860
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
no edit summary
==Worship of the Spirit of Wealth==
It was said that the fifteenth day of the third lunar month (in another version, the second day of the first lunar month) was Zhao Xuannang's birthday. On his birthday, Daoist adepts came to Daoist temples to attend memorial ceremonies. They prayed for good harvests and great wealth. But according to some popular tales, it was on the fifth day of the first lunar month that the Spirit of Wealth descended to inspect worldly society. So on the morning of that day, people let off firecrackers and played lion games, which was known as Enticing the Spirit of Wealth. Everyone one hopes he will have a good start and make a big fortune after spring festival.
===Enticing the Spirit of Wealth===
When the Chinese people spend Spring Festival, they have a custom of Welcoming the Spirit of Wealth ( 迎財神 Ying Caishen 接財神 Jie Caishen ). They usually set off firecrackers on the morning of the second or fifth day of the first lunar month to welcome the Spirit of Wealth.
The Spirit of Wealth is a spirit which appeared late in China. The Chinese people have long lived in an agricultural society and have been somewhat indifferent to the pursuit of wealth. As a result, there was originally no clear concept of the Spirit of Wealth, and his duties were assumed by many spirits or even all the spirits. Around the Song dynasty or sometime earlier, the custom of inviting the Magic Horse of Wealth ( 財馬 Caima ) appeared in the Spring Festival. The Horse, or Magic Horse ( 神馬 Shenma ), refers to a piece of paper on which the icon of some spirit is drawn. In ancient China, people regarded emoluments as important. Because merits, honour and ranks could result in fixed salaries, wealth was included in one's emolument. Now wealth and emoluments both appear in folk customs. This implies that the Chinese had begun to attach more and more importance to wealth. The Magic Horse of Wealth is the symbol of the Spirit of Wealth. In the Ming dynasty, the duties of the Spirit of Wealth were assigned to certain souls, among whom the most important ones were Zhao Gongming, Lord Guan ( 關公 Guangong ), and Bigan. Zhao Gongming, who is also called Supreme Commander Zhao ( 趙公元帥 Zhaogong Yuanshuai ), was originally one of the Daoist spirits guarding laws. He is said to have cultivated Dao on Mt. Zhongnan, following the Celestial Master ( 天師 Tianshi ) Zhang Daoling, who ordered him to look after the alchemical cauldron. Having succeeded, he was entitled the Supreme Commander of the Mysterious Altar of the Orthodox Oneness ( 正一玄壇元帥 Zhengyi Xuantan Yuanshuai ), one of the Supreme Commanders of the Thunder Agency ( 雷部 Leibu ), and is therefore usually called Mysterious Altar Zhao or Supreme Commander Zhao. Riding on a black tiger, he is also called the Mysterious Altar of the Black Tiger ( 黑虎玄壇 Heihu Xuantan ). His main duty is to control and capture demons and ghosts, with a gold wheel in one hand and an iron chain in the other. According to Daoist books, as the incarnation of the Golden Vital Breath of the west and holding a golden wheel in his hand, he is in charge of successful and profitable trade. The ritual for him as a major general is called the Great Satisfactory Ritual of the Golden Wheel. Hence he is taken to be the Spirit of Wealth among the people. His birthday is on the second day of the first lunar month. On that day, as early as before dawn, every family sets off firecrackers to welcome him home early. The merchants of the Ming dynasty used to worship Lord Guan in order that his righteousness would unite people of the same trade or from the same village. As he was able to protect the businessmen, he was also regarded as the Spirit of Wealth. Both Lord Guan and Lord Zhao are military commanders, so they are called the Military Spirits of Wealth. Corresponding to them is another Spirit of Wealth, Bigan (the Prime Minister of the Shang dynasty), who is called the Civil Spirit of Wealth. There exists in the south of the Yangtze River a custom of receiving road spirits on the fifth day of the lunar New Year. They are also called Spirits of Wealth, but it is uneasy to investigate their origin. They probably stem from folk beliefs and are difficult to be researched. However, the custom of receiving road spirits on the fifth day of the lunar New Year has a great influence on the way and time of worshiping the Spirits of Wealth. Ordinary shops are closed during the New Year holidays after doing business on New Year's Eve, and do not open until the fifth day of the lunar New Year when they have welcomed the Spirits of Wealth. This is called the first transaction of a year's business. Hence the Spirits of Wealth can be welcomed either on the second or the fifth day of the first lunar month, and different places have their own local customs as to the fixed time of this activity.
In the Ming dynasty, wealthy merchants from Western Asia used to trade in China, and possibly Western Asian countries even sent emissaries to China to pay tribute to the imperial court. People from those places were habitually called "the Hui people", for most of them believed in the Hui Religion, namely Islam. After entering China, the Muslims were well known for being good at doing business. Consequently, according to some legends, Supreme Commander Zhao is of the Hui nationality. Pork cannot be given as an offering to him, and only beef can take its place.
[[zh:財神]]
