| Name: |
Men Shen, "Door
Gods" |
| Commemoration: |
1st lunar
month, 15th day |
| Attributes: |
The Men Shen
are, like Janus, gods of the threshold. They protect households
from the evil forces outside, as well as marking "safe
space." They are found pasted to the front doors of the
humblest homes and apartments; their grander relatives can be seen
outside of temple gates all over the east, and they even show up as the
lions in front of banks and hotels. |
| "History":
|
In popular
belief, they were Qin Shubao and Hu Jingde, two generals from the Tang
Dynasty. Although the practice of painting door guardians is much
older, the identification of the guardians with Qin Shubao and Hu Jingde
is more recent--perhaps 600-700 years old. The association results
from a story in the Comprehensive Collection of Investigations into
the Divinities of the Three Doctrines since their Origin. This
says that the Tang emperor Taizong was beset by demons howling
outside of his bedroom at night. Two of his soldiers, Qin Shubao (also
called Qin Qiong) and Hu Jingde (or Weichi Jingde), rewuested permission
to guard the door to the emperor's chamber. It worked!
Thereafter the emperor ordered pictures of the two to be drawn and
posted on the palace gates, and there was no more trouble. Thus
these two came to be associated with the ancient threshold
guardians. (A more complete version of this story is at the
taoism.org link below.) |
| Description: |
Two men in
military armor, bearing fearsome weapons. Often, Qin
Shubao has a white face, and Hu Jingde
either a red or black one. (Compare the story of the Three
Brothers, one of whom is Guan Gong who is also called Chien
Lan.) |
| Links: |
pantheon.org
godchecker.com
taoism.org |
| About
the photos: |
All photos on
this page are copyright 2004 by James
Baquet |
The Men Shen on the front door of General Lai Enjue's house, Dapeng
Fortress
Men Shen in the form of
statues in the Tian Hou Temple at Dapeng
Fortress
More to come!
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