门神，即司门守卫之神，是农历新年贴于门上的一种画类。作为民间信仰的守卫门户的神灵，人们将其神像贴于门上，用以驱邪避鬼、卫家宅、保平安、助功利、降吉祥等，是中国民间深受人们欢迎的守护神。按照传统习俗，每到春节前夕，家家户户便忙碌起来写对联，贴门神，祈福来年。

The door god, the god of the guards of the gate, is a type of painting that is pasted on the door on the Lunar New Year. As the deity guarding the portal of folk belief, people paste its statue on the door to ward off evil spirits, guard the family house, ensure peace, help utilitarianism, and descend auspiciousness, etc. According to traditional customs, on the eve of the Spring Festival, every household would paste couplets and door gods to pray for the coming year.

张贴门神应以进门者为视角，贴于门两侧，画中门神以对脸相视为正确的传统贴法，反之则为民间流传的“贴错门神”。

The door gods should be posted on both sides of the door. The traditional method of posting the door gods face-to-face is considered correct, while the back-to-back way is incorrect. 

Origin 1

传说唐王李世明经玄武门之变登基称帝以后，有一段时间经常做噩梦，梦到自己的哥哥和弟弟带着妖魔鬼怪来杀他，心中十分害怕，夜间难以入眠，于是让手下两员大将秦叔宝和尉迟恭手持兵器站在门前站岗，这样便能够安心入睡。可时间长了，两员大将长期夜不能寐，最后双双病倒，李世明只得命人将他们的形象画在纸上，贴在门上，用来震慑妖魔鬼怪，这就是门神的由来。

It is said that after Li Shiming, the king of the Tang Dynasty, ascended the throne and became emperor through the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he often had nightmares for some time. He dreamed that his brother and younger brother were coming to kill him with demons and ghosts. He was very afraid and could not sleep at night. So he asked two of his senior generals, Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong, to stand guard in front of the gate with weapons, so that he could sleep at ease. But because the two generals couldn't sleep for a long time， they all failed ill in the end. So Li Shiming had to order someone to draw their images on paper and stick them on the door to deter monsters, which was the origin of the door god.

Origin 2

传说在远古时期，在东海里有座山，叫做度朔山，山上风景秀丽，山上有一颗蜿蜒三千里的大桃树，树上住着一只金鸡，每天天快亮的时候，金鸡就站在树顶上打鸣，喔喔声传遍九州大地，全天下的公鸡也会跟着打鸣，这时候太阳就会从东边升起，给万物生灵带来光明，这时候天下的妖魔鬼怪听到公鸡打鸣，就知道不能再人间游荡了。但是这群鬼怪不想每天回去，于是众鬼怪商议去把这棵桃树毁坏掉。天帝发现后，就派神荼郁垒两位天神去教训这群妖魔鬼怪。这群鬼怪畏惧与神荼郁垒，只得乖乖屈服，再也不敢造次。后来，老百姓知道了原来鬼怪都害怕神荼郁垒这两位天神，于是纷纷用桃木板刻上二位天神的画像，放在门口，用来震慑鬼怪，慢慢的神荼郁垒就成了民间的门神。

Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a mountain called Dushuo Mountain in the East China Sea. The scenery on the mountain was beautiful, and there was a large peach tree winding for three thousand miles. There lived a golden rooster on the tree, and every day at dawn, the golden rooster stood at the top of the tree and crowed. The crow spread throughout the land, and the roosters all over the world would also crow. At this time, the sun would rise from the east, bringing light to all living beings, At this moment, when the demons and ghosts in the world heard the rooster crowing, they knew they could no longer wander outside. But these ghosts didn't want to go back every day, so they discussed going to the Mountain to destroy this peach tree. After the Emperor of Heaven discovered it, he sent two gods, Shentu and Yulei, to subdue these demons and ghosts. These ghosts and monsters were afraid of Shentu and Yulei and had to obediently behave themselves. Later, the common people learned that ghosts and monsters were afraid of the two heavenly gods and hence carved portraits of the two heavenly gods on peach boards and placed them at the entrance to deter the ghosts. Gradually, Shentu and Yulei became the folk door gods.

1. Martial door gods 武门神

武门神通常贴在街道的前门，以镇压从门外进入的恶魔或灾难。武门神往往手持剑、矛等武器。除了秦叔宝和尉迟恭，还有武门神，他们并不是专门指军官。也有一些地区以赵云、赵公明、孙膑和庞涓为门神。

Martial door gods are usually pasted on the front door of the street, in order to suppress demons or disasters entering from outside the door. The martial door gods are often armed with weapons like swords, spears, etc. In addition to Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong, there are also martial door gods who do not specifically refer to a military officer. There are also some regions regarding Zhao Yun, Zhao Gongming, Sun Bin, and Pang Juan as door gods.

2. Literary door god 文门神

文门神即画著朝服的一般文官像。旧时，中国以文官作门神的不多，其中最有名的就是魏征、包公、海瑞和文天祥等等。

The literary door god is a general civilian figure in court uniform pasted on the door. In the old days, there were not many people in China who used civil servants as door gods, among which the most famous were Wei Zheng, Bao Gong, Hai Rui, and Wen Tianxiang.

3. Ghost-driving door god 驱鬼门神

这类门神以神荼、郁垒、金鸡、虎为主。农历腊月二十三以后，北京人习惯在门上贴门神、饰桃像、挂芦绳、画虎，以消灾抑邪、驱鬼。

The type of door gods are mostly Shentu and Yulei, Golden Rooster and Tiger. After the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Beijing people used to stick door gods, adorn peach figures, hang reed ropes, and paint tigers on the doors to dispel misfortune, suppress evil spirits, and drive away ghosts.

钟馗也是一位远近闻名的驱鬼门神，能惩恶扬善，保天下平安。

Zhong Kui is also a well-known  ghost-driving door god who can  punish the evil, promote the good, and protect the peace of the world.

4. Door gods symbolizing good luck 祈福门神

在古代，除了能够驱魔镇宅外，还有福、禄、寿星等幸运门神登门，能够带来名利和长寿。这种门神不是门的保护者，而是专门用来祈求好运的，中心人物是赐福天官。

In ancient times, besides being able to drive away demons and guard homes, there were also lucky door gods like Fu, Lu, and Shouxing to the door, who could bring fame, wealth, and longevity. This type of door god is not the protector of the door, but is specifically used for praying for good luck, with the central figure being the Blessing Heavenly Officer. 

门神年画分布广泛，明中叶以后，刻印门神类年画的作坊几乎遍及全国。经过数千年的传承，门神的形象在不同时代、不同地域都有着不同的面貌，时至今日，仍然不断推陈出新，但其核心功能都是“守卫与赐福”。

Door gods paintings are widely distributed, especially after the middle of the Ming Dynasty when workshops for engraving door gods spread throughout the country. After thousands of years of inheritance, the images of the door god have had different appearances in different eras and regions. To this day, it continues to innovate, but its core function is still to "guard and bless".