Chinese folk religion

====Lineage religion====
{{Main|Chinese ancestral religion}}
[[File:Guanji temple and Huang shrine in Lucheng, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China (1).jpg|right|thumb|Guanji [[Chinese temple|temple]] (left) and Huang [[ancestral shrine]] (right) in [[Wenzhou]], [[Zhejiang]].]]
[[File:Worship at an ancestral temple in Hong'an, Hubei, China.jpg|thumb|People gather for a worship ceremony at an ancestral shrine in [[Hong'an County|Hong'an]], [[Hubei]].]]

Another dimension of the Chinese folk religion is based on family or genealogical worship of deities and ancestors in family altars or private temples (''simiao'' {{lang-zh|私廟}} or ''jiamiao'' {{lang-zh|家廟}}), or [[ancestral shrine]]s (''citang'' {{lang-zh|祠堂}} or ''zongci'' {{lang-zh|宗祠}}, or also ''zumiao'' {{lang-zh|祖廟}}).{{sfnp|Fan|Chen|2013|p=13}} [[Chinese lineage associations|Kinship associations or churches]] (''zōngzú xiéhuì'' {{lang-zh|宗族協會}}), congregating people with the same [[Chinese surname|surname]] and belonging to the same [[Chinese kin|kin]], are the social expression of this religion: these lineage societies build temples where the deified ancestors of a certain group (for example the ''[[Chen (surname)|Chen]]s'' or the ''[[Lin (surname)|Lin]]s'') are enshrined and worshiped.{{sfnp|Fan|Chen|2013|pp=14-15}} These temples serve as centres of aggregation for people belonging to the same lineage, and the lineage body may provide a context of identification and mutual assistance for individual persons.{{sfnp|Fan|Chen|2013|pp=14-15}}

The construction of large and elaborate ancestral temples traditionally represents a kin's wealth, influence and achievement.{{sfnp|Fan|Chen|2013|p=15}} Scholar K. S. Yang has explored the ethno-political dynamism of this form of religion, through which people who become distinguished for their value and virtue are considered immortal and receive posthumous divine titles, and are believed to protect their descendants, inspiring a mythological lore for the collective memory of a family or kin.{{sfnp|Fan|Chen|2013|p=16}}

If their temples and their deities enshrined acquire popularity they are considered worthy of the virtue of ''ling'', "efficacy".{{sfnp|Fan|Chen|2013|p=16}} Worship of ancestors (''[[Ancestor veneration in China|jingzu]]'' {{lang-zh|敬祖}}) is observed nationally with large-scale rituals on [[Qingming Festival]] and other holidays.

This type of religion prevails in south China, where lineage bonds are stronger and the patrilineal hierarchy is not based upon seniority, and access to corporate resources held by a lineage is based upon the equality of all the lines of descent.<ref name=Wu20>{{harvp|Wu|2014|p=20}}. Quote: "...&nbsp;southern China refers to Fujian and Guangdong province and in some cases is expanded to include Guangxi, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces. Historically speaking, these areas had the strong lineage organizations and the territorial cult, compared to the rest of China in the late imperial period. These areas not only were the first to revive lineage and the territorial cult in the reform era, but also have the intensity and scale of revivals that cannot be matched by the other part of China. This phenomenon is furthered referred as the southern model, based on the south-vs.-north model. The north model refers to the absence of landholding cooperative lineages that exist in the south." Note 16: The south-vs.-north model comparison has been the thrust of historical and anthropological research. Cohen's article on "Lineage organization in North China (1990)" offers the best summary on the contrast between the north model and the south model. He calls the north China model "the fixed genealogical mode of agnatic kinship". By which, he means "patrilineal ties are figured on the basis of the relative seniority of descent lines so that the unity of the lineage as a whole is based upon a ritual focus on the senior descent line trace back to the founding ancestor, his eldest son, and the succession of eldest sons." (ibid: 510) In contrast, the south China model is called "the associational mode of patrilineal kinship". In this mode, all lines of descent are equal. "Access to corporate resources held by a lineage or lineage segment is based upon the equality of kinship ties asserted in the associational mode." However, the distinction between the north and the south model is somewhat arbitrary. Some practices of the south model are found in north China. Meanwhile, the so-call north model is not exclusive to north China. The set of characteristics of the north model (a distinctive arrangement of cemeteries, graves, ancestral scrolls, ancestral tablets, and corporate groups linked to a characteristic annual ritual cycle) is not a system. In reality, lineage organizations display a mixture between the south and the north model."{{verify quote|reason=mismatched quotation marks make the extent of this quotation unclear|date=March 2021}}</ref>