Hēidì () or Hēishén (), who is the Běidì (, Cantonese: Pak Tai) or Běiyuèdàdì (), is a deity in Chinese religion, one of the cosmological "Five Forms of the Highest Deity" (). He is also identified as Zhuānxū (), today frequently worshipped as Xuánwǔ () or Zhēnwǔ (), and is associated with the essence of water and winter. His animal form is the Black Dragon and his stellar animal is the tortoise-snake. By virtue of his association with the north, he has been identified and revered frequently as a representation of the supreme God of Heaven.
His planet is Mercury. His animal form is the Black Dragon and his stellar animal is the tortoise-snake.
A Taoist title of Heidi is the "Dark (or Mysterious) Heavenly Highest Deity" (). According to a myth, during the fall of the Shang, the Demon King ravaged the world, so that Yuanshi Tianzun ordered the Jade Emperor to appoint Heidi as the commander of twelve heavenly legions to fight this evil. Heidi defeated the Demon King and was subsequently granted the title of Mysterious Heavenly Highest Deity. In temples dedicated to him, the bronze tortoise and serpent under the feet of his image signify that the good always prevails over evil.
The day for celebration of Heidi across China is his birthday, on lunar April 21.
A festival is held on the island of Taipa in Macau. The celebration at the Pak Tai Temple includes an opera-styled performance
Annual Bun Festival in Cheung Chau Island, Hong Kong, held in front of the Pak Tai Temple.
In Hong Kong, it is worshipped among other places in:
Note : A territory-wide grade reassessment of historic buildings is ongoing. The grades listed in the table are based on these updates (8 June 2023). The temples with a "Not listed" status in the table below are not graded and do not appear in the list of historic buildings considered for grading.
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Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion, comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled with the contents of institutionalised religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Chinese syncretic religions”. This includes the veneration of shen (spirits) and ancestors, exorcism of demonic forces, and a belief in the rational order of nature, balance in the universe and reality that can be influenced by human beings and their rulers, as well as spirits and deities.