Home›Chinese state religion Sites›TraditionBrowse ByTraditionThis page groups sacred sites by the specific religion or culture that consecrated them. Wikipedia defines a sacred space as "a designated area, often marked by physical boundaries or symbols, that is considered holy or consecrated by a particular religion or culture." Browsing by tradition lets a visitor read every site belonging to one tradition together.FactsLearn MoreTraditionSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedAltars and mountains of the imperial cult, at which the emperor as Son of Heaven made the sacrifices held to keep cosmic and political order. The grouping is defined by the sacrificer and the office, not by a doctrine: several of the same mountains also carry Taoist and Buddhist establishments, which the atlas records separately. 2Size of the Traditional SetWell-attestedFive: the Marchmounts - the eastern, southern, western, northern and central peaks of the imperial cult. The number is fixed at five; which mountains fill the southern and northern places was moved more than once by imperial decision. 2OriginsWhose Classification This IsWell-attestedThe five-peak scheme is the state's, not a folk category. It took its canonical form under Emperor Wu of the Han (reigned 141-87 BCE) and was maintained, argued over and occasionally reassigned by later dynasties as the empire's own borders moved. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedSacred Sites 1Learn MoreSites of Chinese state religion This group holds sacred sites of the Chinese state religion, the altars and temples of the imperial cult, where the emperor, as Son of Heaven, performed the great sacrifices to Heaven, Earth and the ancestors that maintained cosmic and political order. The browser will find the imperial altars and ritual complexes the atlas gathers. The entries describe each site's role in the state cult and its history.TraditionFilter Results4 entriesAdherents Today MaximumAll324,000,000 (1)Adherents Today MinimumAll324,000,000 (1)Basis of the Membership FigureAllIndependent Survey (4)Scholarly or Demographic Estimate (1)Era of Decline End YearAll1976 (3)Era of Decline Start YearAll1966 (3)Establishment StatusAllEstablished (1)Varies by Province (1)How the Expectation Is EnforcedAllCustomary Norm (2)Membership Figure As OfAll2010-01-01 (1)2012-12-18 (1)2015-01-01 (1)2016-01-01 (2)2018-01-01 (3)2020-01-01 (1)2021-01-01 (1)2023-08-30 (1)Origin Period End YearAll1046 BCE (1)479 BCE (1)400 BCE (1)142 (1)Origin Period Start YearAll1600 BCE (1)551 BCE (1)500 BCE (1)400 BCE (1)Practice StatusAllLiving, and practised in varied local forms (4)Status TodayAllLiving tradition, practised today (4)TheologyAllAncestor-centred (2)Animist: persons and powers in land, water and living things (1)Monistic: one ultimate reality behind all appearance (1)Non-theistic: no creator god is central (2)Polytheistic: many gods (2)Show ResultsBrowseCompareBuddhismTradition3 entriesChinese Folk ReligionTradition5 entriesConfucianismTradition1 entryTaoismTradition4 entriesSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Power of Place: The Religious Landscape of the Southern Sacred Peak (Nanyue) in Medieval Chinatier 1James Robson, Harvard University Asia Center, 2009View 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.