| 释义 |
门神 ménshén noun door-god ▸ 贴门神 paste a picture of door-gods on the front door 门神A deity that guards a doorway. The earliest depictions of door gods were of the immortals Shen Tu (神荼) and Yu Lei (郁垒). In the Tang Dynasty, the Emperor Taizong was said to have created images of two of his military ministers, Qin Qiong (秦琼) and Yuchi Gong (尉迟恭), to keep evil spirits at bay. The mythological figure Zhong Kui (钟馗) also appears as a door god. On Chinese New Year's Eve, images of the gods were traditionally pasted on either side of the door to ward off evil spirits. |