Wenchang Wang, formally Wenchang Dijun, is the Taoist god of literature, writing and the imperial examinations, invoked by scholars, students and examination candidates seeking success. He merges two originally separate figures: Zitong Dijun, a deity of Zitong in Sichuan already worshipped locally by the Tang dynasty, and Wenquxing, the star of literary fortune identified with a star in the Big Dipper. The Yuan dynasty court formally canonized the merged figure in 1316, granting him the title god of culture and letters and cementing his role as patron of the examination system that determined access to office in imperial China. Temples to him remain a standard stop for students before examinations today.
History & Origin
Traced by Daoist hagiography to Zhang Yazi, said to have lived at the end of the Western Jin dynasty in Zitong, Sichuan, whose local cult was fused with the older astral figure Wenquxing, the literary star of the Big Dipper, into the single deity honored today; the Yuan court canonized the merged figure in 1316 as god of culture and letters.
Facts
Belief
TheologyPolytheistic: many gods 1 Cult
Principal Cult CentreThe Wenchang Palace on Qiqu Mountain in Zitong county, Sichuan, regarded as his ancestral temple, alongside Wenchang shrines attached to Confucian temples and academies across China. 1 Attributes and IconographyDepicted as an elderly scholar official in formal dress, seated or enthroned, flanked by two attendants, Tianlong and Diya, understood in temple tradition to stand for deafness and muteness and so for the discretion and impartiality an examiner ought to keep. 3 Function
Domain / Function Domain / FunctionWriting, scribes and learning 1 Origins
Origin of the NameWenchang joins wen, culture or literary refinement, to chang, flourishing, naming the god directly for the examination success and literary distinction his devotees seek. The figure worshipped under that name merges two older cults, a local Sichuan deity and a star deity of literary fortune, formally combined by Yuan dynasty canonization in 1316. 1 Attributions
Mythic AssociationWenchang Wang merges two originally separate figures, Zitong Dijun, a locally worshipped deity of Zitong in Sichuan since the Tang dynasty, and Wenquxing, the star of literary fortune identified with a star in the Big Dipper; the Yuan court formally canonized the merged figure in 1316. 1 Attestation
Veneration TodayActively venerated in a living tradition 1 HistoricityNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being 2 Correspondences & Relations
Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Source The Encyclopedia of TaoismFabrizio Pregadio (ed.)
Sources
1. The Encyclopedia of Taoism
Fabrizio Pregadio (ed.), Routledge, 2008Entry on Wenchang / Zitong DijunView the Source 2. The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend
Anthony S. Mercatante, revised and expanded by James R. Dow, Facts on File
3. Taoism and the Arts of China
Stephen Little with Shawn Eichman, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2000
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