A leisurely life that begins with the possession of a game character

(No plot, this chapter can be skipped)

In the long history of development, belief in gods and immortals has become an important part of traditional culture, affecting people's thinking patterns and lifestyles. For many believers, by offering sacrifices to gods and immortals and participating in religious ceremonies and other activities, they can gain a sense of spiritual comfort and social belonging.

The true power of gods and immortals comes from many aspects, including the power of faith, cultural heritage, and social functions. However, the essence of these powers is a complex formed based on human inner beliefs and cultural identity.

In today's society, the belief in gods and immortals has not completely disappeared due to the advancement of science and technology and the development of modernization. During the Spring Festival, many families will set up altars for their ancestors, burn incense and worship them to express their respect and remembrance for their ancestors. Some Taoist and Buddhist temples also attract a large number of believers to come and worship. They believe that through prayer and offerings, they can get the protection and guidance of gods and immortals.

In addition to traditional religious sites, belief in gods and immortals also exists in other forms in modern society. Some business organizations will set up altars in their offices to worship the God of Wealth or other gods and immortals in the hope of gaining good luck and success in business activities.

On the Internet, you can also find many forums and communities related to the belief in gods and immortals, where people share their belief experiences and exchange their understanding and views on the culture of gods and immortals.

"For example, we are discussing these things right now." Zhang Lan said with a smile.

The attitude of science towards belief in gods and immortals is complex and diverse. On the one hand, science does not deny personal beliefs and religious experiences, because these are subjective and personal feelings that cannot be verified by scientific methods.

On the other hand, science also emphasizes objective evidence and rational thinking, and is skeptical about magical phenomena and magical powers that are beyond the scope of scientific explanation.

This does not mean that science and belief in gods cannot communicate. In modern society, many scientists and scholars are committed to exploring the dialogue and integration between religion and science. They believe that although science and religion differ in methods and goals, both are ways for humans to understand and explore the world and life, and they can learn from and complement each other.

In the Chinese pantheon, even if we filter out those "minor gods" who are only in name only, there are still as many as five or six thousand gods. The legendary Fengshenbang conferred titles on 3600 gods, and the Taoist Pu Tian Da Jiao worships gods. There are also local gods such as city gods and land gods scattered all over the country.

The origins of these gods are divided into heavenly gods, natural gods and human gods. Heavenly gods are born gods born from heaven and earth, such as Pangu, Nuwa, Hongjun Taoist, Sanqing and so on.

Natural gods are natural phenomena that have been personified and upgraded to gods, such as the thunder god and lightning god mentioned above who became Lei Gong and Dian Mu, and the Taishan god Dong Yue Dadi. The most common are mortals who become gods after death, which are unique to Chinese beliefs. For example: Guan Gong, Zhong Kui, Mazu, etc.

In our country, there are common points in the path of mortals becoming gods. For example, Mazu, according to historical records, was born in Meizhou Island, Putian, Fujian in the early Northern Song Dynasty. At the age of 28, she died while rescuing fishermen.

Later, the fishermen built a temple to worship her out of gratitude. It is said that she is very effective in protecting fishermen from going out to sea and ships from sailing.

Later, the Song Dynasty officially began to canonize Mazu, and the imperial courts of all dynasties canonized her more than 40 times. The titles ranged from "Sea Goddess" to "Lady Chongfu", "Protector of the Country and the People Wonderful Spirit Zhaoying Hongren Puji Tianfei" and "Protector of the Country and the People Wonderful Spirit Zhaoying Benevolent Tianhou".

According to statistics, the titles bestowed on Mazu by emperors of all dynasties amounted to more than 600 characters, setting a record for the highest number of titles bestowed on Chinese gods. To date, Mazu has million believers, and it is said that there are Mazu temples wherever there are Chinese people.

There is also a Tang Dynasty detective Di Renjie whose path to becoming a god is also very unique. Di Renjie is one of the few celebrities in history who was worshipped by a shrine while still alive. Historical records show that he served as a local official in three places, and later the people built three shrines to commemorate his achievements. Interestingly, his youngest son Di Jinghui exploited the people and was notorious. The people of Weizhou were angry and tore down the local Di Renjie shrine.

After Di Renjie's death, Wu Zetian posthumously conferred him the title of Wenchang Youxiang and the posthumous title of "Wenhui". Later emperors also allowed Di Renjie to "be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple", achieving one of the highest achievements of an official. In the subsequent evolution of beliefs, Di Renjie, holding a boy in his arms, became the Fortune Star among the three stars of Fu, Lu and Shou and was worshipped by the world.

Guan Gong's path to godhood is well known. Guan Gong's belief was jointly promoted by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and was continuously canonized by the officials of successive dynasties. After his death, after a thousand years of upgrading, he went from Guan Erye to the Taoist "Guan Di Sheng Jun", a very high-level "Galan Zunzun" in Buddhism, and the Confucian "Martial Saint" who is known as the two saints of literature and martial arts together with Confucius! It can be said to be infinitely glorious.

Let's review the path of these three mortals to becoming gods. First and foremost, they must "benefit the people" and "have high moral standards". People will be grateful and offer sacrifices spontaneously. Second, they must be officially canonized or recognized, otherwise they will be demolished as "immoral sacrifices" by the court or religious figures. Di Renjie alone destroyed 1700 immoral sacrifices. Third, they must be effective and be able to protect all living beings and respond to their requests. And the more they "serve the people", the more people they will bless. Gods can also be promoted to higher-level gods with greater magical powers.

Mazu, Guandi, and Di Renjie all came from humble beginnings and were ordinary people. But as long as you are willing to serve the people, you can become a god and live forever in heaven and earth, and be worshipped and revered by the world forever. This also constitutes one of the foundations of our country's culture of valuing morality.

The gods we believe in are very much like civil servants. They are rewarded and punished, promoted, and assessed by KPIs. If they make mistakes they will be punished, and they are bound by “heavenly rules.”

Taoism has the "Nüqing Tianlu", which is one of the heavenly laws used to restrain the gods. Punishments include beating with sticks, hard labor, acupuncture by the Thunder God, and being demoted to the mortal world.

In addition to the legend, there was the Marshal Tianfeng who teased Chang'e and was sent down to the mortal world to be transformed into Zhu Ganglie, and the Dragon King of Jinghe River was beheaded in Wei Zheng's dream because he did not rain on time. Everyone knows that even gods cannot act recklessly, and there will be serious consequences.

In ancient times, if a disaster came from heaven, it would often be understood as a warning from heaven to the emperor under the interaction between heaven and man. Any emperor would need to be highly vigilant, start a hunger strike, offer sacrifices to heaven, issue an edict of repentance, and review whether there were any mistakes in his administration.

If things develop to the point where the common people can no longer survive, then the banner of "acting on behalf of heaven" will be raised, and the common people will rise up to fight against the evil policies of the court. In the minds of emperors, bureaucrats, and common people of all dynasties, the use of the slogan "acting on behalf of heaven" by the rebels is tacitly accepted.

This shows that the right to interpret the Way of Heaven in the belief in the Way of Heaven does not lie in the hands of the emperor, the bureaucracy, the literati, or even the three religious groups of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, but in the hearts of people. It is judged and determined by the moral concepts rooted in the hearts of each person.