|
The Men-Shen are gods of the right and left hand doorways.
They were named after Yu Che and Chhin Shu-pao, two
generals of the Emperor Tia-tsung.
This emperor unwisely promised to save a dragon from being beheaded
after it had made a mistake when allocating the rainfall. He failed
to keep his word and in revenge the ghost of the dragon made such a
commotion at the doors of his palace that his two generals, Yu Che and
Chhln Shu-pao volunteered to guard each doorway. The ghost of the dragon
was driven away from the front only to return and lay siege to the back
door which in turn was guarded by Wei Cheng, one of the Emperor's ministers,
and the ghost eventually left. From then on pictures depicting the guardians
were painted on or attached to doors.
The Men-Shen who guard the front of the house are
portrayed as two warriors armed with maces, bows and arrows. The god
of the right hand doorway is either black or red featured whilst the
god of the left hand doorway is white.
The Men-Shen had their origins from an earlier couple,
Shen Shu and Yu Lei. They were guardians who prevented ghosts from escaping
out of Hell and haunting the living.
|
