Chinese folk religion

===="Taoised" indigenous religions of ethnic minorities====
[[File:Benzhu Sanxing, Dali, Yunnan.jpg|thumb|The pan-Chinese [[Sanxing (deities)|Sanxing]] (Three Star Gods) represented in [[Bai people|Bai]] iconographic style at a [[Benzhu]] temple on Jinsuo Island, in [[Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture|Dali]], [[Yunnan]].]]
Chinese religion has both influenced, and in turn has been influenced by, [[indigenous religions]] of ethnic groups that the Han Chinese have encountered along their ethnogenetic history. Seiwert (1987) finds evidence of pre-Chinese religions in the folk religion of certain southeastern provinces such as Fujian and Taiwan, especially in the local ''wu'' and lineages of ordained ritual masters.<ref name=Seiwert1987>{{citation | last = Seiwert | first = Hubert | chapter = On the religions of national minorities in the context of China's religious history | pages = 41–51 | title = Ethnic Minorities in China: Tradition and Transform. Papers of the 2nd Interdisciplinary Congress of Sinology/Ethnology, St. Augustin | editor-first = Thomas | editor-last = Heberer | editor-link= Thomas Heberer | location = Aachen | publisher = Herodot | year = 1987 | isbn = 978-3922868682 }}. [https://www.gko.uni-leipzig.de/fileadmin/user_upload/religionswissenschaft/Pdf/Publikationen_Seiwert/Seiwert__-__On_the_Religions_of_National_Minorities_in_the_Context_of_China_s_Religious_History.pdf Available online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806230928/https://www.gko.uni-leipzig.de/fileadmin/user_upload/religionswissenschaft/Pdf/Publikationen_Seiwert/Seiwert__-__On_the_Religions_of_National_Minorities_in_the_Context_of_China_s_Religious_History.pdf |date=6 August 2016 }}.</ref>{{rp|44}}

A process of [[sinicization]], or more appropriately a "Taoisation", is also the more recent experience of the indigenous religions of some distinct [[ethnic minorities of China]], especially southwestern people. Chinese Taoists gradually penetrate within the indigenous religions of such peoples, in some cases working side by side with indigenous priests, in other cases taking over the latter's function and integrating them by requiring their ordination as Taoists.<ref name=Seiwert1987/>{{rp|45}} Usually, indigenous ritual practices remain unaffected and are adopted into Taoist liturgy, while indigenous gods are identified with Chinese gods.<ref name=Seiwert1987/>{{rp|47}} Seiwert discusses this phenomenon of "merger into Chinese folk religion" not as a mere elimination of non-Chinese indigenous religions, but rather as a cultural re-orientation. Local priests of southwestern ethnic minorities often acquire prestige by identifying themselves as Taoists and adopting Taoist holy texts.<ref name=Seiwert1987/>{{rp|47}}

Mou (2012) writes that "Taoism has formed an indissoluble bond" with indigenous religions of southwestern ethnic minorities, especially the Tujia, [[Yi people|Yi]] and [[Yao people|Yao]].{{sfnb|Mou|2012|p=57}} Seiwert mentions the [[Miao people|Miao]] of [[Hunan]].<ref name=Seiwert1987/>{{rp|45}} "Daogongism" is Taoism among the [[Zhuang people|Zhuang]], directed by the ''dàogōng'' ({{lang-zh|道公}} "lords of the Tao") and it forms an established important aspect of the broader [[Zhuang folk religion]].<ref>Ya-ning Kao, ''Religious Revival among the Zhuang People in China: Practising "Superstition" and Standardizing a Zhuang Religion'' ''Journal of Current Chinese Affairs'', 43, 2, 107–144. 2014. {{ISSN|1868-4874}} (online), {{ISSN|1868-1026}} (print). p. 117</ref>

On the other hand, it is also true that in more recent years there has been a general revival of indigenous lineages of ritual masters without identification of these as Taoists and support from the state Chinese Taoist Church. An example is the revival of lineages of ''bimo'' ("scripture sages") priests among the Yi peoples. [[Bimoism]] has a tradition of theological literature and though clergy ordination, and this is among the reasons why it is taken in high consideration by the Chinese government.<ref>Olivia Kraef. ''Of Canons and Commodities: The Cultural Predicaments of Nuosu-Yi "Bimo Culture"''. On: ''Journal of Current Chinese Affairs'', 43, 2, 145–179. 2014. pp. 146–147</ref> Bamo Ayi (2001) attests that "since the early 1980s&nbsp;... minority policy turned away from promoting assimilation of Han ways".<ref name="Bamo Ayi">Bamo Ayi. [http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=kt896nd0h7&chunk.id=ch08&toc.id=ch08&brand=ucpress "On the Nature and Transmission of Bimo Knowledge in Liangshan"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011202235/http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=kt896nd0h7&chunk.id=ch08&toc.id=ch08&brand=ucpress |date=11 October 2016 }}. In: Harrell, Stevan, ed. ''Perspectives on the Yi of Southwest China''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.</ref>{{rp|118}}