Chinese folk religion

===Philosophical and ritual modalities===

====Wuism and shamanic traditions====
{{Main|Chinese shamanism|Nuo folk religion}}
[[File:Yard leading to the Temple of the White Sulde of Genghis Khan, in Uxin, Inner Mongolia, China.jpg|thumb|left|Temple of the [[Sülde Tngri|White Sulde]] of [[Genghis Khan]] in the town of [[Uxin Banner|Uxin]] in [[Inner Mongolia]], in the [[Ordos Desert|Mu Us Desert]]. The worship of Genghis is shared by Chinese and [[Mongolian folk religion]].{{refn|group=note|The White Sulde (White Spirit) is one of the two spirits of Genghis Khan (the other being the Black Sulde), represented either as his white or yellow horse or as a fierce warrior riding this horse. In its interior, the temple enshrines a statue of Genghis Khan (at the center) and four of his men on each side (the total making nine, a symbolic number in Mongolian culture), there is an altar where offerings to the godly men are made, and three white suldes made with white horse hair. From the central sulde there are strings which hold tied light blue pieces of cloth with a few white ones. The wall is covered with all the names of the Mongol kins. The Chinese worship Genghis as the ancestral god of the [[Yuan dynasty]].}}]]
"The extent to which shamanism pervaded ancient Chinese society", says Paul R. Goldin (2005), "is a matter of scholarly dispute, but there can be no doubt that many communities relied upon the unique talents of shamans for their quotidian spiritual needs".<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Mair | first1 = Victor H. | first2 = Nancy Shatzman | last2 = Steinhardt | first3 = Paul Rakita | last3 = Goldin | year = 2005 | title = Hawai'i Reader in Traditional Chinese Culture | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XdouAQAAIAAJ&q=China+shamanic+tradition | publisher = University of Hawai'i Press | location = Honolulu | isbn = 978-0824827854 | ref = none | access-date = 9 August 2015 | archive-date = 15 February 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240215111722/https://books.google.com/books?id=XdouAQAAIAAJ&q=China+shamanic+tradition | url-status = live }}, p. 99</ref> The Chinese usage distinguishes the [[Chinese shamanism|Chinese ''wu'' tradition]] or "Wuism" as it was called by [[Jan Jakob Maria de Groot]]{{sfnb|De Groot|1892|pp=''passim'' vol. 6}} ({{lang-zh|巫教}} ''wūjiào''; properly shamanic, with control over the gods) from the [[tongji (spirit medium)|''tongji'' tradition]] ({{lang-zh|童乩}}; mediumship, without control of the godly movement), and from non-Han Chinese Altaic shamanisms ({{lang-zh|薩滿教}} ''sàmǎnjiào'') that are practised in northern provinces.

According to Andreea Chirita (2014), Confucianism itself, with its emphasis on hierarchy and ancestral rituals, derived from the shamanic discourse of the [[Shang dynasty]]. What Confucianism did was to marginalise the "dysfunctional" features of old shamanism. However, shamanic traditions continued uninterrupted within the folk religion and found precise and functional forms within Taoism.<ref name="Chirita2014">Andreea Chirita. ''[http://aflls.ucdc.ro/I_2014/2Ant.pdf Antagonistic Discourses on Shamanic Folklore in Modern China] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527231650/http://aflls.ucdc.ro/I_2014/2Ant.pdf |date=27 May 2015 }}''. On: ''Annals of Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University'', issue 1, 2014.</ref>

In the Shang and [[Zhou dynasty]], shamans had a role in the political hierarchy, and were represented institutionally by the Ministry of Rites ({{lang-zh|大宗伯}}). The emperor was considered the supreme shaman, intermediating between the three realms of heaven, earth and man. The mission of a shaman ({{lang-zh|巫}} ''[[wu (shaman)|wu]]'') is "to repair the dis-functionalities occurred in nature and generated after the sky had been separated from earth":<ref name="Chirita2014"/>

{{blockquote|The female shamans called ''wu'' as well as the male shamans called ''xi'' represent the voice of spirits, repair the natural dis-functions, foretell the future based on dreams and the art of divination ... "a historical science of the future", whereas shamans are able to observe the yin and the yang&nbsp;...}}

Since the 1980s the practice and study of shamanism has undergone a massive revival in Chinese religion as a means to repair the world to a harmonious whole after industrialisation.<ref name="Chirita2014"/> Shamanism is viewed by many scholars as the foundation for the emergence of civilisation, and the shaman as "teacher and spirit" of peoples. The Chinese Society for Shamanic Studies was founded in [[Jilin City]] in 1988.<ref name="KunShi2006">Kun Shi. ''[http://buddhabookclub.weebly.com/uploads/4/2/6/4/4264863/survey_of_shamanic_studies_in_china-1993-updated_2007.pdf "Shamanistic Studies in China: A Preliminary Survey of the Last Decade"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926115658/http://buddhabookclub.weebly.com/uploads/4/2/6/4/4264863/survey_of_shamanic_studies_in_china-1993-updated_2007.pdf |date=26 September 2017 }}''. On: ''Shaman'', vol. 1, nos. 1–2. Ohio State University, 1993, updated in 2006. pp. 104–106</ref>

Nuo folk religion is a system of the Chinese folk religion with distinct institutions and cosmology present especially in central-southern China. It arose as an [[exorcism|exorcistic]] religious movement, and it is interethnic but also intimately connected to the [[Tujia people]].{{sfnb|Li|2016}}

====Confucianism, Taoism and orders of ritual masters====
{{Main|Confucianism|Taoism|Chinese ritual mastery traditions}}
[[File:Fushou (Fortune and Longevity) Taoist Temple at Tianchi (Heavenly Lake)  in Fukang, Changji, Xinjiang.jpg|thumb|Temple of Fortune and Longevity, at the [[Heavenly Lake of Tianshan]] in [[Fukang]], [[Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture|Changji]], [[Xinjiang]]. It is an example of Taoist temple which hosts various chapels dedicated to popular gods.{{refn|group=note|The main axis of the Taoist Temple of Fortune and Longevity ({{lang-zh|福壽觀}} ''Fúshòuguān'') has a Temple of the Three Patrons ({{lang-zh|三皇殿}} ''Sānhuángdiàn'') and a Temple of the Three Purities ({{lang-zh|三清殿}} ''Sānqīngdiàn'', the orthodox gods of Taoist theology). Side chapels include a Temple of the God of Wealth ({{lang-zh|財神殿}} ''Cáishéndiàn''), a Temple of the Lady ({{lang-zh|娘娘殿}} ''Niángniángdiàn''), a Temple of the Eight Immortals ({{lang-zh|八仙殿}} ''Bāxiāndiàn''), and a Temple of the (God of) Thriving Culture ({{lang-zh|文昌殿}} ''Wénchāngdiàn''). The Fushou Temple belongs to the [[Taoist Church]] and was built in 2005 on the site of a former Buddhist temple, the Iron Tiles Temple, which stood there until it was destituted and destroyed in 1950. Part of the roof tiles of the new temples are from the ruins of the former temple excavated in 2002.}}]]
[[File:靈安壇大法師.JPG|thumb|Folk ritual masters conducting a ceremony.]]
[[File:Jiangyin wenmiao dachengdian.jpg|thumb|The Temple of the God of Culture ({{lang-zh|文廟}} ''wénmiào'') of [[Jiangyin]], [[Wuxi]], [[Jiangsu]]. In this temple the ''Wéndì'' ({{lang-zh|文帝}}, "God of Culture") enshrined is [[Confucius]].]]

Confucianism and Taoism—which are formalised, ritual, doctrinal or philosophical traditions—can be considered both as embedded within the larger category of Chinese religion, or as separate religions. In fact, one can practise certain folk cults and espouse the tenets of Confucianism as a philosophical framework, Confucian theology instructing to uphold the moral order through the worship of gods and ancestors<ref>Littlejohn, 2010. pp. 35–37</ref> that is the way of connecting to the [[Tian]] and awakening to its harmony (''[[li (Confucian)|li]]'', "[[ṛta|rite]]").<ref>Tay, 2010. p. 100</ref>

Folk temples and ancestral shrines on special occasions may choose Confucian liturgy (that is called {{lang-zh|儒}} ''rú'', or sometimes {{lang-zh|正統}} ''zhèngtǒng'', meaning "[[orthopraxy|orthoprax]]" ritual style) led by Confucian "sages of rites" ({{lang-zh|禮生}} ''lǐshēng'') who in many cases are the elders of a local community. Confucian liturgies are alternated with Taoist liturgies and popular ritual styles.{{sfnb|Clart|2003|pp=3-5}}

There are many organised groups of the folk religion that adopt Confucian liturgy and identity, for example the [[Way of the Gods according to the Confucian Tradition]] or phoenix churches (Luanism), or the [[Confucian churches]], schools and fellowships such as the ''Yīdān xuétáng'' ({{lang-zh|一耽學堂}}) of [[Beijing]],<ref>Sébastien Billioud. ''Confucian Revival and the Emergence of "Jiaohua Organizations": A Case Study of the Yidan Xuetang''. On: ''Modern China'', vol. 37, no. 3, 2011, pp. 286–314. DOI: 10.1177/0097700411398574</ref> the ''Mèngmǔtáng'' ({{lang-zh|孟母堂}}) of [[Shanghai]],<ref name="Fan, Chen. 2015. p. 29">Fan, Chen. 2015. p. 29</ref> the Confucian Fellowship ({{lang-zh|儒教道壇}} ''Rújiào Dàotán'') in northern Fujian, and ancestral temples of the Kong (Confucius) lineage operating as well as Confucian-teaching churches.<ref name="Fan, Chen. 2015. p. 29"/> In November 2015 a national [[Kongshenghui|Church of Confucius]] was established with the contribution of many Confucian leaders.

Scholar and Taoist priest [[Kristofer Schipper]] defines Taoism as a "liturgical framework" for the development of local religion.<ref name="Wu2014">Nengchang Wu. ''[https://www.academia.edu/6919287/2014_Religion_and_Society._A_Summary_of_French_Studies_on_Chinese_Religion Religion and Society. A Summary of French Studies on Chinese Religion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827012653/http://www.academia.edu/6919287/2014_Religion_and_Society._A_Summary_of_French_Studies_on_Chinese_Religion |date=27 August 2017 }}''. On: ''Review of Religion and Chinese Society'' 1 (2014), 104–127. pp. 105–106</ref> Some [[Taoist schools|currents]] of Taoism are deeply interwoven with the Chinese folk religion, especially the [[Zhengyi Taoism|Zhengyi]] school, developing aspects of local cults within their doctrines;<ref name="Wu2014"/> however Taoists always highlight the distinction between their traditions and those which are not Taoist. Priests of Taoism are called ''daoshi'' ({{lang-zh|道士}}), literally meaning "masters of the [[Tao]]", otherwise commonly translated as the "Taoists", as common followers and folk believers who are not part of Taoist orders are not identified as such.

Taoists of the Zhengyi school, who are called ''sǎnjū dàoshi'' ({{lang-zh|散居道士}}) or ''huǒjū dàoshi'' ({{lang-zh|火居道士}}), respectively meaning "scattered daoshi" and "daoshi living at home (hearth)", because they can get married and perform the profession of priests as a part-time occupation, may perform rituals of offering (''jiao''), thanks-giving, propitiation, exorcism and rites of passage for local communities' temples and private homes.<ref name="Davis-Daoists">Edward L. Davis. ''Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture''. ¶ [http://contemporary_chinese_culture.academic.ru/179/Daoist_priests Daoist priests] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303164605/http://contemporary_chinese_culture.academic.ru/179/Daoist_priests |date=3 March 2014 }}, [http://contemporary_chinese_culture.academic.ru/808/vernacular_priests_(Daoist_Buddhist) vernacular priests] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303164603/http://contemporary_chinese_culture.academic.ru/808/vernacular_priests_(Daoist_Buddhist) |date=3 March 2014 }}</ref> Local gods of local cultures are often incorporated into their altars.<ref name="Davis-Daoists"/> The Zhengyi Taoists are trained by other priests of the same sect, and historically received formal ordination by the [[Celestial Master]],<ref name="Pas, 2014. p. 259">Pas, 2014. p. 259</ref> although the 63rd Celestial Master Zhang Enpu fled to Taiwan in the 1940s during the [[Chinese Civil War]].

[[Chinese ritual mastery traditions|Lineages of ritual masters]] ({{lang-zh|法師}} ''fashi''), also referred to as practitioners of "Faism", also called "Folk Taoism" or (in southeast China) "Red Taoism", operate within the Chinese folk religion but outside any institution of official Taoism.<ref name="Pas, 2014. p. 259"/> The ritual masters, who have the same role of the ''sanju daoshi'' within the fabric of society, are not considered Taoist priests by the ''daoshi'' of Taoism who trace their lineage to the Celestial Masters and by Taoists officially registered with the state Taoist Church. ''Fashi'' are defined as of "[[kataphatic]]" (filling) character in opposition to professional Taoists who are "[[kenotic]]" (of emptying, or [[apophatic theology|apophatic]], character).<ref>Sarah Coakley. ''Religion and the Body''. Book 8 of ''Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions''. Cambridge University Press, 2000. {{ISBN|0521783860}}. p. 246</ref>