God of wealth

As a god that can bring in wealth and riches, the God of Wealth is worshiped by most Chinese. Each time of the Spring Festival, every family will hang a picture of the god for blessings of great luck and large wealth. It was originally a custom practiced by merchants, which then became popular amongst other folks and villagers. Moreover, people of different times and regions worship their own God of Wealth differently, such as the Civil God of Wealth, the Martial God of Wealth, the Deities of Wealth of Five Directions and the Angel of Fortune, as well as the orthodox one Zhao Gongming. The God of Wealth in folk beliefs is not a singular image but something appears as a group.

The Civil God of Wealth or Caibo Xingjun usually refers to Bi Gan and Fan Li, whose statues and figure paintings are in the look of civilian officials. There are also Martial God of Wealth - Zhao Gongming and Guan Yu in the look of dark face and thick beards wearing iron hat and coat armor. The Deities of Wealth of Five Directions are defined as the Marshal Zhao Gong, the Zhaobao (meaning invite treasure) Lord of Heaven Xiao Sheng, Nazhen (meaning collect treasures) Lord of Heaven Cao Bao, the Herald of Inviting Wealth Chen Jiugong, and Lishi (meaning lucky money) Immortal Officer Yao Shaosi together take over all wealth and treasure and bring luck and fortune to people. The Angel of Fortune often appears in the image of a boy holding a treasure plate or gold ingot and a Ruyi scepter serving the civil and martial gods of wealth, who are often visualized as the Lishi Immortal Officer, the Mammon Boy, Liu Haichan and the Gods of Harmony. In some places, historical figures such as Shen Wansan (a well-known and intelligent merchant prince) are also worshiped as gods of wealth.

The gods of wealth in Tibetan Buddhism are also widely embraced by Tibetans, which include the Heavenly King of Fortune, Yellow Jambhala, Black Jambhala and White Jambhala. Tibetans in Tibet and Qinghai region have always held it a custom to pray for fortune by enshrining gods of wealt