Ancestral Gods: A Key Cultural Code for Understanding China

In China, each industry has traditionally worshipped its own spirits as ancestral gods or guardian deities.
In China, this is academically called 'Xingyeopsin (行業神)'.
Of course, the purpose of worshipping spirits is to protect the interests of one's own industry.
Worship activities were a form of rest, healing, and celebration, and they found solace in their ancestors and guardian spirits, and they also increased their pride in their profession.
Additionally, the partners used the sense of unity in serving the same ancestral god to form and maintain a 'partnership order'.

The ancestral gods of each industry are condensed into the public's perception and image of sacred historical and cultural beings.
It is a 'cultural code'.
That is, it contains an unconscious meaning given to a certain object through culture.
This is why we might be interested in the stories of Chinese ancestral gods and guardian spirits.

This book explains the context in which numerous historical figures and deities were chosen as ancestral or guardian deities of their respective industries.
In other words, we will focus on the reasons and history behind deifying a specific object according to one's industry and worshipping it as an ancestral god.
Through this, we aim to illuminate the world of the ‘secularized sacredness of working people.’

One of the practical purposes and functions of the worship of 'Haengupshin' is to maintain 'companion order' and to contribute to increasing the unity of the cooperative.
Although partnership organizations and rules existed to maintain 'partnership order,' these alone were not enough to unite and control the members of the partnership.
On an emotional level, the spiritual authority of integration was needed.
So, at the place where the sacrifice was made to the 'Haengupshin', they borrowed the authority of the 'Haengupshin' and swore to abide by the common rules.
In addition, the authority of decision-making was secured by discussing revisions to the business or regulations of the partnership in front of the ancestral spirits.
--- pp.25~26

Guan Yu was the most widely accepted great deity among the people.
He was also widely worshipped in various industries as the embodiment of 'faith, loyalty, and cooperation'.
In particular, due to his connection with incense, legends of his skill with swords, his history of selling tofu, and his reputation as a representative warrior, he became the ancestral god of many industries.
--- p.50

The reason why the worship of the Lao-Ban became widespread during the Ming Dynasty is also related to the construction of the Forbidden City.
When the Yongle Emperor Zhu Zhu, son of the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, defeated his nephew the Jianwen Emperor and seized power, he moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing and built the magnificent Forbidden City. Naturally, the burden of labor on the construction craftsmen was extremely heavy.
The craftsmen prayed to their ancestral god, Noban, to help them complete the heavy labor.
After the construction of the Forbidden City was completed, the craftsmen believed that they were able to build the Forbidden City safely thanks to Lu Ban's protection, so they built a huge Lu Ban Temple to repay his kindness.
From then on, he would always offer sacrifices to the old man, setting the best example.
--- p.56

Confucius was also worshipped as the ancestral god of those who made abacuses.
According to legend, the king of Lu asked Confucius to settle his accounts, but Confucius's calculations were not neat.
Confucius's wife then asked him to do the calculation using the beads she had strung.
As a result, the accounting of the ledger became more accurate.
Later, people believed that Confucius invented the abacus based on the story of the stringed beads, and they began to worship Confucius as an ancestral god.
In fact, Confucius had nothing to do with the invention of the Abacus.
--- pp.62~63

The medical profession's worship of the Three Emperors as the 'progenitors of medicine' is based on myths and legends about the relationship between the Three Emperors and medicine.
In short, regarding Shennong, there are legends recorded in many places that he 'tasted all kinds of herbs, discerned their medicinal properties, and used them as herbal medicines.'
Additionally, it is said that he wrote several medical books to treat illnesses.
In other words, medicine began from him.
--- p.81

Even in the mill, the old man was considered sacred.
For example, there was a taboo in the mill: no one carrying a whip was ever allowed inside the mill.
This is because of the legend that the old man rode a blue ox.
There is a risk that if you hold a whip in your hand, the ox the old man is riding will be startled and run away.
--- p.104

People involved in the rickshaw industry in Beijing, including rickshaw pullers, rickshaw renters, and managers, worshipped the Zhou Wenwang as their ancestral god.
… … The reason King Wen came to worship the ancestral god is from the story of King Wen inviting Jiang Taigong, who had been fishing with an empty fishing rod in the Wei River, to be his teacher, and putting him on a cart and pulling the cart himself (文王拉車).
At this time, Jiang Taigong said to King Wen of Zhou, “You have pulled me 808 steps, so I will protect you for 808 years.”
So it is said that the Zhou Dynasty lasted for 808 years.
Anyway, the job of pulling people on a cart was similar to that of a rickshaw puller.
--- p.110~113

For example, the fact that barbers, tailors, cooks, and butchers worshipped Guan Yu as their ancestral god was based on the story that Guan Yu used the Green Dragon Sword and was skilled with the sword.
The fact that incense dealers worshipped Guan Yu originated from a story about incense in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
In the famous scene of the Peach Garden Oath, there is a description of “burning incense, bowing, and making an oath.”
There is also a story that Cao Cao made Guan Yu stay in the same room with Liu Bei's Empress Xiao Lie all night in an attempt to make him break the duty of a ruler and his subject, but Guan Yu stood outside the door with a candle in his hand until the next morning to protect the empress.
--- p.125

Among the chefs, some in the field of making dumplings worshipped Zhuge Liang as their ancestral god.
This is because Zhuge Liang is considered the first person to have made dumplings.
When Zhuge Liang led his army to Lu River, a sudden strong wind blew, making it impossible to cross the river. He demanded that the heads of 49 people be sacrificed.
Zhuge Liang, who thought that he could not kill a person, made dumplings with beef and lamb, wrapped them in wheat flour dough, and made them into the shape of a human head.
With this, I was able to perform a ritual and cross the river safely.
『Romance of the Three Kingdoms?? There is also a story that Zhuge Liang went to Luoshu and offered a sacrifice using livestock meat as a substitute for human heads.
--- p.131

After Beomyeon, the ancestral god most worshipped by the beggars was Juwonjang.
The story comes from the fact that Ju Won-jang was very poor from a young age, and because he was so poor, he became a monk, but was kicked out of the temple and went around collecting alms from beggars.
… … For example, there is a story that when the director of the household was not able to get food, he started begging by beating on ox bones and shouting, and other beggars started following suit.
In other words, it was okay for them to beg noisily because it was the emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang) who ordered it.
… … None of this is true.
However, it was an attempt to secure psychological legitimacy by comparing it to the emperor's authority.
--- p.149

Various legends have emerged regarding the origins of the personification of Majo.
There are legends that Majo was originally the daughter of a fisherman, and that she was actually three women.
Specific names were also mentioned.
This is a legend about Im Mok (林?), the daughter of Im Won (林願), who held the position of inspector general during the Song Dynasty.
Im Mok was born with the ability to foresee people's fortunes and misfortunes.
Perhaps, those in the shipping industry would have been the most interested in knowing the good and bad fortunes of their profession in advance.
--- p.170

The worship of the prostitutes towards Baekmisin was not only particularly devout and pious, but also had a strong mystical color.
They worshipped in rows in the morning and evening, and performed mystical magical rituals on the first and fifteenth days of each month.
The magic ritual begins by covering the head of a statue of Baekmishin with something like a towel and then praying while pricking the statue's face with a needle.
This is meant to express anger towards a guest who is acting in a way that you do not want to see again or who is acting in a cunning manner.

--- p.211