Cāngdì ( zh, c=蒼帝, Tr=Green Deity" or "Green Emperor) of zh, p=Dōngyuèdàdì, c=东岳大帝, tr=Great Deity of the Eastern Peak, out=p is the manifestation of the supreme God associated with the essence of wood and spring, for which he is worshipped as the god of fertility. The is both his animal form and constellation, and as a human, he was ''Tàihào'' (

Fu Xi Fuxi or Fu Hsi ( zh, c=伏羲) is a culture hero in Chinese mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking, as well as the Cangjie system ...

). His female consort is the goddess of fertility Bixia. His astral body is

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

Names

goes by several other names, such as , also known as or , and cosmologically as the or .

Overview

The

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

text, the

Rites of Zhou The ''Rites of Zhou'' (), originally known as "Officers of Zhou" (), is a Chinese work on bureaucracy and organizational theory. It was renamed by Liu Xin to differentiate it from a chapter in the '' Book of History'' by the same name. To rep ...

, discusses the concept of the so-called "

Wufang Shangdi The Wǔfāng Shàngdì ( "Five Regions' Highest Deities" or "Highest Deities of the Five Regions"), or simply or are, in Chinese classics, Chinese canonical texts and common Chinese folk religion, Chinese religion, the fivefold manifestation of ...

". The

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, quoted in the Kokuyo, refers to the following: Cangdi (or ''Qingdi''), Huangdi,

Heidi ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published between 1880 and 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' () and ''Heidi: How She Used What She Learned'' ( ...

Chidi Chidi may refer to: *Chidi (god), an ancient Chinese deity People Given name *Chidi Ahanotu, American football player *Chidi Edeh, Nigerian footballer *Chidi Imoh, Nigerian sprinter *Chidi Iwuoma, American football player *Chidi Ngwaba, British m ...

, and Baidi. The names of the five emperors are not specified in the literature. The name of the Green Emperor is judged to be "Ling Wei Yang".

Dongyue Emperor

As ( "Great Deity of the Eastern Peak", which is

Mount Tai Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the ''Jade Emperor Peak'' (), which is commonly reported as being t ...

), Cangdi is worshipped as a Daoist deity of the

sacred mountain Sacred mountains are central to certain religions, and are usually the subjects of many legends. For many, the most symbolic aspect of a mountain is the peak because it is believed that it is closest to heaven or other religious realms. Many reli ...

. He is also considered significant in

Chinese Buddhism Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, first=t, poj=Hàn-thoân Hu̍t-kàu, j=Hon3 Cyun4 Fat6 Gaau3, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism. The Chinese Buddhist canonJiang Wu, "The Chin ...

. Since ancient times, Mount Tai has been seen as a place where the spirits of the dead gather, so the god of Mount Tai was thought to be the supreme deity of the underworld and governs the lifespan and status of humans in this world.、p.250 In Daoism, it is often said that he is the grandson of the

Jade Emperor In the Chinese mythology, myths and Chinese folk religion, folk religion of Chinese culture, the Jade Emperor or Yudi is one of the representations of the Primordial Divinity (Tai Di), primordial god. In Taoist theology, he is the assistant of ...

. During the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

, Emperors performed the

Feng Shan Feng Shan or feng-shan (), also referred to as the Feng and Shan sacrifices, was an official rite offered by the Son of Heaven ( kings of Zhou and later emperors of China) to pay homage to heaven and earth. The sacrifices were usually offered at ...

ceremony on

. At this time, the ceremony was considered highly important and completing Feng Shan allowed the emperor to receive the

mandate of heaven The Mandate of Heaven ( zh, t=天命, p=Tiānmìng, w=, l=Heaven's command) is a Chinese ideology#Political ideologies, political ideology that was used in History of China#Ancient China, Ancient China and Chinese Empire, Imperial China to legit ...

. It was started in 219 BC, by

Qin Shihuang Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary dynasty in Chine ...

, after unifying China. Over time, the role of the Dongyue Emperor expanded, moving from a local deity to a deity associated with life and death as a whole. The ritual of the storming of the city () is performed in Taiwan and associated Dongyue Emperor, demonstrating this shift.

Literature

The Beginning of the Ji Zhou Period

The

Etiquette and Ceremonial The ''Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial'' is a Chinese classic text about Zhou dynasty social behavior and ceremonial ritual as it was practiced and understood during the Spring and Autumn period. The ''Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial'', along ...

notes state that Jiang Shu, a later concubine of Emperor Xuan, became pregnant when she stepped on the giant footprints of Emperor Qing and gave birth to Huji, who became the founder of the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...

References

Works cited

* {{Wufang Shangdi Deities in Chinese folk religion Taoist deities Chinese gods Jovian deities Characters in Chinese mythology Wufang Shangdi