In traditional Chinese culture, the God of Wealth, Door Gods , and the Kitchen God were never neglected, as offering sacrifices to the gods was one of the most important practices in Chinese festivals. The worship of the gods of wealth, door, and kitchen expressed the Chinese people’s strong desire for a happy, wealthy, and peaceful life.

  Tsai Shen, God of Wealth

Tsai Shen (the god of wealth) is one of the most popular symbols of fortune and prosperity in China. In ancient times, Tsai Chen was believed to send his attendants out to bestow riches on his devotees.

Tsai Shen can be seen in many Chinese (and other Asian) houses and buildings, most of the times near the entrances, to help the inhabitants or tenants attract wealth and prosperity to those places as well as to act as a protection for their environments and the income that comes to them.

Before the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), people did not seek to attract wealth and prosperity from only one god. Almost all heavenly immortals were seen as gods with wealth-giving power. However, by the time of the publication of Fengshen Yanyi (Creation of Gods), a Ming-dynasty novel, the wealth and property power began to be related to only a couple of gods.

These gods of wealth were said to be historical figures identified as people who might well fall into two categories 　 civil officials and military leaders. Chinese call them Wen Tsai Shen (literary gods of wealth) and Wu Tsai Shen (martial gods of wealth). Among all the gods of wealth, Zhao Gongming and Guan Gong, the two Wu (martial) Tsai Shen, were the most famous and popular throughout history.

 Zhao Gongming

With a dark complexion and thick moustache, Zhao Gongming is usually portrayed as a stately and powerful commander in heavy armor riding on a black tiger , with an ingot (long metal-cast rod) in his left hand and an iron whip in his right hand.

Zhao was said in Creation of Gods to be a hermit who employed magic to support the collapsing Shang Dynasty (16-11th century BC). His enemy, Jiang Ziya, a supporter of the following Zhou Dynasty (11th century-256 BC), killed him. In the novel, Jiang was a canonizer of gods and later felt sorry for causing the death of the virtuous Zhao. The canonizer apologized in a temple , extolled Zhao's virtues, and canonized him as the god of wealth.