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Houtu, photo 1 of 2
Houtu, photo 2 of 2

Photo credit

Photo
后土皇地祗
By
Unknow (Qing Dynasty)
Licence
Public domain
Source
Wikimedia Commons
Changes
Resized

Photo credit

Photo
后土皇地祗（三教源流搜神大全）
By
唐吉訶德的侍從
Licence
CC0
Source
Wikimedia Commons
Changes
Resized

后土

Hòutǔ
proper noun

Meanings

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

About Houtu

宗教人物 religious figure

The deity of the earth in Chinese religion, paired with Heaven in the oath phrase 皇天后土. Emperors made sacrifices to Houtu from the Han dynasty on, and Daoism worships the deity as a goddess.

Also called  后土娘娘

Examples

HSK 7-9
古代帝王祭祀皇天后土，祈求国泰民安。
Gǔdài dìwáng jìsì Huángtiān Hòutǔ, qíqiú guótàimín'ān.
Ancient emperors offered sacrifices to August Heaven and Earth Deity, praying for peace and prosperity.
HSK 7-9
山西万荣的后土祠是中国最古老的后土庙之一。
Shānxī Wànróng de Hòutǔ cí shì Zhōngguó zuì gǔlǎo de Hòutǔ miào zhīyī.
The Houtu Temple in Wanrong, Shanxi is one of the oldest Earth Deity temples in China.

Tips

mistakes
The 后 here is not 'after' but the character's ancient sense, 'sovereign', as in 皇后 'empress' and the archer 后羿. So traditional script writes 后土 with 后, never with 後 'behind'.
history
The 后土祠 (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

后 hòu
土 tǔ