Home›Chinese Deities›Gender›MaleBrowse ByMaleThis page groups deities by the gender attributed to them in myth, since most pantheons assign their gods a specific gender the way they assign one to people. Wikipedia notes that "in polytheistic religions, gods often have genders which would enable them to sexually interact with each other, and even with humans." Browsing this way lets a visitor compare, for instance, every goddess in the atlas against every god, regardless of which tradition either comes from.FactsLearn MoreMaleSourcesComments (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.MaleFilter Results34 entriesPlanetary FaceAllChiron (1)Jupiter (1)Mars (1)Mercury (1)Neptune (1)Pluto (1)Saturn (1)Venus (1)Member OfAllThe Eight Immortals (6)Interpretatio OfAllJupiter (1)Mars (1)Mercury (1)Saturn (1)Sukunabikona (1)Venus (1)HistoricityAllHistorically attested (4)Legendary: known from narrative tradition, not the historical record (10)Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being (20)TheologyAllPolytheistic: many gods (34)ArchetypeAllThe Caregiver (1)The Hero (1)The Innocent (1)The Lover (1)The Magician (2)The Orphan (1)The Ruler (1)The Sage (1)Veneration StatusAllActively venerated in a living tradition (32)Historically attested; no continuous cult (2)Era Attested Start YearAll-400 (1)-350 (2)-139 (2)80 (1)200 (1)220 (1)502 (1)1000 (1)Worshipped InAllChinese Folk Religion (21)Taoism (6)Domain / FunctionAllAgriculture and harvest (2)Ancestors (2)Awakening and liberation (6)Chaos and adversary (1)Commerce and wealth (2)Compassion and mercy (1)Cosmic order and truth (1)Creation and cosmogony (2)Death (1)Disease and plague (1)Earth (1)Fate and time (1)Fire (1)Fortune and luck (1)Healing and medicine (2)Hearth and domestic fire (1)Justice, law and oaths (5)Kingship and sovereignty (3)Love and desire (1)Marriage and the household (2)Primordial being (1)Prophecy and divination (1)Protection and guardianship (6)Rain and weather (1)Rivers, lakes and springs (3)Sea and ocean (1)Stars and planets (2)Storm and thunder (1)Sun (1)The underworld (2)Trickster (1)Tutelary of a place or community (2)War and battle (4)Wisdom and counsel (1)Writing, scribes and learning (2)PantheonAllBuddhist (1)Chinese (29)Taoist (3)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 34Baosheng DadiMaleCaishenMaleCao GuojiuMaleCity GodMaleDragon KingMaleErlang ShenMaleFuxiMaleGonggongMaleGuan YuMaleHan XiangziMaleHou YiMaleHuangdiMaleJade EmperorMaleJigongMaleKitchen GodMaleLei GongMaleLi TieguaiMaleLü DongbinMaleNezhaMalePanguMaleShennongMaleTai SuiMaleTaibai JinxingMaleTudigongMaleWenchang Wang (Wenchang Dijun)MaleXuantian Shangdi (Zhenwu)MaleYanluoMaleYue FeiMaleYue LaoMaleZhang GuolaoMaleZhong KuiMaleZhongli QuanMaleZhuanxuMaleZhurongMaleSources1. 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.