Sheji

Sheji, in ancient Chinese religion, a compound patron deity of the soil and harvests. China’s earliest legendary emperors are said to have worshipped She (Soil), for they alone had responsibility for the entire earth and country. This worship was meant to include the five spirits of the earth that resided in mountains and forests, rivers and lakes, tidelands and hills, mounds and dikes, and springs and marshes. Later Chinese emperors worshipped the gods of the soil as a more particularized cult than that offered to sovereign earth. The ceremony took place inside the Forbidden City in Beijing, on an altar covered with soil of five colours.

Since ordinary people had no part in this sacrifice, they gradually created such gods as Hou Ji to protect their land and grain. Small communities, or even single families, thus also came to have their local god or Tudi Gong (the Earth God). Throughout the country countless small shrines or temples were constructed, each with two images. Originally meant to represent the god of soil (She) and the god of grain (Ji), these images eventually were considered man and wife.

The great Han dynasty emperor Gao Zi (reigned 206–195 bce) was but one of many Chinese rulers who encouraged the local populace to sacrifice to their particular Tudi Gong, even though the limited jurisdiction of these gods placed them under the authority of Cheng Huang, the spiritual magistrate of the city.