Temples

Author: Li Qiuxiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Craftsmen and the craft industry also have their own deities. Blacksmiths and kiln workers worship the Supreme Lord Laojun, as he uses the Eight Trigrams Furnace to refine elixirs and is the god of fire. Carpenters and many artisans worship Lu Ban, who is also known as Gongshu Ban, a skilled craftsman from the late Spring and Autumn period in the state of Lu. The "Lüshi Chunqiu·Shen Daliang" states: "Gongshu Ban is the most skilled person in the world." Butchers worship Zhang Fei, because in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," it is said that he once sold wine and pork in Zhuozhou, Hebei Province. Dyers worship Mei Ge Xianweng, as both of these deities were born into farming families and are said to have discovered dyes, also known as the dye vat gods. In Jiangxi, those engaged in inland water transport worship Xiao Gong. He was originally a person from Linjiang Prefecture in Jiangxi during the Xianchun period of the Southern Song Dynasty. He was upright and self-disciplined, and after his death, he was revered by the locals as a deity. During the Yuan Dynasty, a temple was built in his honor with statues, and in the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, he was enfeoffed as the "Spirit of the Water God, Widely Benevolent and Manifestly Protective Duke." Boatmen in the upper reaches of Lanjiang River in Zhejiang worship Zhou Shang Gong. Zhou Shang Gong was a filial son who rushed to take a boat to visit his sick mother but was told upon arrival that she had passed away. Standing at the bow of the boat, he "became a sage" and died, moving the boatmen, who revered him as a deity and ensured he would be worshipped eternally. Boatmen in Sichuan worship the "Jiangzhen Wangye." The (Liyuan) and courtesans also have industry gods. The (Liyuan) worship the "Old Lord God," who is Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, as he was skilled in music and personally trained opera troupes in the imperial (Liyuan). Actors need a good voice, so they also sacrifice to Qingyin Tongzi, the god who brightens the voice. One of the courtesan gods is Guan Zhong, a great statesman in the early Spring and Autumn period, only because the "Guo ce·Dong Zhou ce" records that the "market" he established in the palace of Duke Huan of Qi may have had official courtesans. The other is even more strange—it is called the "Five Great Immortals," consisting of a hedgehog, turtle, weasel, mouse, and snake. They are said to possess spiritual qualities, but what kind of qualities they have is kept deeply mysterious.