Teochew Deity Parade (營老爺; Teochew: iâng2 ló5‑iâ5; lit. The Deity Touring Its Territory) is an extremely grand, community-based, and ritualistic folk festival in the Teochew region (Chaoshan), combining local deity worship and land worship. The main purpose of Teochew Deity Parade is to invite local guardian deities to patrol their jurisdiction, ensuring peace, blessings, and protection from evil, and allowing the people to pray for village safety and good weather. The procession for Teochew Deity Parade is extremely large, including flag teams, banner teams, palanquin bearers, Yingge dance troupes, lion dance teams, Song Jiang Battle Array (宋江陣; Teochew: sông3 giong1‑dêng7), Eight Generals troupe (家將陣; Teochew: ga1 ziong3‑dêng7), and drum bands, and is hailed as a "Chaoshan carnival."
Background Teochew Deity Parades originated from earth‑god worship and village protective deity rituals that developed during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and continued as a major rural ritual until the mid‑20th century. The activities were shaped by the migration of Teochew ancestors from the Central Plains and their integration with local Min‑Yue cultures. Over time, the parade became a major communal festival expressing protection, prosperity, and collective identity.
Earth‑god Worship The parade evolved from Bogong (伯公) and earth‑god worship, a community‑based ritual where the deity "patrols" the land to bless crops and protect the settlement. Ancient Chinese earth‑god worship already appears in Shang dynasty oracle bones, showing the deep antiquity of the concept.
Main deities
Big Deity Main article: Dark Heavenly Highest Deity
In the Chaoshan region and overseas Teochew communities, the "Big Deity" or the "Great Lord" (大老爺; Teochew: tāi7 ló5‑iâ5; lit. Big Deity) referred to in the Teochew Deity Parade ceremony is Dark Heavenly Highest Deity (玄天上帝; Teochew: Hiang5 tiêng1 siang6 di3; Mandarin: Xuantian Shangdi). The Deity also called Highest Deity (上帝公; Taiwanese Minnan: Siōng‑tè‑kong) by Taiwanese, and the True Martial Great Emperor (真武大帝; Zhenwu Dadi) by people from Northern China. Big Deity is regarded as the supreme guardian deity by the Teochew people, especially in large towns such as Jieyang, the ancient city of Chaozhou and Teochew people in South-East Asia, such as Thailand. The Teochew people believe that Big Deity is an imperial deity who rules over all the gods of the north, the god of all gods, possessing supreme authority and immense power to ward off disasters, eliminate demons, exorcise evil spirits, suppress fire and water, and ensure national peace and prosperity. Temples to Big Deity are ubiquitous in the Teochew region, and the Teochew people call these temples "Da Lao Ye Gong" (大老爺宮; Teochew: dua7 lao6 ia5 gêng1; lit. Big Deity Temple) or "Lao Ye Gong" (老爺宮; lit. Deity Temple). Every year in the first month of the lunar calendar, grand Deity Parades are held in various towns and villages of the Chaoshan region and many Teochew communities oversea. The statue of Big Deity is taken out of the temple and tours the area, praying for his protection and peace.
Lords of the Three Mountains Main article: Lords of the Three Mountains
According to traditional accounts, the Three Mountain Kings (三山國王) are the most representative local guardian deities of the Chaoshan region. Unlike the large urban temples, it is the inland and upland villages that regard the Three Mountain Kings as their closest and most authoritative protectors. The cult is said to have originated in Lintian of Jieyang during the Sui dynasty, where the deities were originally the spirits of three mountains — Jin Mountain (巾山), Ming Mountain (明山), and Du Mountain (獨山) — later personified as three royal figures. In the fourteenth year of the Yuanhe reign (819 CE), when Han Yu was exiled to serve as Prefect of Teochew, he encountered severe flooding. He prayed to the "Three Mountain Gods," renowned for answering petitions concerning drought, flood, and epidemic. The rain soon ceased. Following this event, the mountain gods were elevated from local spirits to the principal territorial deities of Teochew Prefecture, becoming the foremost gods of the Teochew region. Over time, they came to be regarded as the protectors of both Hakka and Teochew communities across the three Chaoshan cities. As Teochew, Hakka, and Haifeng–Lufeng migrants moved abroad, the cult spread to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. The Three Mountain Kings’ festival is typically held on the twenty‑fifth day of the second lunar month. Teochew people believe that the deities safeguard the land and its inhabitants and possess the power to ensure timely winds and rains.
City God Main article: City God
In Teochew belief, the City God (城隍爺; Teochew: sian5 ng5 ia5, or 城隍公; Teochew: sian5 ng5 gong1) is regarded as the "chief administrator of the underworld." He is the spiritual counterpart of the local magistrate in the human realm, functioning as the prefectural or county‑level official of the spirit world, and holds the highest rank in prefectural and county rituals.
Within Teochew folk religion, the City God’s Inspection Tour (城隍出巡), also called City God’s Governance Tour (城隍出政), is an important traditional ritual event. The most solemn form is the Three Inspection Rites (三巡會), sometimes referred to as Three Governance Tours (三出政). These three major inspections take place annually during Qingming Festival, Ghost Festival, and the Tenth Lunar New Moon (The first day of the Tenth Lunar Month). The core meaning of the Three Inspection Rites is expressed in the paired concepts "Joint Governance of Yin and Yang" (陰陽共治) and "Purifying and Regulating the Jurisdiction" (清行轄區), phrases commonly inscribed on plaques or couplets in City God temples. These ideas reflect the City God’s dual role as both judicial and administrative authority across the realms of the living and the dead. The concept of "Joint Governance of Yin and Yang" means that the City God oversees not only the moral order, ethics, and social discipline of the living (the yang realm), but also the judgment of departed souls (the yin realm). He therefore embodies both a protective deity and a judicial deity. "Purifying and Regulating the Jurisdiction" refers to the City God’s duty to enforce justice within his domain — maintaining social order, correcting misconduct, rectifying abuses, and ensuring that good is rewarded and wrongdoing receives its due consequence. Through these inspections, the City God symbolically reaffirms the harmony and proper governance of the community.
Other deities
Double Loyal Lords In the Chaoshan region, the Double Loyal Lords (雙忠公) refer to Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan, two Tang‑dynasty figures celebrated for their steadfast defense of Suiyang during the An Lushan Rebellion. Over a siege that lasted nearly ten months, they held the city against overwhelming odds until they were finally captured and executed. To the people of Chaoshan, the two men embody loyalty, righteousness, and protective guardianship, and are revered as deities who safeguard the land and its inhabitants. Although their cult generally ranks below that of "Big Deity", the Three Mountain Kings, and the City God, in certain core areas—most notably Chaoyang—the Double Loyal Lords are honored as the principal tutelary deities, regarded locally as the foremost "Great Lords" of the community.
Beh-Gong, the Earth God Main article: Tudigong
In the Chaoshan region, Beh-Gong (伯公), also known as the Earth God (土地公, aka Tudigong), is regarded as the most grassroots of all tutelary deities. He protects very specific local spaces, such as a plot of land, a village boundary, or even an individual grave. Although major festivals are typically led by higher‑ranking deities, Beh-Gong, as the "landlord deity," also takes part in the procession. In some villages, there are ritual events dedicated specifically to beh-gong, including the well‑known Immersing Beh-Gong (浸伯公; Teochew: zim bêh‑gong) which is a distinctive Chaoshan ritual—especially in Jiexi—where villagers immerse the Earth God’s palanquin in water to pray for rain, purification, and agricultural harmony. Beyond the fixed annual date, often the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Immersing Beh-Gong may also be performed during severe droughts or when crops fail. If ordinary incense‑offering prayers prove ineffective, worshippers in Jiexi may adopt a "half‑reverent, half‑coercive" approach, urging Beh-Gong to work harder and to fulfill his responsibilities. This reflects the pragmatic ethos of Chaoshan folk religion: a deity who receives worship must, in turn, protect the community. During Immersing Beh-Gong, villagers carry the Earth God’s statue out of the shrine and bring it to a nearby river, pond, or stream. The palanquin—sometimes together with the statue—is immersed in the water, symbolizing purification, the washing away of defilements, and prayers for timely rain and agricultural abundance.
Southern Pole Great Emperor Main article: Old Man of the South Pole
In Taoist doctrine, the Southern Pole Great Emperor (南極大帝), also known as the Great Emperor of Longevity, is distinct from the Southern Pole Immortal Elder (南極仙翁, aka Old Man of the South Pole), who is also called the God of Longevity or the Southern Pole Star Lord. Southern Pole Great Emperor — formally titled The High and Supreme Divine King of the Jade‑Pure Heaven, the Great Emperor of Longevity (高上神霄玉清真王長生大帝) — is one of Taoism’s Four Sovereigns. By contrast, Southern Pole Immortal Elder originates from ancient star‑deity worship and is depicted as a kindly old man with a high forehead, white beard, staff, and peach of immortality, often accompanied by a crane or a spotted deer.
However, because both deities bear the name "Southern Pole" and are associated with longevity, Chaoshan folk religion does not distinguish between them. Whether during the Teochew Deity Parade or in temple worship, the two figures are blended into a single deity, commonly referred to as Southern Pole Great Emperor or the God of Longevity (壽星). When Chaoshan communities parade Southern Pole Great Emperor, they do so to pray for health, long life, household peace, and general blessings, as well as for protection against malevolent forces and for favourable weather and communal safety. Although Southern Pole Great Emperor is not as commonly paraded as major deities such as the Three Mountain Kings, in villages or temples where he is the principal deity—or one of the co‑worshipped deities — rituals for parading Southern Pole Great Emperor are included in the Teochew Deity Parade festivities.
Guandi Main article: Guan Yu
Within the pantheon of deities featured in the Teochew Deity Parade, Guandi is one of the participating deities. Yet in the wider religious life of Teochew communities, both in China and overseas, Guandi occupies a particularly distinguished position. He is at once a martial deity, a god of wealth, and the very embodiment of loyalty and righteousness, functioning as an all‑purpose guardian. As a martial protector, Guandi drives away malevolent forces and safeguards the community. As a patron of commerce, his reputation for integrity leads Teochew merchants to regard him as the guardian of legitimate wealth; business openings and major transactions are believed to require his blessing. As a clan and diaspora deity, Guandi serves as a moral anchor, representing the ethical ideals that bind Teochew people together across the world.
Mazu Main article: Mazu