The Town-god Worship In Formation & Development

The Town-god worship encountered often in the mystery chinese stories(ancient Chinese fantastic fiction),originated in a primitive worship of gnomes.A Town-god-gnome called Shui Yong was already one of the deities people consecrated in their yearend sacrifice in as early as Zhou Dynasty(1060 BC-221 BC).It was during the Three-Kingdoms Period(220280) when the Town-god started personification and,in the south of Yangtze River,enjoyed high popularity.This worship expanded nationwide in Tang Dynasty(618-907) and became a part of the state sacrifice in early Song Dynasty(960-1279).From Ming Dynasty(1368-1644) to Qing Dynasty(1644-1912),it integrated the Buddhist ideas of purgatory judgment,rewarding good and punishing evil,and then the Town-god turned into an emissary from the Buddhist purgatory and a holy judge adjudicating for the worlds of the living,the dead and the future incarnations.