Hok Tek Cheng Sin (,Keith G. Stevens, Chinese Mythological Gods, Oxford University Press, USA, (November 8, 2001), pages 60, 68, 70, lit. Righteous God of Virtue and Blessing) is a God of Prosperity in

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion comprises a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. This includes the veneration of ''Shen (Chinese folk religion), shen'' ('spirits') and Chinese ancestor worship, ances ...

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and among

Hoklo people The Hoklo people () are a Han Chinese subgroup who speak Hokkien, a Southern Min language, or trace their ancestry to southeastern Fujian in China, and known by various related terms such as Banlam people (), Minnan people, Fujianese people o ...

South-East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia i ...

. He is often considered to be similar as

Tu Di Gong A Tudigong ( zh, s=土地公, l=Lord of the Land) is a kind of Chinese tutelary deity of a specific location. There are several Tudigongs corresponding to different geographical locations and sometimes multiple ones will be venerated together in ...

(Earth Deities) or the name was considered as an official title of the later, but actually both of them are separate deities of different ranking. As one of the oldest deity by age, he is often considered as subordinate of

Houtu Hòutǔ () or Hòutǔshén (), also known as Hòutǔ Niángniáng (in Chinese either or ), otherwise called Dimǔ () or Dimǔ Niángniáng (), is the deity of all land and earth in Chinese religion and mythology. Houtu is the overlord of all t ...

.Yayasan kelenteng sam po kong semarang. ''Dewa-Dewi Kelenteng''.

Mythology

One of the legend said that there was a man who lived under the reign of

King Wu of Zhou King Wu of Zhou (; died ), personal name Ji Fa, was the founding king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BCE and ended with his death three years later. Ki ...

; his name was ''Thio Hok Tek'' (張福德). He was born at 1143 BC on the second year of King Wu's reign, on the second day of second month of Chinese Calendar. He was a bright yet kind hearted as a kid.Purnama. 2008

From http://www.hoktekbio.com/ftcs.htm . When he was 7 years old, he already learned old Chinese Classics and empathized the poor.Anonimous. "Kitab Suci Amurva Bumi (Hok Tek Ceng Sin)". Thio Hok Tek became a government tax officer when he was 36 and he was a wise and good officer and people loved him. He died when he was 102 years old at 1042 BC on the reign of

King Cheng of Zhou King Cheng of Zhou (; 1055–1021 BC), personal name Ji Song, was the second king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1042–1021 BCE or 1042/35–1006 BCE. Ji Dan, Duke of Zhou served as regent during his minority. His pare ...

. But after three days, his deceased body had not rotted and amazed all the people. His position was taken by Wei Chao that oppressed people by his greedy and cruelty character. Many people left their homeland and farms, and they wished to had a wise new officer just like Thio Hok Tek. They worshiped him and called him Hok Tek Cheng Sin. One poor family had wished to build an altar for him, but they just could afford four pieces of

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

s to build. They used three bricks as the walls and one as the roof, wrote down the name of Hok Tek Cheng Sin inside it and use a broken crock as

tripod A tripod is a portable three-legged frame or stand, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The three-legged (triangular stance) design provides good stability against gravitational loads ...

to put the incense. Unexpectedly, the poor family became rich and many people turned to believed on Thio Hok Tek; built a temple for him. A poem said that the kindness of Thio Hok Tek moved

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 ...

whose in turned sent

Eight Immortals The Eight Immortals () are a group of legendary ''Xian (Taoism), xian (immortals)'' in Chinese mythology. Each immortal's power can be transferred to a vessel () that can bestow life or destroy evil. Together, these eight vessels are called the ...

to pick him up to heaven. Both Hok Tek Cheng Sin and

Tudigong A Tudigong ( zh, s=土地公, l=Lord of the Land) is a kind of Chinese tutelary deity of a specific location. There are several Tudigongs corresponding to different geographical locations and sometimes multiple ones will be venerated together in ...

are described as sitting white haired old men with white long beard. The main differences between the two deities are that Hok Tek Cheng Sin is a wealth deity with no connection to the earth while Tudigong are a group of low-ranking earth deities with limited length of service. While Hok Tek Cheng Sin's altar is placed high above the floor; Tudigong's altar are built just on the ground and usually accompanied by Tudipo his wife and the tiger god who will assist Tudigong to ward off evil.

References

{{reflist Chinese gods Fortune gods