Caishen

The God of Wealth

Domain: Wealth & Prosperity
Alignment: Neutral Good
Element: Light
Relics of Power: Gold Ingot

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4 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.

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The People

People

Chinese

Region

China

Period

c. 1600 BC – present

The Chinese deities bring together traditions of Taoism, Buddhism, and folk religion, worshipped for millennia across China. Presided over by the Jade Emperor, they form a vast celestial bureaucracy mirroring the earthly empire. They are honored in temples, at Chinese New Year, and at the altars of homes and ancestors.

Chinese New Year greets the gods with fireworks, dancing lions, and offerings to the Kitchen God, who ascends to heaven to report on the family's conduct. The Dragon Boat Festival honors the poet Qu Yuan, and at Qingming families sweep the tombs and venerate the ancestors.

At a glance

Caishen is the supreme god of wealth, financial prosperity and mercantile good fortune in the traditional Chinese pantheon, venerated in Taoism, popular religion and Sinicised Buddhism alike. He embodies the cosmic recompense granted to moral uprightness in business, to diligent labour and to the charitable sharing of material surpluses. Tradition divides his rule into two complementary archetypal aspects: the Military Caishen (Wucaishen), led by the Taoist general Zhao Gongming on his black tiger and by the illustrious martial hero Guan Yu, and the Civil Caishen (Wencaishen), embodied by the venerable martyred minister Bigan and by the wise Taoist economist Fan Li. His daily veneration unites merchants and workers in a common ideal of honourable labour, fraternal cooperation and enduring economic justice.

14 min read · Reviewed on September 28, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

The gold ingot, the tiger, the red robes and the coins

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Xu Zhonglin, Fengshen Yanyi. translation: Gu Zhizhong, 1992.
Anônimo, Sanjiao Soushen Daquan. translation: Anne Birrell, 1993.
Sima Qian, Shiji. translation: William H. Nienhauser Jr., 1994.
Meng Yuanlao, Dongjing Meng Hua Lu. translation: Stephen H. West, 2010.

Studies

Meir Shahar, Crazy Ji: Chinese Religion and Popular Literature. Harvard University Asia Center, 1998.
Robert P. Weller, Unities and Diversities in Chinese Religion. University of Washington Press, 1987.
C. K. Yang, Religion in Chinese Society. University of California Press, 1961.
Henri Maspero, Taoism and Chinese Religion. University of Massachusetts Press, 1981.

Name and epithets

The compound divine name Caishen (財神) combines the character cai (財), which expresses monetary wealth, economic resources, patrimonial values and precious currency, with the word shen (神), which denotes divinity, an enl…

In the ancient sources

Fengshen Yanyi., 16th century CE.. Describes the mystical battles of Zhao Gongming and his celestial canonisation by the master Jiang Ziya. Sanjiao Soushen Daquan., 14th century CE..

The myths

The Cosmic Battles and the Celestial Consecration of Zhao Gongming.. During the epic and devastating conflagration that led to the collapse of the Shang dynasty and the messianic rise of the Zhou kings (narrated with my…

Worship and archaeology

The cult of Caishen is one of the most ubiquitous, active and dynamic manifestations of religiosity and traditional commerce in every corner of Chinese civilisation, both on the mainland and in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau…

How the god was depicted

The visual and artistic representation of Caishen unfolds in two canonical images of striking iconographic richness and profound semiotic expressiveness.

What scholars debate

Moral Ethics versus Amorality in the Distribution of Wealth.. Anthropologists of religion and sociologists of modern China, such as Meir Shahar, Robert Weller and Stephan Feuchtwang, investigate the complex moral and th…

After antiquity

In contemporary international culture and in daily life across East Asia, Caishen is indisputably one of the most beloved, celebrated and universal visual and emotional figures of all Asian folklore.

Did you know?

In Chinese folklore, Bigan is considered the best judge of wealth because he has no physical heart, being incapable of prejudice or personal greed.

Codex relic

Gold Ingot. A golden ingot symbolizing the limitless fortune granted to those who honor him.

The rest of this scroll is sealed

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