Home›Chinese Deities›Historicity›Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingBrowse ByNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingThis page groups deities by whether their existence in belief is considered fully mythological, debated, or grounded in a historical cult that can be traced. Wikipedia defines historicity as "the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction." Browsing this way helps a visitor separate gods with a documented historical cult from ones known only through later literary retelling.FactsLearn MoreNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingSourcesComments (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.Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingFilter Results29 entriesPlanetary FaceAllJupiter (1)Mars (1)Moon (1)Neptune (1)Pluto (1)Sun (1)Venus (1)Interpretatio OfAllApollo (1)Jupiter (1)Mars (1)Venus (1)TheologyAllEmanationist: reality proceeds from an ineffable One (1)Polytheistic: many gods (28)ArchetypeAllThe Caregiver (1)The Hero (1)The Innocent (1)The Lover (1)The Magician (1)The Ruler (2)The Sage (1)Veneration StatusAllActively venerated in a living tradition (27)Historically attested; no continuous cult (2)Era Attested Start YearAll-500 (1)-400 (1)-350 (1)-139 (2)80 (1)200 (1)502 (1)1000 (1)Worshipped InAllChinese Folk Religion (19)Domain / FunctionAllAgriculture and harvest (1)Chaos and adversary (1)Childbirth (1)Compassion and mercy (1)Cosmic order and truth (2)Creation and cosmogony (2)Death (1)Disease and plague (2)Earth (1)Fate and time (3)Fire (1)Fortune and luck (1)Healing and medicine (2)Hearth and domestic fire (1)Justice, law and oaths (4)Kingship and sovereignty (1)Love and desire (1)Marriage and the household (2)Moon (1)Mountains (1)Primordial being (1)Protection and guardianship (4)Rain and weather (1)Rivers, lakes and springs (3)Sea and ocean (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 (2)Wisdom and counsel (1)Writing, scribes and learning (1)GenderAllCollective / plural, not a single figure (3)Female (6)Male (20)PantheonAllBuddhist (1)Chinese (21)Taoist (7)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 29Baosheng DadiNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingBixia YuanjunNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingChang eNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingCity GodNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingDoumuNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingDragon KingNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingErlang ShenNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingGonggongNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingHou YiNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingJade EmperorNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingJigongNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingKitchen GodNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingLei GongNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingMeng PoNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingNezhaNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingPanguNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingQueen Mother of the WestNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingSanguan Dadi (The Three Officials)Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingTai SuiNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingTaibai JinxingNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingThe Three Pure OnesNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingTudigongNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingWang Ye (Royal Lords)Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingWenchang Wang (Wenchang Dijun)Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingXiheNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingXuantian Shangdi (Zhenwu)Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingYanluoNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingYue LaoNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingZhurongNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human beingSources1. 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.