Poh Seng Tai Tay (), also known as Taitokong (), is the God of Medicine worshiped among the Hoklo people in Fujian, Taiwan, and the Hokkien communities in Southeast Asia.
GôàTho () was born in the year 979 in Pehta village (ç½ç¤Â), Tangwa county, Quanzhou prefecture (now in Jiaomei, Zhangzhou). At the time this area was recently annexed by the Song dynasty from Qingyuan Circuit, a de-facto independent entity emerged after the fall of the Min Empire of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. His birthday is celebrated with parades and festivals on the 15th day of the third lunar month.
His father GôàThong () and mother Ng Gwat-hwa () were refugees from Zhangzhou, they lived in poverty and were engaged in fishing. When GôàTho was 13, his father died due to an illness, as his family could not afford a doctor. His mother died shortly after that out of grief.
After the death of his parents, GôàTho started learning medicine. He practiced acupuncture, concocted potions, and studied the books written by ancient doctors and alchemists. According to a legend, in the age of 17 GôàTho met a stranger who invited him to his boat. The stranger brought GôàTho to the Kunlun Mountain where he met Queen Mother of the West and studied alchemy.
A popular legend says that when GôàTho was picking herbs in the mountains, he met a tiger with a bone stuck down his throat. GôàTho scolded the tiger for eating people, but treated his throat, and the tiger let GôàTho to ride him out of gratitude. For this reason, many temples dedicated to Poh Seng Tai Tay have figures of tigers.
When GôàTho was 35, he found a pile of bones with one leg bone missing. He put a willow branch to the pile and used magic to revive the pile as a boy. The boy then became a servant to GôàTho. When the Tangwa county magistrate Kang Siau-hong () met GôàTho, he recognized the boy who was said to be eaten by a tiger while travelling for imperial exams. He did not believe that GôàTho had revived the boy, but after GôàTho turned him back into a pile of bones, Kang believed him. Along with his secretary surnamed Tio (), Kang became an apprentice to GôàTho. Twenty years later a demon king appeared in the area with an army of plague ghosts. GôàTho fought them together with Kang the Immortal Official () and Tio the Saint (), and stoke the demon king with a lightning. After the events, he treated the epidemic with magical water. He stopped at the Hwakio Inn () to proved free medical training, and the Hwakio Tsz Tse temple () is said to be built on the site of this inn.
When GôàTho was 47, he went for study to the alchemist Pue Yang-chin (), who lived on the mount Kisan (). There he met Sng Thian-sek (), who had been long sick after getting poisoned by eating a fish. GôàTho treated Sng Thian-sek, and he later became his first follower. After the death of GôàTho, Sng Thian-sek build a small temple to the west of his house. When the number followers grew, he expanded the temple and named it "The Western Temple of GôÃÂ" ().
In the last years of his life, GôàTho was hired by Ng Siu (), the richest man in Pehta village, to treat his daughter. She walked in a garden and picked flowers, and then went to a pool to wash her hands, but accidentally she touched a dragon and got pregnant. GôàTho said that she is pregnant with dragonlings, and should they be born, calamities would occur in the area. GôàTho recommended to kill the offspring, but to do that, it was necessary to kill the girl. Ng Siu agreed to do that, but he warned GôàTho that if his diagnosis was wrong and he would kill his daughter by mistake, he would pay with his life. GôàTho cut the belly of the girl, and managed to kill six out of seven dragonling, but the last one had opened his eyes and attacked GôàTho. After a fight, the dragonling escaped towards a well near the mount Bunpho (), but GôàTho still caught and killed him.
In 1036, GôàTho went to pick herbs near the Chheta village () in Lionghai, Zhangzhou (now in Haicang, Xiamen). He then fell from a mountain, and, according to the legend, ascended to Heaven riding a crane. After his ascension, he appeared in the dreams of local villagers, and urged them to build a temple for him.
Some less orthodox folk beliefs state that Poh Seng Tai Tay married Ma Cho Po in Heaven, but she later quarreled with him and demanded a divorce. Poh Seng Tai Tay was enraged, and on the birthday of Ma Cho Po, he induced rain to wash away her cosmetics. In response to him, Ma Cho Po caused wind on Poh Seng Tai Tay 's birthday to blow away his hat. Many proverbs emerged based on this story, such as "The windy days are for the lord Taito, and the rainy days are for lady Ma Cho" (). While many temples and worshipers frown upon such stories, some believers honestly perceive Poh Seng Tai Tay and Ma Cho Po as either a divine couple or two antagonist gods.
The oldest temples dedicated to Poh Seng Tai Tay were Ileng Sinsu () in Pehta village, Liongchiu-am () in Chheta village, and Gosekiong () in Amoy. In 1166, Poh Seng Tai Tay got the title Tsz Tse (), and the first two temples were renamed into Tsz Tse temples (, later ().
Poh Seng Tai Tay was popular among the natives of Tangwa (Tong'an), who brought his cult to Taiwan. First temple for Poh Seng Tai Tay in Taiwan was built during the Dutch rule, its site now is in Sinhua District, Tainan.
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