The Lunar New Year is here, and with it, among China’s a lot of commonly practiced conventional custom-mades: the inviting of Caishen, the God of Wealth, into one’s home. While usually connected with the 5th day of the very first lunar month– which falls on Feb. 14 this year– lots of Chinese begin the events a day early, triggering firecrackers in the hopes of drawing Caishen into their lives as rapidly as possible.
Strictly speaking, it may be more precise to call Caishen the “gods of wealth.” In the gigantic system of Chinese folk belief, there’s no contract regarding who or what Caishen is– and even the number of there are. The term is a catch-all for a large range of figures, from historic personages like Prince Bi Gan or Guan Yu of “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” popularity to the devilish, many-faced Wutong Shen, a collection of spirits simply as most likely to defile a female as bring her household wealth.
If you asked a Chinese individual to call the God of Wealth they invite into their home each year, they would most likely state Zhao Gongming. Understood as Lord Zhao the Marshal, Zhao was a famous general who lived more than 2,000 years back and is the most popular of Caishen’s kinds, at least on the Chinese mainland.
Zhao wasn’t constantly related to wealth. He had actually gotten in China’s pantheon by the Jin dynasty (266– 420), he was initially associated with the spread of illness, not excellent fortune. In Gan Bao’s “In Search of the Supernatural,” a collection of legends and stories dating to the Eastern Jin duration (317– 420), Zhao and 2 other magnificent generals are entrusted by the Heavenly Emperor with spreading out pester amongst mankind.
As late as the Yuan (1271– 1368) and Ming (1368– 1644) dynasties, Zhao was still carefully related to the spread and avoidance of pester. According to a modern compendium of folk religions, the “Sanjiao Yuanliu Soushen Daquan,” Zhao managed the spread of illness and plague each fall.
Somewhere else in the compendium’s pages, readers might discover a significantly various description of Zhao as a dark-skinned, bearded figure seated atop a tiger, holding an iron cudgel in his hand and using a crown atop his head. This variation of Zhao– which stays the source of the majority of popular representations of the divine being even today– is referred to as being accountable for resolving, not spreading out, the pester, conserving individuals from illness, and true blessing those who trade relatively.
The space in these 2 accounts of Zhao from the very same book recommends that his image moved in the Yuan-Ming duration. This can likewise be seen in story collections like the early 16th century “Gengsi Bian,” in which a bettor and long time supplicant of Zhao’s loses his household fortune banking on cricket battles. He hopes to Zhao for aid, and the god responses by changing his tiger into a cricket, assisting the male which back two times his initial fortune in simply 10 days.
Zhao would not finish his shift to Caishen up until “The Investiture of the Gods”– a hugely popular 16th-century book that improved the Chinese pantheon– bestowed upon Zhao and his 4 subordinates titles related to wealth, treasure, and organization success. In the unique, the 5 likewise shared obligation for pursuing fugitives, which, as the scholastic Luan Baoqun has revealedwould consist of the work of gathering financial obligations– a job that may have even more associated them with cash in the general public mind.
The appeal of “The Investiture of the Gods” crowded some standard divine beings out of the pantheon, alternative types of Caishen continued to be worshipped throughout China. It assists that the barriers to deification are low: Just about anybody connected with wealth can be worshipped as Caishen. That consists of 2 famous magnates from Chinese history: Fan Li, a political leader and strategist who lived throughout the Spring and Autumn duration (770– 481 B.C.), and Shen Wansan, a business owner who lived throughout the late Yuan and early Ming. Devoted authorities and generals like Guan Yu and Prince Bi Gan are likewise popular prospects for praise as gods of wealth, maybe since their character qualities– intelligence, sincerity, and commitment– are likewise viewed as essential to industrial success.
In some locations, animals, too, can be venerated as Caishen. In “Yong’an Biji,” the late-Qing-dynasty (1644– 1911) author Xue Fucheng composes that Chinese from the north thought 5 animals– snakes, foxes, hedgehogs, rats, and weasels– are gods of wealth and attempted not upset them. That worry did not constantly hold. In some stories, the animals remain in reality flesh-and-blood versions of cash: Strike a snake and it might lead you to a pot of gold.
Of all the Caishen divine beings worshipped in China, the strangest– and most questionable– may be Wutong Shen. The origins and development of the Wutong Shen are something of a muddle, however typically speaking, the earliest beings worshipped as Wutong Shen were regional protector gods, frequently departed members of the neighborhood.
Around the time of the Song dynasty (960– 1279), some inhuman spirits ended up being connected with the “Wutong” name and started devoting acts of evil, after which the name ended up being well-known. Often referred to as 5 beings, other times as one, the Wutong Shen are best understood for their desire, and they may highly reward the households of any females they defiled, offered they kept their silence.
That was obviously enough for Wutong Shen to end up being connected with Caishen, and lots of Chinese started admiring the divine beings, in spite of their harmful side. Hong Mai, a scholar who lived throughout the Song, tape-recorded various stories about the Wutong in “Yijianzhi,” his collection of the incredible, mystical, and odd. One has to do with a guy called Wu Er who thinks that Wutong Shen might inform him if he would benefit or stop working in company. Another story states the tale of a merchant called Liu Wu who gets wealth beyond his wildest dreams by providing sacrifices, just to anger the divine beings with his conceit and lose whatever.
There are plenty of tales of the Wutong Shen hoodwinking their money-chasing fans. In one, Shen Yi, a hotelier, gets a check out from 5 noblemen one night. As quickly as Shen understands who they are, he starts hoping to them for excellent fortune and, in response, is provided a fabric bag filled with silver white wine vessels. To make it much easier to bring home, Shen stomps on the bag to flatten the products inside. Upon his return, Shen discovers that the bag in fact includes his own silver red wine vessels, taken from his home by the Wutong Shen and now shattered to pieces. In the end, Shen should pay an inflated cost to an artisan to restore his flatware to their initial state.
Unsurprisingly, numerous Chinese admired Wutong Shen, not out of commitment however out of worry. An offering was a little cost to pay to keep one’s home and household safe from supernatural depredations.
As soon as amongst the most worshipped divine beings in China, the Wutong cult has actually mostly faded from popular memory, in part due to the fact that of main crackdowns on its practice throughout the Qing. Demonic energy regardless of, they’re most likely the most human of the Caishen divine beings: lustful, capricious, and fond of mischief. They bestow riches upon those who flatter them however likewise reclaim that wealth on an impulse: Easy come, simple go.
Translator: Katherine Tse.
(Header image: A guy impersonated Caishen loses consciousness red packages in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, Feb. 3, 2024. Chen Jimin/CNS/VCG)