HAINAN CANTONESE HAKKA HOKKIEN TEOCHEW

ZHAO DA YUAN SHUAI Worshipped by Hainan Chinese legend heralds a tale of ten suns that rose and scorched the farms, turning the world into a wasteland. A skilled archer, Hou Yi was able to shoot down nine out of the ten suns and only one remained. People believed that Zhao Da Yuan Shuai was one of the nine suns. After being shot down, he transformed to human form and started to learn spiritual skills and the art of self-cultivation in Taoism. He defends and upholds the teaching of Taoism. Known to slay any demon and overcome any epidemic, he is also believed to be the God of Wealth who brings good fortune. GAN TIAN DA DI Worshipped by Hakka Originally a hunter, he killed a pregnant deer one day. Filled with regret, he ceased hunting and sought to be a disciple of Wu Meng Zhen Ren in order to learn Spiritual Skills. On CE374, 25th Day of the 10 th Lunar Month, Xu Xun received Enlightenment and was summoned to the Celestial Palace by the Jade Emperor to be bestowed with the title, Heavenly Master – Tian Shi. HONG XIAN DA DI Worshipped by Hokkien Revered as The God of Tigers, this unique deity is only worshipped in Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. Many in the Hokkien community in Johor Bahru used to work as estate labour workers. They believed that this god offered them protection from tigers. FOLKLORE: The tale begins with Hong Xian Gong, a rent collector who one day, approached a house to collect rent. The old, lonely lady staying there had lost her husband and son. She begged to pay the rent later and Hong Xian Gong agreed. As he was going to leave, it started to rain so Hong Xian Gong rested at the old lady’s house. He fell asleep and dreamt of an old lame man and a black-shirted old lady. The black-shirted old lady asked him to save her life because she was a chicken and her owner was going to kill her. Hong Xian Gong woke up and went to the kitchen. He saw that old lady was going to kill a chicken to serve him food. He then realized that the black-shirted old lady was the chicken and saved it immediately. While Hong Xian Gong was on his way home, he passed through a forest and suddenly met a tiger waiting for him. The tiger only had three legs. He realized that this tiger was the old lame man in his dream. Eventually he rode on the tiger and gained immortality. YUAN TIAN SHANG DI Worshipped by TeoChew Respected as The God of Warriors, the legend unfolds with Xuanwu as the 82nd incarnation (avatar) of Supreme Venerable Sovereign (Tai Shang Lao Jun) who became a prince of Jing Le State in northern Hebei (a state in China). Before he was born, the queen dreamed that she had swallowed the sun and was found pregnant upon awaking. She gave birth to a baby after 14 months pregnancy. As he grew up, he felt the sorrow and pain of the life of ordinary people and went to cultivate the Tao to attain immortality at Mountain Wudang. FOLKLORE: In Qing Dynasty there was a story about Yuan Tian Shang Di who was originally a butcher who killed many animals. As days passed, he felt remorse for his sins and repented immediately by giving up butchery and started the cultivation of the Tao. To redeem his sins, he dug out his own stomach and intestines and washed it in the river. The Jade Emperor was moved by his sincerity and determination to cleanse his sins; hence he became an Immortal with the title of Yuan Tian Shang Ti. After attaining immortality, his stomach and intestines were transformed into a demonic turtle and snake that harmed people. At last, Yuan Tian Shang Di returned to earth to subdue them and that’s the reason why he’s standing on a turtle and a snake.