Earth-deity days, monthly offerings and Weiya
Tudigong
Tudigong (土地公), the Earth God, is a guardian of a particular locality. His worship connects protection of land and neighbourhood with the livelihoods of their residents. The title describes a divine office that can be associated with different worthy figures, rather than a single person whose biography is accepted everywhere. Agricultural worship and appeals for prosperity in business both belong to this tradition.
Fude Zhengshen (福德正神) is a formal title frequently found on Taiwanese temples. Bogong, the Mandarin reading of a name especially associated with Hakka communities, conveys the familiarity of an honoured elder. Shrines at field boundaries, irrigation channels and gates mark places where people cultivate, travel and live.
The offering calendar
In the Taiwanese ya offering cycle, merchants make recurring offerings on the second and sixteenth lunar days. The observances express thanks for protection and prayers for peace and prosperity. Touya (头牙), the first ya observance, falls on lunar month two, day two. Weiya (尾牙), the last, falls on month twelve, day sixteen.
This annual sequence has a New Year interruption. In the customary pattern, the first month’s second and sixteenth days are excluded from the regular ya cycle. New Year worship has its own occasions, and the cycle resumes with Touya. Household worship on the first and fifteenth follows a separate monthly pattern.
Dates in Taiwanese Tudigong practice
| Occasion | Lunar date | Meaning or setting |
|---|---|---|
| Touya | Month 2, day 2 | Opening of the annual ya cycle; also observed as Tudigong’s birthday |
| Recurring merchant offerings | Day 2 and day 16, from month 2 through month 12 | Thanks and prayers associated with business and livelihood |
| Household offerings | Day 1 and day 15 | A separate recurring pattern followed by some households |
| Autumn observance | Month 8, day 15 | An additional anniversary associated in some Taiwanese traditions with attaining divine status as Fude Zhengshen |
| Weiya | Month 12, day 16 | Final ya offering of the year; associated with a shared meal |
The autumn anniversary coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival. It supplements the second-month birthday in the communities that observe it. The table brings together household, commercial and temple observances, whose calendars need not be identical.
Weiya meals
The year-end meal links an offering to the Earth God with appreciation for human work. Businesses give thanks for the year’s protection and bring employees together to recognise their efforts. The communal meal is the social counterpart of the offering.
The name has also broadened beyond a meal on the ritual date. A company banquet or colleagues’ gathering may be called Weiya even when it takes place on another day in the weeks before Chinese New Year. Its scheduled dinner date and the traditional offering date are separate entries.
Weiya falls near the end of a Chinese calendar year, usually in January or February of the following Gregorian year. February 3, 2026 was lunar month twelve, day sixteen of the year that began in 2025. The same lunar date in the year beginning in 2026 falls on January 23, 2027. A year label alone can therefore be ambiguous unless the calendar is identified.