| dc.description.abstract | Bogong was originally a folk worship of nature. In Chinese society, people tend to idolize and apotheosize the Almighty, and further folks give praise to God. A large of the population believe in Tudigong (土地公 ”Lord of the Soil and the Ground”) or Tudishen (土地神 ”God of the Soil and the Ground”). As time goes by, Tudishen is a tutelary deity of a locality and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion; on top of that, Tudishen has become a god of wealth admired by all walks of life in modern society.
The definition of the sacrificial circle consists of four major elements: region, believer, san zi, and faith. Under such common factors, the so-called sacrificial circle is formed with the social and religious activities. In addition to the abovementioned, the belief circle has more influence that could far surpass the township area, and furthermore the living area of the believers would reach out the scope of the county.
Nanshan Fude Temple was founded in the Twenty Years of Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong (1736). Until now it has been 280 years. With an area of about 70 hectares, at that time three pieces of slate were used to worship the local Earth God, known affectionately as Tudigong. Though many times of construction and expansion, Fude Temple has now developed into a temple group, and it is open 24 hours a day that folks can worship anytime; the faith power has been penetrated the whole country.
With the shift of the composition of society, people have autonomous and diversified choices of religious beliefs. With a large number of believers, the Tudigong temple is the most widely distributed. As time goes by, the belief in Tudigong has the evoled; however, it never change to encourage people to be good and guard the soul and keep pure mind.
| en_US |