City God (China)

City God
Statue of the City God in the Wen'ao Chenghuang Temple in Magong, Taiwan
Chinese	城隍神
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Chénghuángshén Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Sìhng wòhng sàhn Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sîng-hông-sîn

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A City God (Chinese: 城隍神; pinyin: Chénghuángshén; lit. 'god of the boundary'), is a tutelary deity in Chinese folk religion who is believed to protect the people and the affairs of the particular village, town or city of great dimension, and the corresponding location in the afterlife. City God cults appeared over two millennia ago, and originally involved worship of a protective deity of a town's walls and moats. Later, the term came to be applied to deified leaders from the town, who serve in authority over the souls of the deceased from that town, and intervene in the affairs of the living, in conjunction with other officials of the hierarchy of divine beings. City Gods are considered above tudigongs ('lords of local land'), which themselves are above landlord deities.