Lu Gong, whose real name is Zhang Fude, was intelligent and filial since childhood; At the age of 36, he served as the chief tax collector of the official yuan. He was honest and clean, sympathized with the sufferings of the people and did many good deeds. Three days after his death, his appearance remained the same. A poor household is surrounded by four big stones and worships in a stone house. Before long, he became rich from poverty. The people believed that it was blessed by God, so they built a temple together and offered it as a sacrifice with gold, so merchants often used it as a sacrifice.
He also said that after his death, the tax collectors who took over paid taxes up and down and did whatever they wanted, which made people miserable. At this time, people thought of the benefits of Zhang Fude's ruling, and they were obsessed with it, so they built a temple to worship and named it the God of Wealth.
In the folk, the land Lord is also regarded as the god of wealth and blessing, because the people believe that there is land and wealth, so the land Lord is regarded as the patron saint by businessmen. Generally speaking, among the five gods of a family, there must be a tribute from the earth god. If there is no tribute to the earth god at home, incense tables, candlesticks and offerings will be arranged in front of the house on the second and sixteenth day of each month.
Cultural practices
The temples built for them in the past are found in almost every village. Legend has it that land can also go to heaven at will, but it has been left to the people. Usually, the land god appears as an elderly couple. The man is called "land father-in-law" and the woman is called "land mother-in-law".
The worship of land gods actually originated from ancient land worship. Later, this nature worship began to be personalized, and some real people gradually appeared to play this role, known as "land gods." During the Republic of China (1949) and before, there was a phenomenon of offering sacrifices to land gods in all places where Han people lived.
Because there are countless land gods in China, not many have real names. Generally, the temples built for them are very small, called "Land Temple", dedicated to an elderly couple sitting side by side.