Houtu
Hòutǔ or Hòutǔshén, also known as Hòutǔ Niángniáng, otherwise called Dimǔ or Dimǔ Niángniáng, is the deity of all land and earth in Chinese religion and mythology. Houtu is the overlord of all the Tudigongs, Sheji, Shan Shen, City Gods, and landlord gods worldwide.
In Taoism, Houtu is one of the Four Heavenly Ministers, which are four of the highest-ranking gods in Taoism.
Role
Houtu was originally a male earth god in early Chinese mythology, later absorbed into Taoism as one of the Four Heavenly Ministers.Over time, the earth goddess Dimǔ emerged, and the name "Houtu" came to refer to all earth deities.
However, in folk customs, Dimǔ is not called Houtu. People seem to intentionally distinguish between Dimǔ and Houtu, and "Houtu" is often used to refer to male earth deities, even though "Houtu" is also a name for Dimǔ.
Furthermore, in some historical records, Houtu is sometimes not synonymous with Dimǔ, but retains its original identity as a male earth god.
In early mythology
According to early Chinese classics Zuo Zhuan, Book of Rites and Classic of Mountains and Seas, Houtu is the son of Gonggong, being able to control the flood by installing mountains of Earth. He is also the assistant god to one of the Great Five Emperors, the Huang Di, being the god of the Earth element in the Wuxing system.In early myths Gonggong also was related to the first Tudigong, his son who was appointed as a god of the soil by Zhuanxu.
In Taoism
In Taoism, Houtu is one of the Four Heavenly Ministers, along with Jade Emperor, Gouchen Emperor and Ziwei Emperor. In some Taoist scripts, another two gods, Changsheng Emperor and Qinghua Emperor, are added to constitute "Six Heavenly Ministers". The Daochang of Houtu is at Mount Jiuhua.Due to the belief that Tian represents yang and Di represents yin, most people believe Houtu is a female deity.