Four auxiliary gods

The Northern Emperor of Zhongtian Wei Zi assisted the Jade Emperor in charge of the climate of heaven, earth, latitude, sun, moon, star, morning and four seasons. The immortal emperor of Antarctica helped the Jade Emperor to be in charge of human life and destiny, and the Emperor Shanggong helped the Jade Emperor to be in charge of the three talents of the North and South poles, heaven, earth and man, leading the military revolution on the earth. Inheriting the example of heaven, the earth emperor only assisted the jade emperor in charge of yin and yang fertility, the growth of all things, and the beauty of the earth and mountains.

In the famous Taoist temple, besides Sanqing Hall and Huangyu Pavilion, there are four palaces dedicated to four emperors. The statues of the four emperors are all wearing dragon robes, which are extremely luxurious and are the images of emperors on earth. Sanqing and Yusi, as Taoist deities, are often called Sanqing together. In addition, Taoism is also known as the "Six Emperors". They are: Jade Emperor, Gouchen Emperor, Zihui Emperor, Tsinghua Emperor, Fairy Emperor and Earth Emperor. This statement originated from the concept of "Liuhe" in ancient China. The so-called "Liuhe" refers to the huge space of the universe, that is, up, down and four directions (east, west, south and north). Liu Yongguang's Rhubarb Suri in the Southern Song Dynasty is arranged in the following order:

Jade Qing God, Shangqing God, Taiqing Emperor, Jade Emperor God of Heaven, Gouchen Shanggong Emperor, Zhongtian Weizi Beiji Emperor, Dongji Taiyi Salvation Buddha (namely Tsinghua Emperor), Antarctic Immortal Emperor and Houtu Emperor.

The first three gods are Sanqing, and the last six gods form a "six-in-one" layout in four directions: upper (jade emperor), lower (thick soil). Taoism calls it "Hao Liu Tian Chen Yuzun", and together with Sanqing, it is called "Nine Emperors' Imperial Names". Later, in order to classify the four auxiliary Taoist scriptures (Taiqing, Taiping, Taixuan and Zhengyi), "Jade Emperor" and "Tsinghua Emperor" were removed, and today's "Four Emperors" were formed. The Great Emperor of Wei Zibei in Zhongtian is also known as the Great Emperor of Wei Zibei, the Great Arctic, the King of Polaris and one of the four emperors.

Wei Zi's belief in the North Pole Emperor comes from the worship of stars in ancient China. The North Pole is the abbreviation of Polaris, also known as "Beichen" and "Shu Tian", and lives on the purple emblem wall. Volume 4 of the "Shangqing Lingbao Dafa" says: "The Arctic emperor is also a purple emblem of the emperor in the wall. According to the "Tianwenzhi" cloud, the South Pole is 36 degrees into the ground, the North Pole is 36 degrees out of the ground, and the sky is tilted to the side. The cover is half underground and half underground. All the stars are left-handed, but the north and south poles are fixed, so the sky can move. When people look at the north and say the North Pole, they actually live in the sky. He is the patriarch of the stars, Jerry of the three realms, second only to Wu Tian, and Shang Yingyuan is also the emperor of the Arctic. " Volume 48 of the Book of the Later Han Dynasty also said, "There is a Wei Zi Palace in the sky where God lives." Therefore, Ziweiyuan is Wei Zi Palace, and later the emperor also called his place the Forbidden City.

Taoism believes that Beichen is the eternal star, located in the center of the sky, with the highest status and the most noble, and is the "Lord of the stars" and "the foundation of the gods". So I have great respect for him. "Records" said: "The five stars in the North Pole and the six stars in Chen are all in the palace, and the North Pole and Beichen are the most respected; Its thin star is also the pivot of the sky. " Regard it as "the seat of the great emperor" and "the son of heaven often lives in it." There is a cloud in Confucius' Book of Shoushu in the Tang Dynasty: "The Big Dipper encircles the North Pole, and Emperor Wei Zhou, a scholar of Qing Dynasty, travels in five stars and is the governor of Youzhou. Twenty-eight lodgings are distributed in all directions, and the princes of Judah are also guarding the land for the emperor. Astronomical phenomena are the law of respect and inferiority. "

Regarding the origin of Wei Zibei's extreme emperor, Emperor Tai Shang said that Tian Xuansheng reached Zhenwu as a magical spell, and quoted the Beidou Bible as saying: "Yesterday, the Dragon and Han Dynasties were robbed at the beginning, and last spring, Lady Yuguo Ziguang swam in the bath, and then undressed and bathed. Suddenly, she felt that the lotus was nine bracts, and when she developed well, she turned into nine children. His wife hugged and bowed in the palace, and she volunteered to be a sage and assistant. Emperor, eldest son, Zihui, Shanggong Jigang, Yuanxing. The second son, Wei Zi, assisted Zhongmou Tang Ming in establishing an army in the Arctic.

According to Taoist records, the function of Wei Zi Polaris Emperor is: to be in charge of heaven and earth, to command Samsung and the gods of mountains and rivers, to be the king of all things, to call the wind and rain, and to serve lightning and ghosts. For example, the volume "Notes on Nine Days' Ying Yuanlei Popularizing Tianzun's Imperial Books and Preserving Classics" says: "The Arctic Han Emperor mastered five thunders. Therefore, Wei Zi was worshipped by emperors, especially in the Song Dynasty, and people often worshipped him together with the Jade Emperor. Nowadays, in Dazu, Sichuan and other places, you can also see the statue of the purple emblem emperor shaped in the Song Dynasty. " Book of Rites IV of Ming Dynasty states: "In the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court also built the Wei Zi Temple and set up the Elephant Memorial Hall". Its image is dressed as an emperor, with a commander in chief, very noble and dignified. Wei Zi's birthday is on April 18th of the lunar calendar. The full name of the Antarctic immortal emperor is "Tian Tong Sheng Yuan Tian Zun, Emperor Wang Changsheng of Xiao Qing Town" and Xiao Qing Fu Shen, referred to as Fu.

There are two theories about the origin of the immortal emperor in Antarctica: one is the theory of Yuan Di's eldest son. According to the Taoist Scripture "Preface to Master Wang Zishu of Lei Yuqing", "In the past, the space was not completed, Cheng Yuan was not born, and the heavenly king was the ancestor of Hao Mang in the early Yuan Dynasty, and he was bent on life, which was called chaos. Chaos is torn down, but there is heaven and earth. Chinese and foreign names are mixed. At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the heavenly king, Yun Hua, painted, Jin Rong was brilliant, jade was as beautiful as the sky, Tao Yumiao was absolutely free from vulgarity, and he was divided into Kun and Kun. It comes from the upper and lower reaches of Yujing Mountain. When Wancheng's grandmother met her, she went to Xuanyuqing's mother for nine days and went to the big cave to mix men and women. She gave birth to eight children and was called the immortal emperor of Antarctica. Also known as the Emperor of Japan Palace in Fusang, Kowloon. Also known as Gao Shenxiao. Take three people at a time, and the holy one is also. " The real king, absorbed in the golden que, missed all sentient beings in the world, suffered three disasters and eight hardships, and all guilty souls were rewarded. Also, because of robbery, many people's sufferings are endless, and they are reluctant to give up day and night, and life and death are like spinning wheels. Therefore, the true gentleman showed mercy to all sentient beings in the three realms with his magical powers, that is, under the Golden Gate Valve, please be polite and invite Wei Zi to enter the palace for Ziyu and Qiongrui. Within the treasure of nine days, please ask the secret method of the Ninth True King to be a three-volume book ... At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, God ordered the great emperor Wan Fu to "go to heaven", and the second was the ninth son of the King of the Yuan Dynasty. According to the Taoist scriptures "Leiyuyu Sutra of Great Brahma, Purple and Micro", the Yuan King said that "Nine sons were the great emperor Wang Changsheng, who was in power for thirty-six days and was immortal for thirty-six days". At the same time, the Eight Immortals of the Yuan Dynasty also recorded the priest's position of the Antarctic immortal emperor, in which it was said that the Antarctic immortal emperor was appointed as the king of the highest god Leiyuqing and served as the nine-year-old jade fairy king and jade of the sun, and it was forbidden to stick holes. The same volume "Eight Emperors' Official Positions" also said: "The eldest son was appointed as the Heavenly King Xiao Yuqing, and Chu Xiao Taiping was the Taoist Lord, which led to the nine gods of Fusang Sun. Emperor Gouchen of Shanggong, referred to as "Gouchen Emperor" and "Emperor Huang" for short, is the third god among the "Four Emperors" in Taoism.

The emperor originated from the worship of stars in ancient China, just like Wei Zi, the emperor of China in the Arctic. "Pokémon Dafa" called the emperor: "It is to the left of the throne of the Arctic, with four stars. Its shape is linked by a hook, which is the name of Gouchen, and its next big star is among them, which is also the emperor. Its total star is in the same place as the North Pole, but it is a hub, and the emperor is also fine with the sky. It is appropriate to start from the mouth (left head and right head). " In fact, Gou Chen and Gou Chen are the names of the purple wall constellation in the sky, which is close to the Polaris and consists of six stars. "The Star Classic" said: "The six stars of Gouchen are under the five emperors, which are the harem and the emperor is the princess. He also lives in the six generals of the Son of Heaven and holds three posts. " Therefore, later generations took Gou Chen as the harem. "Jin Shu Tian Wenzhi" also said: "The six stars of Gou Chen are all in the palace. ..... In Gou Chen's mouth is a star called Emperor, and its god is called Witch, who is the master of ghosts and gods and holds the picture of all gods. "Taoism absorbed these beliefs, saying that Long Hannian asked a king named Tong Yu, whose virtue was boundless, and his people suffered a great disaster of eighty-four thousand. The king has a jade princess, who is wise and kind, nicknamed Mrs. Ziguang, and vowed to make a wish in the dust robbery, willing to have a son to assist Gan Kun for the benefit of nature; After three thousand robberies, the king was born, because when the flowers were in full bloom last spring, the backyard of the game came to the edge of the Golden Lotus Wenyu Pool and suddenly felt something. Lotus is a nine-bract, which develops in time and transforms into nine-bract. The second eldest son is the emperor and the emperor China. The second eldest emperor, who lived in the position of Gouchen in Ziweiyuan Taixu Palace, mastered the unity of the pagoda and Jigang and was the main leader of the stars. It is said that it was found in the Taoist scriptures "Jade Qing is the supreme spiritual treasure, the natural truth of Beidou". In addition, in Song Dynasty, Zhang Junfang's "Seven Things in the Cloud" volume 24 said: "Xing Jun, the master of the six stars, is often the tiger of Chen Tian. "Tied with the name of the Emperor Shanggong, it was listed as one of the Four Emperors.

The function of Emperor Gou Chen is to assist the Jade Emperor in charge of the North and South poles, the talents of heaven, earth and people, rule the stars and preside over the military revolution on earth.

Empress who inherits heaven and imitates the earth is the fourth god among the "Four Emperors" of Taoism, referred to as "Empress of the Earth" for short. Paired with the jade emperor who presided over the heaven, she is the goddess who dominates the mountains and rivers of the earth. The belief in thick soil originated from the land worship in ancient China. "Book of Rites Special Sacrifice" says: "The earth carries everything, and the sky hangs like an elephant. Borrowing materials from the earth and taking the method of heaven is a respect for the sky and a kiss to the earth. So the people in the church have good news. " In ancient times, people were born on the ground, so they were "near the ground" and "admired and worshipped", so the worship of "Houtu" began in the Spring and Autumn Period.

There are many records about Houtu, most of which are concentrated in Zuozhuan, Book of Rites, Shan Mei Classic and Huainanzi, which roughly means that Houtu is the son of the Gong family and the god of the central government. For example:

Twenty-nine years of Zuo Gong: "Therefore, officials have five elements, which are called five senses. Wood is Ju Mang, fire is Zhu Rong, gold is Ru Shou, water is mysterious, and soil is thick. Zhuan Xu's son, Li, is Zhu Rong. * * * There is a saying in the Gong family that "dragon" means "changed". After that, it is the soil of society.

"The Book of Rites Sacrifice Law": "The * * * government is the master of Kyushu, and its son Hou Tu is able to ping Kyushu, so it is worshipped as a society.

"Book of Rites and Moon Order": "The central soil, its emperor Huangdi, its god is behind the soil." (Zheng Note: King Yuzhu, the god of local officials, is also the son of Zhuan Xu and a local official. )

"Shan Mei Neijing": "* * * workers are born in the afterlife, the afterlife is born in choking, and choking is born in ten years." Guo Pu's Note: Twelve children were born, all named after the age of, so they are called clouds. Yuan Ke's full translation of Shan Mei Jing: In ancient mythology, it was said that choke was born at the age of twelve or at the age of one in December.

"Shan Mei Jing Ye Xijing": "Li (Houtu) is stuck in the ground, and in the west pole, he can travel to the sun, the moon and the stars." This choke is the god of time. )

Shan Mei Jing Ye Bei Jing: "In the wild, there is a mountain called Chengdu Zaitian. Some people named two yellow snakes Kuafu. After being born locally, Xin was born in Kuafu. " Note: Houtu, son of Gong, Gou, see Zuo Zhuan, Nineteen Years of Zhao and Jing.

"Shan Mei Neijing": "* * * workers are born in the back." Yuan Ke's "Complete Translation of Shan Mei Jing" case: "Mandarin Lu Yu" says: "* * * Gong's overlord has nine, and his son's name is Houtu, who can level nine." That is, this is the history of "* * * workers were born in the past".

"Evocation of Chu Ci": "Yuan Jun is more secluded here." Wang Yi's Note: Especially all of them are underground soil governance. Underground ghost, so it's called moderation.

"Huainanzi Astronomical Training": "China is also its emperor Huangdi, and its auxiliary soil is also."

The above records about Hou Di, some appear as immortals, some as ordinary people, and some record official names, all of which are men. However, in the ancient tradition of China, the sky is sunny and the ground is cloudy. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Jin Wen, the word "Hou" is the shape of a woman. As for "earth", the explanation of the name and Heaven said: "Earth, spit it, can spit everything.