"The Two Immortals of Hehe"

Hehe is one of the good wishes of the Chinese people. For the ancient Chinese, it was mainly emobodied in their expectation of a happy marriage. Hence, the God of Hehe finally evolved to become the God of Marriage. In marriage, the most important thing should be the harmony and union of the couple, so the image of the Immortal of Harmony (和圣) and the Immortal of Union (合圣) gradually took shape. Around the middle of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the two immortals became a symbol of the God of Hehe, as the image of immortals in pair was more persuasive in regard of marriage. It was also a more accurate and refined expression of the Chinese people's faith.  

In Chinese history, the most influential image of the Two Immortals of Hehe should be Han Shan and Shi De (dates unknown) in the Tiantai Mountains. They were typically depicted as two smiling boys: one holding a lotus flower (meaning "harmony") and the other holding a box (meaning "union"). Depictions of them could be found during various traditional festive occasions. The ancient Chinese buildings in the south of the Yangtze River also used their paintings as decorations, manifesting the people's longing for harmony and union. In 1733, the 11th year in the reign of Emperor Yongzheng (1678-1735) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the emperor ordered that Han Shan be canonized as the Immortal of Harmony and Shi De as the Immortal of Union, thereby establishing their official status as the Two Immortals of Hehe. 

“和合二圣”

和合是中國人民的一種美好愿望。這種愿望對于中國古代百姓來說，集中表現(xiàn)在對婚姻和合的期待，由此，和合神也就成為了中國人婚姻保護神。然而婚姻是男女雙方的和合美滿，“和合二圣”的形象由此而逐漸形成。大概從明代中期開始，“和合二圣”成為和合神的象征。成對出現(xiàn)的形象更加有說服力，這可以視為民眾信仰生活準確化、細致化的一種表達。

在中國歷史上，最具影響力的“和合二圣”形象，是來自天臺山的寒山和拾得。舊時的喜慶與節(jié)日場合中往往可見和合神的身影，其形象大都為兩個蓬頭笑面的童子，一人持荷，一人捧盒，寓意和合美滿。在江南傳統(tǒng)的建筑中，也時常以“和合二圣”的圖案呈現(xiàn)其中，表達出民眾對于美滿生活的期望。雍正十一年（公元1733年），雍正帝敕封寒山為“和圣”，拾得為“合圣”。寒山、拾得作為“和合二圣”的文化形象由此得以確立。