城隍是東晉南朝時，因應流民移住到南方土地之需要，從土地神分化而出的新信仰，因此早期城隍信仰的分佈，多數在長江中下游南北岸，再擴散到黃河流域及嶺南。唐五代城隍神的職責已趨於多樣化，可以說是地方長官職能在神界的反映，這種多重的職能，開啟宋代以後城隍神演變為正式地方守護神的楔機。唐代城隍的神格有越來越高的趨勢，人主加封於城隍神，則是城隍神格提昇的最關鍵因素。五代時期對城隍的賜封，是君權不振、軍閥跋扈、北方王朝與南方割據政權政治角力與妥協的結果。後世城隍信仰的制度化，其實濫觴於五代及北宋因不同的動機與背景而對城隍神所做的賜封活動。

Cheng Huang is a new belief divided from gnome in the East Jin Dynasty to cope with the need of great vagrants moving to the south. Accordingly, the distribution of Cheng Huang cult spread from the middle and downstream of Yangtze River to the Yellow River basin and the south of the Five Ridges earlier on. The responsibilities of Cheng Huang diversified in Tang and Five Dynasties. The multiplicate functions could not only be the reflect of local position in the deity but opened a juncture that Cheng Huang evolved into the normal guardian after Sung Dynasty. The godhood of Cheng Huang in Tang Dynasty was getting higher and emperors' ennoblement is the key factor of the ascent. However, the ennoblement in Five Dynasties was the political wrestle and compromise of the northern regime and the southern stratocracy. In fact, the systematic Cheng Huang cult later on was the source of the ennoblement of Five Dynasties and the Northern Sung Dynasty because of different motives and backgrounds.