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OVERVIEW Chinese Folk Religion is composed of a combination of Religious practices, including Ancestor Worship Or Veneration , Buddhism and Taoism . Chinese folk religion also retains traces of some of its ancestral Neolithic belief systems which include in Animal Worship , as well as the worship of the Sun , Moon , Earth , the Heaven s, and various Star s. It has been practiced alongside Buddhism, Confucianism , and Taoism by Chinese people throughout the world for thousands of years. Worship , Legend s, Festival s and various devotions associated with different folk gods and goddesses form an important part of Chinese Culture even today. The worship of secondary gods does not conflict with an individual's chosen religion, but is accepted as a complementary adjunct to Buddhism, Confucianism or Taoism. Some Myth ical figures in folk culture have even been integrated into Buddhism as in the case of Miao Shan who is generally thought of having evolved into the Buddhist Bodhisattva Kuan Yin . Other folk gods may date back to pre-Buddhist eras of Chinese history. GODS AND GODDESSES There are hundreds of gods and goddeses as well as " Saint s," Immortals and Demigods . Historical figures noted for their bravery or virtue are also venerated and honored with their own festivals after the are Apotheosized . The following list represents some commonly worshipped deities: (Note: This list is incomplete and should not be considered a full representation)
In many ways, the gods of Chinese folk religion are counterparts of humanity. Their domain, ''tien'' or heaven, is a mirror image of earth. The gods have social hierarchies: the Jade Emperor is the counterpart of the earthly emperor, and his subjects the lesser gods, observe the social protocols as strictly as their earthly counterparts. The gods also live variously in palaces or households much in the same way as the people who worship them and they frequently exhibit very human foibles. According to accounts in the ''Feng shen yen i'' in 1122 BCE, during the Chou Dynasty, the gods, demigods and other immortals even engaged in a long drawn-out battle with each other over which dynasty should rule China. The distinction between heavenly beings and humans was first made in the ancient Book Of Rites . Although the Chinese have venerated their ancestors for thousands of years, the worship of ''tien'' and everything associated with it is distinct from the veneration of humans such as ancestors or venerable figures such as Confucius who belong to the category of spirits known as ''kuei''. CHINESE TRADITIONAL RELIGION Chinese traditional religion (a term often used synononymously with the term "Chinese folk religion"), is a loosely-connected system of practices and beliefs that has been practiced by large segments of the Han Chinese population of China from the early period of Chinese history up to the present. With the influx of Western Cultural influences for several centuries and the complex changes and modernization of the 20th Century , the prevalence of Chinese traditional beliefs has declined, but still remain strong, many or most gradually transforming into elements of culture and social behavior with less direct spiritual or religious significance. Traditional practices are situated in the context of Chinese culture and social structures, which, like many throughout East Asia, and unlike many in the West, do not suppose an exclusive adherence to a single belief system. Instead, elements of traditional practices may be practiced by individuals who identify themselves as Buddhists or members of other traditions. This is all the more true when these traditional practices are seen as cultural elements without spiritual significance, permitting them to be retained by adherents of certain belief-systems, such as various forms of Christianity , with which the overall assumptions of Chinese traditional practice ''as a religion'' would likely have been incompatible. The system of Chinese traditional beliefs, expressed concretely in a wide range of practices, has been passed down from generation to generation through oral tradition, formal cultural activities and rituals, and some literature. Throughout the course of Chinese history, it absorbed a wide variety of influences from many different belief systems (e.g. as previously mentioned, Buddhism and Taoism, and also other influences from Chinese Philosophy ), without being challenged in its integrity. Like the popular traditions of most cultures of the world, the system of traditional beliefs generally did not go by a specific or formal name in Chinese culture. It has been recognized only in terms of specific constituent practices or elements (e.g. New Years traditions, ancestor portraits and veneration). Likewise, no profession or confession of belief is typically required, nor any initiation practice or ritual—as most practices were integrated into the daily life of Chinese culture, all the more so given the distinct homogeneity of many rural regions of China even in the 21st century. WESTERN VIEWS The absence of a proper name for this religion, associated with the absence of any canonical literature, have for a long time caused Chinese folk religion to be viewed by Westerners as a popularized version of an "authentic" religion, in the same way that the Cult Of The Saints is viewed. Both in China and outside, adherents often describe themselves, or are described by others, as followers of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, or a mix among these. DEMOGRAPHICS Many publications on religion in China do not include statistics on the number of adherents of traditional religion, with most adherents registered under the category of Taoist or Buddhist. However, despite the critical influence of those two belief-systems, Chinese traditional religion is not coterminous with them and, strictly speaking, marked distinctions exist. Nonetheless, such overlaps or blurring of distinctions are consistent with East Asian cultural understandings of religion and identity that do not require exclusive indentification as an adherent of solely one distinct tradition. SEE ALSO |
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