Landlord deities () are a type of

tutelary deity A tutelary (; also tutelar) is a deity or a Nature spirit, spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept ...

worshipped in the

East Asian cultural sphere The Sinosphere, also known as the Chinese cultural sphere, East Asian cultural sphere, or the Sinic world, encompasses multiple countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia that were historically heavily influenced by Chinese culture. The Sinosph ...

. They are low level deities that are considered below

Sheshen 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 ...

and City Gods. When people move into a new location they will ask the landlord deity for permission to move there.

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 ...

is the overlord of all the

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 ...

s ("Lord of Local Land"),

Sheji __NOTOC__ Soil and grain was a common Chinese political term in the Sinosphere for the state. Shejitan, the altars of soil and grain, were constructed alongside ancestral altars. Chinese monarchs of the Ming and Qing dynasties performed ceremon ...

("the State"), Shan Shen ("God of Mountains"), City Gods ("God of Local City"), and landlord gods worldwide.

In China

In China, Dizhushen () are considered deities below

and City Gods. The Landlord God () is a deity worshipped in Chinese folk beliefs who is analogous but is not to be confused with

. The tablet for the Landlord God is typically inscribed with two rows: On the left: (in Singapore and Malaysia) "The Landlord Wealth God of the Overseas Tang People" () or (in Hong Kong and Chinese diaspora elsewhere) "The Landlord Wealth God from Front to Back" () On the right: The Dragon God of the Five Directions and Five Lands (;

fengshui Feng shui ( or ), sometimes called Chinese geomancy, is a traditional form of geomancy that originated in ancient China and claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. The term ''feng shui'' mean ...

). The names are accompanied by a side couplet of various wordings that praise the virtues of the Landlord God. It is believed that the Landlord God has powers to help gather wealth, and the position of the tablet must be placed properly according to the laws of fengshui.The Encyclopedia of Malaysia, vol. Religions & Beliefs, edited by Prof. Dr M. Kamal Hassan & Dr. Ghazali bin Basri. In Chinese,

spirit houses A spirit house is a shrine to the protective spirit of a place that is found in the Southeast Asian countries of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. They are normally in the form of small roofed ...

are called or

House, representing a link between the concept and the concept of an Earth Temple dedicated to a landlord deity or a

In Taiwan

Worship of Tē-ki-tsú () is especially common in Taiwanese folk beliefs. Many institutions such as government agencies and companies will honor a Tē-ki-tsú when moving into a new building. Household altars to Tē-ki-tsú are very common. Such deities are ambiguous in their nature sometimes ghosts and sometimes deities. Sometimes considered the souls of former occupants Sometimes rituals for such deities is seen as moving the building from the yin world to the yang world (see

yin miao In Taiwan, Taiwanese Chinese folk religion, folk religion, ''yin Miao shrine, miao'' ( zh, t=陰廟, p=Yīnmiào, l=Yin and yang, dark temple) are Chinese temple architecture, temples dedicated to Ghosts in Chinese culture, wandering and homeless ...

for more information on Taiwanese beliefs on the yin world). Such deities may be linked to

Goryō In a broad sense, is an honorific for a spirit, especially one that causes hauntings, and the term is used as a synonym for . In a narrower sense, it refers to a person who was a noble or accomplished person in his or her lifetime, but who lost ...

or people who died without relatives. Alternatively the tradition may originate with

Taiwanese indigenous peoples Taiwanese indigenous peoples, formerly called Taiwanese aborigines, are the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, with the nationally recognized subgroups numbering about 600,303 or 3% of the Geography of Taiwan, island's population. This total is incr ...

and their practice of indoor burial, or burying people inside buildings.

In Japan

, also known as , , , or , are

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

folk deities, or

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

, of an area of land (the name literally means "land-master-kami"). Their history goes back to at least the 9th century and possibly earlier. Originally, jinushigami were associated with new areas of land opened up for settlement. New residents of the land created

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

s to the local resident kami either to gain its blessing/permission, or to bind it within the land to prevent its interference with, or cursing of, nearby humans. Jinushigami may be either ancestors of the original settlers of an area, or ancestors of a clan. They are also known as Landlord deities and sometimes described as

genius loci In classical Roman religion, a ''genius loci'' (: ''genii locorum'') was the protective spirit of a place. It was often depicted in religious iconography as a figure holding attributes such as a cornucopia, patera (libation bowl), or snake. Man ...

Ōkuninushi Ōkuninushi (; historical orthography: , ), also known as Ō(a)namuchi (''Oho(a)namuchi'') or Ō(a)namochi (''Oho(a)namochi'') among other variants, is a ''kami'' in Japanese mythology. He is one of the central deities in the cycle of myths re ...

is sometimes considered a Jinushigami of Japan as a whole.

Hokora is a miniature Shinto shrine either found on the precincts of a larger shrine and dedicated to folk ''kami'', or on a street side, enshrining ''kami'' not under the jurisdiction of any large shrine.Encyclopedia of ShintoHokora Accessed on Dece ...

are often created for Jinushigami, natural objects like trees are also often seen to be

yorishiro A in Shinto terminology is an object capable of attracting spirits called , thus giving them a physical space to occupy during religious ceremonies. are used during ceremonies to call the for worship. The word itself literally means "approach ...

shintai In Shinto, , or when the honorific prefix ''go''- is used, are physical objects worshipped at or near Shinto shrines as repositories in which spirits or ''kami'' reside.''Shintai'', Encyclopedia of Shinto ''Shintai'' used in Shrine Shinto (Jin ...

for them. The goal is to convince the cthonic deities of the ground to allow occupation.

Shinra Myōjin Shinra Myōjin () is a Buddhist god associated with the Jimon branch of Tendai, a school of Japanese Buddhism. His name is derived from the name of a historical Korean kingdom, Silla. His origin is a matter of debate among researchers. He might ...

is considered such a deity and to have originated in Korea.

In Korea

Teojusin () is the patron of the ground on which the house is built in the

Gasin faith Gasin faith () refers to belief and rituals surrounding gods of the household in Korean shamanism. These deities, called ''gasin'', are believed to protect the various objects (such as '' jangdok'') and rooms of the house. Joryeong faith The ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. She is also known as Jisin ().

In Vietnam

(

Hán-Nôm Spoken and written Vietnamese today uses the Latin script-based Vietnamese alphabet to represent native Vietnamese words (''thuần Việt''), Vietnamese words which are of Chinese origin (''Hán-Việt'', or Sino-Vietnamese), and other forei ...

: ), ), ) or ), is the god of the earth and patron of the land on which the houses is built. He is one of the most commonly worshiped deities in Vietnam.

Pop culture

In the manga series ''

Kamisama Kiss is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Julietta Suzuki. It was serialized in Hakusensha's manga magazine '' Hana to Yume'' from February 2008 to May 2016, with the chapters collected in 25 volumes. The series is lice ...

'' by Julietta Suzuki, the heroine Nanami Momozono becomes the tochigami of a derelict shrine.

References

{{Religious Confucianism Japanese mythology Shinto terminology Shinto kami Tutelary deities Chinjusha Regional deities Chthonic beings Japanese folk religion Taiwanese folk religion Formosan mythology East Asian folk religion Chinese folk religion in Hong Kong Taoist deities