Hello i really have to say thanks for all the info on this site. Been reading almost half the pages here haha
I grew up in a taoist/Buddhist/sintua environment since young. I have always prayed to guanyin, guan gong, mazu and other mainstream gods/goddesses. But i have never really asked much about the lesser known deities that were not as known. So thank you very much for educating us.

Want to ask some questions regarding sintua.

1. I always see guanyin have 1 pair of hands but occasionally we see her having thousand hands. And also i wonder there is a Buddhist goddess that seems to be worship in sintua circles called Zhun Di and she seems like very similar to thousand hand guanyin. Are they all 3 the same goddesses or different goddesses?

2. There is a goddess my aunts got tell me before. She is called Song Zhi Niang Niang. She is apparently the goddesse alot of young just married couples pray to for children. I sometimes see her image on some small shrines but she also look like guanyin. So is she also another different form of guanyin? Or is she a seperate goddesses?

3. Since young i always hear stories of chang er the moon goddesses and i really feel a connection with her. But there doesnt seem to be any temples or shrines of her. Is there more info you can share about her. Like how to pray to her and what she usually grants as a blessing. Another thing also is i heard a long time ago from grandparents generations that boys do not usually pray to chang er. I dont't know why but i would like to pay my respects to her one day.

4. If I am praying for good looks to be a yandao kia and to attract ladies do i worship Pigsy god too? I know usually is prostitute, pimp and bar girl pray to him but he seems like the deity that is good as a "playboy" character even though he is not exactly attractive physically. (No offence tho)

This post has been edited by raggen: Nov 21 2017, 03:09 AM

Thanks for the clarification nachtsider! Esp about guanyin, zhun di and song zhi niang niang
Paiseh ah I got alot of questions still want to ask haha. Didnt think you would reply so quickly!

1. In ancient greek religion and hinduism there are both sex goddesses (Aphrodite and Rati) I grew up going to a shrine where there was a yue lao. I was told yue lao is not actually a deity for sex or pleasure. He is strictly love and bringing 2 people together. So is there a deity in sintua related to love/sex/pleasure?

2. So since we talking about yue lao. I also heard taiwan gay people worship a rabbit gay god. He is like a yue lao but for gay people. But i don't see this in Msia/Sg area. Maybe is that I don't know about it but i only heard about this recently only. Was curious what the stance on homosexuality is in sintua circles. Or rather what do the gods view homosexuality. In Christianity they have the bible where it is written in stone that cannot homosexuality for example. But in sintua is there a right or wrong for this?

3. I also see alot of temples/kopitiam and even people house nowadays got thai gods. I think they are thai gods but i may be wrong. One is a lady i think her name is nam guat. She supposed to welcome wealth. Than there is a fat buddha. But he is not the laughing buddha. I think his name is san cat chai. He is always at many kopitiam nowadays in my area. And also got the four face buddha. They seem very common nowadays but hope you can share more info about them since they are like adopted into sintua religion now.

4. Do you know which deity is in charge of arts? For example someone who do graphic art/ illustration and sculpting those kind of profession can pray to? For good career and progression in this kind of art industry?

5. You spoke about er lang shen being married to his job and is a bachelor. Was curious are there any other aspects of him? I heard he is a good fighter and warrior for example. What his job is in the heavenly realm. Also i know he has a third eye on his forehead but what is it specifically for? And what I can pray to him for?

6. My uncle got tell me before also that some temple like to keep cat and dog because the cat is believed to be the hu shen (tiger god protector of the temple) spirit and the dog is believed to embody the er land shen pet dog. I'm not sure about this, but if i feed these cat and dog and take care of them is it akin to honouring the gods in a way? Just curious about this haha.

Really paiseh. I think i will have more questions in the future. but really thank you for answering my questions

Thanks Nacht!
I wasn't aware the Thai occult deities is not compatible with our sintua gods. So far i noticed most temples don't have thai gods inside them but some temples now have 4 face buddha. Is there a reason for that?

Thanks about the info regarding the four face buddha and his relation to the hindu god brahma.

1. You mention previously that there are gods who are patrons of music and opera. Can share some of them that may come to your mind?

2. In kew ong ya (9 emperor god festival) usually before the gods leave certain places or temples, someone will take a belt / whip and whack hard hard on the floor. Is there a story and any symbolism for this you can share too?

3. I saw your post on the god Nerzha (lotus prince) and realize he very common to be prayed by lion/dragon dance troupe. Most of these troupe HQ i go too seem to have him as the main deity there. I know about his story but was wondering is there any particular reason why lion and dragon dance performance people like him? I suspect its because he is youthful and full of energy but then the monkey god is also very full of energy and nimble.

Hey Nacht
1. You usually see tu di gong being seated next to his wife tu di puo.
But the stories i heard is that tu di puo usually think her husband is too generous in giving wealth and will rein him in. So to make sure he isn't too generous and can save the wealth or something like that. So he don't give all the wealth away.
So why people still put him together with tu di puo since they will prevent tu di gong from giving them more wealth? Any reason?

2. Do you know anything about the kusu island pilgrimage in Singapore? I heard its related to tua pek gong and guanyin. People usually travel across the sea to a small island (but still inside Singapore territory) to pray during the 9th lunar month. I heard many people from johor go as well. But is there any such pilgrimages for people in the north or even central part of malaysia? Like klang, penang, ipoh... that are famous and many people go?

Hey Nacht, suddenly rmb during kew ong ya (9 emperor festival).

1.Usually theres a day where we will walk across the "ping an bridge" for peace. Its like a short makeshift bridge to symbolize crossing over troubled waters. Than at the end of the bridge we will throw a coin into a pail. Is there a reason for doing that? Any meaning behind it?

2. I also heard the 9 emperor festival even tho it originated from fujian province in china, its actually not celebrated in China or Taiwan? Any truth to that? And also if this is true do china and taiwan people still worship Doumu and the 9 emperors but maybe don't have the festival like we do here? I know chinese in thailand also got celebrate kew ong ya. But they call it a separate thai name. So is it a unique south east asian festival?

3. Is the queen mother of the west (xi wang mu) a strictly taoist goddess or do people in the sintua circles revere her too? I go many temple but it seems i don't really see her around too much. She seem only to be in those formal Taoist ceremonies or the occasional Buddhist temple art. Why don't many people talk about her like people talk about tua pek gong and guanyin? Also i know many women reverer her and also people wanting long life because she guards the longevity peaches. But is there any other aspects of her people look up to?

Thanks again!

hi nacht.
how come caishen got a military caishen? This is what i notice, usually theres the mainstream caishen where everyone pay for wealth. But i heard theres also a military/general version of him?
Any idea about this? And are they the same?

thanks for the clarification again!
looking forward to my first visit to my local caishen temple during chinese new year

Hey nach wanted to ask ah,
usually i go temple bai bai with my family they will go to the kim zua section and also take 2 packets of offerings.
- a packet of dried tea leaves wrapped around with a thick paper
- a packet of "prayer cookie/biscuit" which is in a plastic wrapper. The prayer cookie/biscuit is vertical shape and pink in colour. It looks very similar to the frozen crab stick that we buy in the supermarket those kind.

Than they will cut it open and put on a red tray and leave it on the table before the gods.

Usually i don't really notice or care about it because it happens everytime since young. And everytime we give the offerings is my parents or older brother give. So i recently go bai bai on my own than i realised i dont know what to do.

- should i bring the tea leaves and prayer cookie home? or should it be burnt? (I rmb my family always just leave there but i might be wrong. just want to confim)
- if the temple got many altars should i offer all of them tea leave and prayer cookie?
- is there a reason why we offer this 2 items? Like is there a symbolic reason? I also see it all the time by the roadside esp during 7th month. Or also just randomly by the roadside
- should it be offered to the gods before or after praying?


Thanks alot nacht.

This post has been edited by raggen: Apr 20 2018, 12:47 AM