Home›Chinese Deities›Worshipped InBrowse ByWorshipped InThis page groups deities by the religion whose adherents actively worship them, connecting a god to the living or historical community that maintains their cult. Wikipedia defines cult, in the religious sense, as "the care (Latin: cultus) owed to deities or saints and their temples, shrines, or churches." Browsing this way lets a visitor see every deity that belongs to one religion's worship, rather than reading about gods religion by religion.FactsLearn MoreWorshipped InSourcesComments (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.Worshipped InFilter Results2 entriesBasis of the Membership FigureAllIndependent Survey (2)Era of Decline End YearAll1976 (2)Era of Decline Start YearAll1966 (2)How the Expectation Is EnforcedAllCustomary Norm (1)Membership Figure As OfAll2016-01-01 (2)2018-01-01 (2)2021-01-01 (1)2023-08-30 (1)Origin Period End YearAll1046 BCE (1)142 (1)Origin Period Start YearAll1600 BCE (1)400 BCE (1)Practice StatusAllLiving, and practised in varied local forms (2)Status TodayAllLiving tradition, practised today (2)TheologyAllAncestor-centred (1)Animist: persons and powers in land, water and living things (1)Monistic: one ultimate reality behind all appearance (1)Polytheistic: many gods (2)Show ResultsBrowseCompareChinese Folk ReligionWorshipped In28 entriesTaoismWorshipped In9 entriesSources1. 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.