后土

Hòutǔ
popculture

Meanings

  1. 1 Houtu, Earth Deity in Chinese folk religion
  2. 2 the Earth God (paired with August Heaven 皇天)

Examples

Gǔdài dìwáng jìsì Huángtiān Hòutǔ, qíqiú guó tài mín ān.
Ancient emperors offered sacrifices to August Heaven and Earth Deity, praying for peace and prosperity.
Shānxī Wànróng de Hòutǔ cí shì Zhōngguó zuì gǔlǎo de Hòutǔ miào zhī yī.
The Houtu Temple in Wanrong, Shanxi is one of the oldest Earth Deity temples in China.

Tips

culture
后土 is the Earth counterpart to (Huángtiān — August Heaven). Together they form the foundational deity pair in pre-Buddhist Chinese cosmology. Imperial worship of 后土 dates back to the Han Dynasty.
history
The 后土 (Houtu Shrine) in Wanrong County, Shanxi was a major imperial sacrifice site from Han to Song dynasties — emperors would travel there to perform earth-veneration rites.

Stroke Order

hòu