五福大帝源於元朝五位落榜舉人，因為他們捨身救民的義舉而成五福大帝。這五位落榜舉人的姓名分別是劉元達、張元伯、史文業、趙公明、鍾士秀。他們因為考場失意，在返鄉路上偶遇，相談甚歡之下進而義結金蘭。一日落腳福州，五人同時在恍惚間，似乎聞得因為福州地方民眾任盜賊橫行，或是自身為惡，上天要降罰於福州百姓的旨意，將派遣五瘟使者行瘟福州各處井中。五人醒後，因而聚集相議，決定分投五井自殺，向地方百姓示警。據說百姓將他們撈起時，五人的臉色分別呈現黑、白、綠、黃、紅等五種不同顏色，福州的居民方才明瞭將有疫疾降臨，因而小心防範，才能逃過一劫。五人捨己救人的事蹟後來得到官方的表揚，立祀祭拜，于明朝封為「五福大帝」，以張元伯為顯靈公、鍾士秀為應靈公、趙光明為振靈公、劉元達為宣靈公、史文業為揚靈公，供奉於福州白龍庵。
五福大帝的數字、姓名、稱號、傳說，與一些神祇有許多相似之處，因此也有使人混淆不清的情形。其中最直接的是與「五方瘟神」或「五瘟使者」不易分辨其異或同。根據《三教源流搜神大全》，其中五方瘟神的姓名與五福大帝完全相同，只是他們起源於隋朝，分別職掌在四季和中央方位降瘟。有些看法認為五福大帝的五舉人之說，其實是五瘟神的變化。另外，五福大帝之中的趙公明，與傳統的文財神同名，也可能是同一神祇的轉變。
五福大帝亦有稱「五顯靈官」、「五靈官」、「五顯公」和「靈官大帝」，因為「五」、「五顯」、「靈官」等詞彙的關聯，也經常和「五顯靈官馬元帥」，或是和五顯相關的「五通神」混淆，但五福大帝應該和五瘟神有關聯，甚至是五瘟神被附會以五舉人的故事而成。
臺灣八家將陣頭與五福大帝的流傳有關，八家將是五福大帝的部屬，也是台灣南部廟會重要的陣頭之一。台灣南部的五福大帝和八家將傳統，源於清末駐守台南的士兵夢感五福大帝餵藥治癒瘟疫，因而返鄉奉請五福大帝奉祀。台南的「五瘟宮」、「西來庵」、鳳山的「白龍庵」皆源於福州白龍庵。
關鍵詞：五福大帝、福州、八家將、白龍庵。
參考書目
宋怡明（Michael A. Szonyi）編。2006。《明清福建五帝信仰資料彙編》香港：香港科技大學華南研究中心。
陳文洲。2006。〈臺灣家將陣頭之研究─以東港迎王平安祭典為例〉。台南：國立臺南大學台灣文化研究所。
賴亮郡。2007.06。〈家將「四季大神」初探〉。《興大歷史學報》，18：315-350。
Wufu dadi (五福大帝) originate from five Confucian student sacrificing themselves for saving the people lived in Fuzhou (福州) during Yuan dynasty. Their names were Liu Yuan-da (劉元達), Zhang Yuan-bo (張元伯), Shi Wen-ye (史文業), Zhao Gong-ming (趙公明), and Zhong Shi-xiu (鍾士秀) individually. These five students met each other when they were on the way home after they failed their imperial examination. After they had a nice talk in an inn, they decided to become the sworn brothers (義結金蘭) and took a journey together. One day, they arrived at Fu-zhou and stayed in an inn. When they were going to go to bed, in a trance, they individually heard that the Jade emperor (玉帝), the mighty god, would send five plague demons to spread disease in all wells in Fu-zhou as a punishment. The reason was that the people in Fu-zhou either acted unrighteous or committed crime. When they woke up, they aggregated and had a meeting. They were shocked about the dream what they had. Maybe they though it was hard to persuade the people and make them believed in their dream experience. They decided to jump into five wells separately to warn the people in Fu-zhou. It was said when people found their body and pulled them out. Their faces turned into five different colors, including black, white, green, yellow, and red. People thought it was weird and found the wells were all poisoned by bacteria. Then they realized that the five Confucian students sacrificed their own lives to save them. People in Fu-zhou then decided to enshrine them and built a temple to memorize them. Their noble deed was praised officially. In Ming dynasty, they were decreed as Wufu dadi.
Coincidently, Wufu dadi’ name are the same as the name of Five Plague gods (五瘟神). Scholars thought that Wufu dadi were the Five Plague gods. Somehow, they were transformed into the gods which originated from Fu-zhou and linked with a Confucian version story.
In Taiwan, including Wuwen gong (五瘟宮), Xilai an (西來庵), and Bailong an (白龍庵), most of early temples which dedicated to Wufu dadi were originated from Bailong an (白龍庵),the White Dragon nunnery, Fuzhou. Wufu dadi are in relation of Ba Jiajiang (八家將), eight retainer deities of Wufu dadi. In southern Taiwan, Ba Jiajiang is an important formation, Zhentou (陣頭), in a parading procession of popular relgion . Ba Jiajiang originated from some soldiers in Qian dynasty dreamed of Wufu dadi came and cured their sickness when they were infected with plague. After they were cured, they went to Fuzhou to invite the statue of Wufu dadi back and enshrined them in Tainan. As a result, the soldiers organized Ba Jia-jiang as the retainer of Wufu dadi to serve them.
Keywords：Wufu dadi, Fuzhou, Ba Jiajiang, the White Dragon nunnery
References:
宋怡明（Michael A. Szonyi）編。2006。《明清福建五帝信仰資料彙編》香港：香港科技大學華南研究中心。
陳文洲。2006。〈臺灣家將陣頭之研究─以東港迎王平安祭典為例〉。台南：國立臺南大學台灣文化研究所。
賴亮郡。2007.06。〈家將「四季大神」初探〉。《興大歷史學報》，18：315-350。