Landlord deity
Landlord deities are a type of tutelary deity worshipped in the East Asian cultural sphere.
They are low level deities that are considered below Sheshen and City Gods.
When people move into a new location they will ask the landlord deity for permission to move there.
Houtu is the overlord of all the Tudigongs, Sheji, Shan Shen, City Gods, and landlord gods worldwide.
In China
In China, Dizhushen are considered deities below Sheshen and City Gods.The Landlord God is a deity worshipped in Chinese folk beliefs who is analogous but is not to be confused with Tudigong.
The tablet for the Landlord God is typically inscribed with two rows:
On the left: "The Landlord Wealth God of the Overseas Tang People" or "The Landlord Wealth God from Front to Back"
On the right: The Dragon God of the Five Directions and Five Lands.
The names are accompanied by a side couplet of various wordings that praise the virtues of the Landlord God. It is believed that the Landlord God has powers to help gather wealth, and the position of the tablet must be placed properly according to the laws of fengshui.
In Chinese, spirit houses are called 土地神屋 or Tudigong House, representing a link between the concept and the concept of an Earth Temple dedicated to a landlord deity or a Tudigong.
In Taiwan
Worship of Tē-ki-tsú is especially common in Taiwanese folk beliefs. Many institutions such as government agencies and companies will honor a Tē-ki-tsú when moving into a new building.Household altars to Tē-ki-tsú are very common.
Such deities are ambiguous in their nature sometimes ghosts and sometimes deities. Sometimes considered the souls of former occupants Sometimes rituals for such deities is seen as moving the building from the yin world to the yang world.
Such deities may be linked to Goryō or people who died without relatives.
Alternatively the tradition may originate with Taiwanese indigenous peoples and their practice of indoor burial, or burying people inside buildings.
In Japan
, also known as,,, or, are Shinto folk deities, or kami, of an area of land. Their history goes back to at least the 9th century and possibly earlier. Originally, jinushigami were associated with new areas of land opened up for settlement. New residents of the land created shrines to the local resident kami either to gain its blessing/permission, or to bind it within the land to prevent its interference with, or cursing of, nearby humans. Jinushigami may be either ancestors of the original settlers of an area, or ancestors of a clan. They are also known as Landlord deities and sometimes described as genius loci.Ōkuninushi is sometimes considered a Jinushigami of Japan as a whole.
Hokora are often created for Jinushigami, natural objects like trees are also often seen to be yorishiro or shintai for them.
The goal is to convince the cthonic deities of the ground to allow occupation.
Shinra Myōjin is considered such a deity and to have originated in Korea.