The gods of Chinese religion

This group gathers the deities of Chinese folk religion, Taoism and the state cult, a pantheon organised much like an imperial bureaucracy, with a supreme heaven, ranked officials and local gods answerable upward. Figures move between Taoist, Buddhist and popular contexts, and many are deified humans elevated for merit.

The browser will find the Jade Emperor at the head of the celestial administration, the Three Pure Ones of Taoist cosmology, the Queen Mother of the West, city gods and kitchen gods, and popular protectors such as Mazu and Guan Yu. The tradition is syncretic and living, and the entries note where a figure belongs to Taoist, Buddhist or folk contexts.