Who Is Zhao Gongming? Xuantan Marshal, Martial God of Wealth & Master Zhijian’s Hand-Painted Art

For many people, the name Zhao Gongming immediately means “God of Wealth.” But treating him only as a deity for attracting money misses a deeper set of themes in his religious tradition: integrity, authority, protection, and trust.

Zhao Gongming is also known as Zhao Xuantan or the Xuantan Marshal. Taoist sources and later folk traditions present him as a powerful divine marshal, while over time he also became one of the most recognizable martial wealth deities.

1 | Who is Zhao Gongming?

Representative Taoist materials can be found in the Daofa Huiyuan, which includes traditions concerning the Zhengyi Xuantan Marshal Zhao. These records connect him not only with wealth but also with protection, inspection, reward and punishment, the resolution of disputes, and the maintenance of fair dealing.

This matters because the “wealth” associated with Zhao Gongming is not only about obtaining more. In religious and commercial culture, it can also be read through legitimate gain, trustworthy conduct, and fair exchange.

2 | Why did Zhao Gongming become a martial God of Wealth?

His wealth-deity identity developed gradually through Taoist and folk religious practice. Compared with civil wealth deities, Zhao Gongming’s imagery emphasizes authority, action, guardianship, and order.

People have traditionally prayed to him for smooth business, harmonious transactions, and stable livelihood. These are forms of religious and folk practice, not guarantees of income, investment returns, or other personal outcomes.

3 | Black face, iron whip, black tiger

Descriptions associated with Zhao Gongming include a dark face, beard, iron crown, iron whip, and tiger mount. Later artistic traditions vary, but these features remain highly recognizable.

Dark face and long beard: a forceful divine-general presence rather than a gentle civil-official image.

Iron whip: a martial ritual implement that can also evoke discipline, rules, and the enforcement of order.

Black tiger: a powerful mount associated with strength, guardianship, and martial authority.

Ingots and wealth symbols: later visual elements that became more prominent as Zhao Gongming’s wealth-deity identity developed.

4 | How Master Zhijian paints Zhao Gongming

Master Zhijian reworks traditional Zhao Gongming iconography into original compositions and completes each piece individually in Gongbi heavy-color painting.

Line drawing: face, beard, armor, implements, and composition.

Color layering: natural mineral pigments are applied gradually to build depth.

Detailed refinement: facial features, armor, implements, and small pattern work are developed further.

Gold detailing: selected areas are finished with hand-applied gold detailing.

Even when the same composition is used, each work retains natural differences in linework, pigment texture, and gold detailing.

5 | Wearing and display

A Zhao Gongming deity amulet can be approached as a devotional object or as a small work of traditional sacred art. Avoid prolonged water exposure, high humidity, alcohol or chemical cleaners, and strong direct sunlight.

6 | Understand the work before choosing it

This is not a printed card or a mass-produced image. The work is individually painted by Master Zhijian and, under the current process, is then enshrined at a partner Taoist temple for 30 days before packaging and dispatch.

We document the actual creative and religious-cultural process. We do not guarantee wealth, career, health, or other personal outcomes.

View Master Zhijian’s hand-painted Zhao Gongming deity amulet →