Zhao Gongming

Overview

趙公明是中国道教与民间信仰中的重要神将，也是最著名的财神之一，常被尊称为“赵公元帅”或“玄坛元帅”。在《封神演义》中，他为峨眉山罗浮洞修道的仙人，受闻仲之邀下山助商，手持铁鞭，骑黑虎，并拥有定海珠、缚龙索等强大法宝。他曾以定海珠接连击败阐教众仙，使姜子牙一方一度难以抵挡，后来死于陆压道人所施的钉头七箭书。封神之后，赵公明被封为“金龙如意正一龙虎玄坛真君”，统领招宝天尊、纳珍天尊、招财使者、利市仙官四位神祇，掌管迎祥纳福、招财进宝与商业财运。后世赵公明逐渐成为武财神的代表，黑面浓须、手执铁鞭、跨骑黑虎也成为其最典型的神将造型。

Zhao Gongming is an important Daoist and popular deity and one of the best-known Gods of Wealth in Chinese tradition. He is widely honored as Marshal Zhao or the Marshal of the Mysterious Altar. In The Investiture of the Gods, he is an immortal cultivating the Dao at Luofu Cave on Mount Emei who descends from the mountain at the invitation of Wen Zhong to aid the Shang forces. Armed with an iron whip and riding a black tiger, he possesses powerful magical treasures including the Sea-Calming Pearls and the Dragon-Binding Rope. With the Sea-Calming Pearls, Zhao Gongming defeats several powerful immortals allied with Jiang Ziya before eventually being killed through Lu Ya’s Seven-Arrows Book of the Nailed Head. After his deification, he is appointed the True Lord of the Golden Dragon, Ruyi, Zhengyi, Dragon and Tiger, and Mysterious Altar, commanding four subordinate deities associated with gathering treasures, attracting wealth, and bringing commercial prosperity. In later worship, Zhao Gongming became one of the principal Martial Gods of Wealth, commonly depicted with a dark face and heavy beard, wielding an iron whip and riding a black tiger.