Ch'eng Huang are demigods, functionaries in the Celestial Bureaucracy, who guard specific localities, such as villages, cities, towns, mountains, and other sites of importance. They are charged with protecting the inhabitants of a town in which they are honored, advising mortal governors, and sending spirits of the dead to be judged by Yen-Wang-Yeh.
Usually, they are created by the Bureaucracy from the spirits of bureaucrats who served a town well during their mortal lives.1
Like all members of the Celestial Bureaucracy, if a Ch'eng Huang performs badly, it can be replaced.2 Like all other Chinese deities, they must report to Shang-ti's palace at least once a year for a performance review.3
Source: Deities & Demigods (2e)
1. Page 84
2. Page 76
3. Page 72
- 736 reads