Chinese folk religion

====Mother goddess worship====
[[File:碧霞祠.jpg|thumb|Shrine of Bixia at [[Mount Tai]], [[Shandong]].]]
The worship of [[mother goddess]]es for the cultivation of offspring is present all over China, but predominantly in northern provinces. There are nine main goddesses, and all of them tend to be considered as manifestations or attendant forces of a singular goddess identified variously as Bixia ({{lang-zh|碧霞}} "Blue Dawn"), the daughter or female consort of the Green God of Mount Tai, or [[Houtu]] ({{lang-zh|后土}} the "Queen of the Earth").<ref name="Jones, 2013. pp. 166-167">Jones, 2013. pp. 166–167</ref> Bixia herself is identified by Taoists as the more ancient goddess [[Xiwangmu]],<ref>Louis Komjathy. ''The Daoist Tradition: An Introduction''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013. {{ISBN|1441196455}}. Chapter: ''Daoist deities and pantheons''.</ref> Goddesses are commonly entitled ''mǔ'' ({{lang-zh|母}} "mother"), ''lǎomǔ'' ({{lang-zh|老母}} "old mother"), ''shèngmǔ'' ({{lang-zh|聖母}} "holy mother"), ''niángniáng'' ({{lang-zh|娘娘}} "lady"), ''nǎinai'' ({{lang-zh|奶奶}} "granny").

Altars of goddess worship are usually arranged with Bixia at the center and two goddesses at her sides, most frequently the Lady of Eyesight and the Lady of Offspring.<ref name="Wicks">Ann Elizabeth Barrott Wicks. ''Children in Chinese Art''. University of Hawaii Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0824823591}}. pp. 149–150; some goddesses are enlisted in the note 18 at p. 191</ref> A different figure but with the same astral connections as Bixia is the Qixing Niangniang ({{lang-zh|七星娘娘}} "Goddess of the Seven Stars"). There is also the cluster of the Holy Mothers of the Three Skies ({{lang-zh|三霄聖母}} ''Sanxiao Shengmu''; or "Ladies of the Three Skies", {{lang-zh|三霄娘娘}} ''Sanxiao Niangniang''), composed of ''[[Yunxiao Niangniang|Yunxiao Guniang]]'', ''[[Qiongxiao Niangniang|Qiongxiao Guniang]]'' and ''[[Bixiao Niangniang|Bixiao Guniang]]''.{{sfnb|Overmyer|2009|p=135}} In southeastern provinces the cult of [[Chen Jinggu]] ({{lang-zh|陳靖姑}}) is identified by some scholars as an emanation of the northern cult of Bixia.<ref>J. Hackin. ''Asiatic Mythology: A Detailed Description and Explanation of the Mythologies of All the Great Nations of Asia''. Asian Educational Services, 1932. {{ISBN|8120609204}}. pp. 349.350</ref>

There are other local goddesses with motherly features, including the northern Canmu ({{lang-zh|蠶母}} "Silkworm Mother") and [[Mazu (goddess)|Mazu]] ({{lang-zh|媽祖}} "Ancestral Mother"), popular in provinces along the eastern coast and in Taiwan. The title of "Queen of Heaven" ({{lang-zh|天后}} ''Tiānhòu'') is most frequently attributed to Mazu and Doumu (the cosmic goddess).