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.The back court of the Lung-Shan Temple consists of threechambers.In the middle of the central chamber is the Goddessof Birth (Chu-sheng niang-niang/Zhusheng niangniang), withmore than a dozen minor deities on her sides assisting withpregnancy and child-raising.Also in the central chamber arethe Eminent King of Water Immortals (Shui-hsien tsun-wang/Shuixian zunwang), the God of Marriage (Yüe-hsia lao-jen/Yuexia laoren), the Local Earth God (Fu-te cheng-shen/Fudezhengshen, or more popularly called T u-ti-kung/Tudigong), andthe Regional Underworld God (Ch eng-huang/Chenghuang).Many scholars identify the Eminent King of Water Immortalsas Ta Yü (Da Yu), the founder of the Hsia (Xia) dynasty(2100 1600 B.C.E.), who spent his life solving the floodingproblem of the Yellow River and who has been revered for hisgreat contribution to public welfare.The God of Marriage isdepicted as a white-haired old man with a reel of red thread in36 TAOISMhis hands.It is believed that if he ties one end of a thread ontoa person and the other end onto another person, then thosetwo people will definitely be married.The Local Earth Godis one of the most popular deities and is seen everywhere inChinese societies.In small home shrines, many believers displaya portrait or sculpture of the Local Earth God and his consort.To Chinese people, he is readily accessible, amiable, and closelyrelated to people s daily life.The Regional Underworld Godgoverns the same locality as the Local Earth God, though theirroles differ.In the popular understanding, the Local Earth Godis in charge of well-being in the living world, while the RegionalUnderworld God protects people from malicious ghosts, recordsthe merits and demerits of people, and may inflict punishmentaccordingly after people die.In Taoist terminology, if one faces the same direction as thecentral deity, one s left side is called the direction of the greendragon (or simply the dragon side) and one s right side is thedirection of the white tiger (or the tiger side).There are usuallylarge numbers of students clustered in front of the chamber onthe dragon side in the back court (that is, the chamber at the lefthand of the Goddess of Birth) because three deities relatedto academic advancement are situated there.In the middle isthe Star-God of Scholarly Brilliance (Wen-ch ang hsing-chün/Wenchang xingjun), who is riding the Horse of Wealth.At hisleft hand is the Star-God of Literary Advancement (Ta-k ueihsing-chün/Dakui xingjun).This term refers to the first starof the Big Dipper, which is associated with high scholarlystatus in Taoist astrology.At the right hand of the Star-Godof Scholarly Brilliance is the Venerable Scholar Tzu-yang(Ziyang).Tzu-yang is another name for Chu Hsi (Zhu Xi)(1130 1200 C.E.), a famous Confucian scholar in the SouthernSung (Song) dynasty (1127 1279 C.E.) who established thestandardized Confucian curriculum.Sitting in the middle of the chamber on the tiger side (that is,the chamber at the right hand of the Goddess of Birth) is the SageEmperor Kuan (Guan).He was a historical figure named KuanWorship: A Visit to a Taoist Temple 37Yü (Guan Yu) who lived from 221 to 263 C.E.during the ThreeKingdoms period (220 280 C.E.).Though he was called the sage emperor, he was not an  emperor and he never desired tobe one; the word  emperor was simply added to his title todenote people s great respect for him.Kuan Yü has been knownand revered primarily because of his unwavering loyalty to hisemperor, whom he also recognized as his older brother.Kuan Yüwas the most prominent warrior in Chinese history becausehe not only displayed his prowess by fighting and leadingthe army, but he was also an extraordinarily courageousman, well-educated, and possessed a great talent for business.People worship him for different reasons: to have a betterrelationship with one s siblings or colleagues, to establishsocial responsibility and group loyalty, to dispel one s fear andbe brave, to be nimble in physical movements or to improveone s health, and to succeed in business.At his sides are theEmperors of the Three Realms (San-kuan ta-ti/Sanguan dadi;also called San-chieh kung or Sanjiegong in some regions) andthe K_
itigarbha Bodhisattva (Ti-tsang/Dizang; Jizo in Japanese).The Emperors of the Three Realms are respected as the sover-eigns who govern and protect the heavenly realm, the earthlyrealm, and the watery realm [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]