Home›Chinese Deities›All Chinese DeitiesBrowse ByAll Chinese DeitiesThe gods of Chinese religion, drawn from Taoism, Buddhism, state ritual and local folk practice, and often held in common by all of them. The pantheon is organised as a celestial bureaucracy of ranks, offices and appointments mirroring the imperial administration, and a deity may be promoted, demoted or newly appointed within it.FactsLearn MoreAll Chinese DeitiesSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsAttestationEra of AttestationWell-attestedDivine names appear in the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions of about 1250 to 1050 BCE, the earliest Chinese writing. The pantheon is documented continuously thereafter and is in worship today. 3Veneration TodayWell-attestedWorshipped today in temples, at domestic altars and at festivals across the Chinese-speaking world. 2OverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe gods of Chinese religion taken across its parts rather than within one of them: the Taoist canonical pantheon, the deities of the imperial state cult, buddhas and bodhisattvas naturalised into popular worship, and the local and household gods of folk religion. The pantheon is ordered like a bureaucracy, with rank, office and promotion, and many of its members are deified humans. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedDeities 1Learn MoreThe 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.All Chinese DeitiesFilter Results48 entriesPlanetary FaceAllChiron (1)Jupiter (1)Mars (1)Mercury (1)Moon (1)Neptune (1)Pluto (1)Saturn (1)Sun (1)Venus (1)Member OfAllThe Eight Immortals (8)Interpretatio OfAllApollo (1)Jupiter (1)Mars (1)Mercury (1)Saturn (1)Sukunabikona (1)Venus (1)HistoricityAllHistorically attested (4)Legendary: known from narrative tradition, not the historical record (15)Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being (29)TheologyAllEmanationist: reality proceeds from an ineffable One (1)Polytheistic: many gods (47)ArchetypeAllThe Caregiver (2)The Hero (1)The Innocent (1)The Lover (1)The Magician (2)The Orphan (1)The Ruler (2)The Sage (1)Veneration StatusAllActively venerated in a living tradition (46)Historically attested; no continuous cult (2)Era Attested Start YearAll-500 (1)-400 (1)-350 (4)-139 (3)80 (1)200 (1)220 (1)502 (1)901 (1)960 (1)1000 (1)Worshipped InAllChinese Folk Religion (28)Taoism (9)Domain / FunctionAllAgriculture and harvest (2)Ancestors (2)Awakening and liberation (9)Chaos and adversary (1)Childbirth (1)Commerce and wealth (2)Compassion and mercy (1)Cosmic order and truth (2)Creation and cosmogony (4)Death (1)Disease and plague (2)Earth (1)Fate and time (3)Fire (1)Fortune and luck (2)Healing and medicine (3)Hearth and domestic fire (1)Justice, law and oaths (5)Kingship and sovereignty (3)Love and desire (1)Marriage and the household (3)Moon (1)Motherhood (1)Mountains (1)Primordial being (1)Prophecy and divination (1)Protection and guardianship (8)Rain and weather (1)Rivers, lakes and springs (3)Sea and ocean (1)Seafaring and fishing (1)Stars and planets (3)Storm and thunder (1)Sun (2)The underworld (3)Trickster (1)Tutelary of a place or community (2)War and battle (4)Wisdom and counsel (1)Writing, scribes and learning (2)GenderAllCollective / plural, not a single figure (4)Female (9)Gender-fluid across the tradition (1)Male (34)PantheonAllBuddhist (1)Chinese (40)Taoist (8)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 48Baosheng DadiChinese DeitiesBixia YuanjunChinese DeitiesCaishenChinese DeitiesCao GuojiuChinese DeitiesChang eChinese DeitiesCity GodChinese DeitiesDoumuChinese DeitiesDragon KingChinese DeitiesErlang ShenChinese DeitiesFuxiChinese DeitiesGonggongChinese DeitiesGuan YuChinese DeitiesHan XiangziChinese DeitiesHe XianguChinese DeitiesHou YiChinese DeitiesHuangdiChinese DeitiesJade EmperorChinese DeitiesJigongChinese DeitiesKitchen GodChinese DeitiesLan CaiheChinese DeitiesLei GongChinese DeitiesLi TieguaiChinese DeitiesLü DongbinChinese DeitiesMazuChinese DeitiesMeng PoChinese DeitiesNezhaChinese DeitiesNuwaChinese DeitiesPanguChinese DeitiesQueen Mother of the WestChinese DeitiesSanguan Dadi (The Three Officials)Chinese DeitiesShennongChinese DeitiesTai SuiChinese DeitiesTaibai JinxingChinese DeitiesThe Eight ImmortalsChinese DeitiesThe Three Pure OnesChinese DeitiesTudigongChinese DeitiesWang Ye (Royal Lords)Chinese DeitiesWenchang Wang (Wenchang Dijun)Chinese DeitiesXiheChinese DeitiesXuantian Shangdi (Zhenwu)Chinese DeitiesYanluoChinese DeitiesYue FeiChinese DeitiesYue LaoChinese DeitiesZhang GuolaoChinese DeitiesZhong KuiChinese DeitiesZhongli QuanChinese DeitiesZhuanxuChinese DeitiesZhurongChinese DeitiesSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Encyclopedia of Religiontier 1Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005s.v. Chinese ReligionView the Source3. Sources of Shang History: The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age Chinatier 1David N. Keightley, University of California Press, 1978chs. 1-2View the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.