The Historical Origin of Iron Gate God

The Historical Origin of Door-sticking God: This custom of Door-sticking God has been circulating in China for a long time. Let's look at the historical origin of this custom.

The historical origin of the door god

In order to pray for health and longevity, people in many places still keep the habit of sticking up doors. It is said that there are two door gods on the gate, and all monsters will be scared. In the folk, the door god is a symbol of justice and strength. Therefore, the door gods in our country are always glaring, holding all kinds of traditional weapons, ready to fight with ghosts who dare to come to the door. Generally speaking, the doors of residential houses are two opposite, so the door gods are always in pairs.

Door gods are said to catch ghosts. Ying Shao's Custom Pass in the Eastern Han Dynasty quoted the Book of the Yellow Emperor as saying: In ancient times, two brothers, Tea God and Lei Yu, lived on Dushuo Mountain. There is a peach tree on the mountain, which is shaded by trees. Every morning, they review hundreds of ghosts under this tree.

The description in the book is more detailed: the King of Jinghe committed the crime of factory in order to bet with the fortune teller, which should be said to be completely dead. The Jade Emperor appointed Wei Zhi as the suggestion. King Jing begged Emperor Taizong to spare his life. Emperor Taizong agreed. When the dragon was cut at Hello Wuhua Temple, he summoned Wei Zhi to fight with him. Unexpectedly, Wei Zheng knocked down a man's chest with one punch. His soul ascended to heaven and beheaded the dragon king. The Dragon King complained that Emperor Taizong had broken his word and cried outside the palace day and night for his life. Emperor Taizong told his ministers that General Qin said, "I would like to stand outside the city gate with you and put on my military uniform. Emperor Taizong agreed. Nothing happened that night. Emperor Taizong couldn't bear the hardships of the second general, so he ordered the skillful hand to draw the true face of the second general and stick it on the door. Later generations came together, so the two generals became the gatekeepers of thousands of families. Today, on the two doors of some old gatehouses in Chaoshan, we can also see Shencha, Lei Yu or two warriors. The images look the same, but after careful observation, one of them holds Strafe and the other holds an iron mace. Wei Chijingde waved a whip and Qin Qiong waved a scepter.

It turns out that the historical origin of the Iron Gate God can be traced back to the Eastern Han Dynasty.