Chinese folk religion (simplified Chinese: 中国民间宗教 or 中国民间信仰, pinyin: Zhōngguómínjiānzōngjiào or Zhōngguómínjiānxìnyăng) or Shenism (pinyin: Shénjiāo, 神教) are labels used to describe the collection of ethnic religious traditions which have been the majority belief system in China and among Han Chinese ethnic groups for the most part of the civilization's history till today. Shenism comprises Chinese mythology and includes the worship of shens (神, shén; "deities", "spirits", "awarenesses", "consciousnesses", "archetypes") which can be nature deities, community and city deities, national deities, cultural heroes and demigods, dragons and ancestors.
The role of Shenism in Chinese culture can be compared to that of Shinto (the term "Shinto" itself has a Chinese etymology related to shén, despite the two religious systems have different origins) in Japanese culture and Hinduism in Indian culture.
It is sometimes considered a brand of Taoism, a Folk Taoism, since over the centuries institutional Taoism has been attempting to assimilate or administrate local religions; actually and more accurately Taoism can be defined as a branch of Shenism, since it sprang out of folk religion and Chinese philosophy. Chinese folk religion is sometimes seen as a constituent part of Chinese traditional religion, but more often, the two are regarded as synonymous.
With around 400 million adherents Chinese folk religion is one of the major religions in the world, comprising about 6% of world population. In China about 20-30% of the population adheres to Shenism or Taoism. In Taiwan, Shenism is highly institutionalised under the label and the institutions of "Taoism", which is adhered by 33% of the population.
Despite it was heavily suppressed during the last two centuries of the history of China, from the Taiping Movement to the Cultural Revolution, it is experiencing a revival nowadays and it receives support by the Government of the People's Republic of China, particularly in the forms of Mazuism in Southern China (officially, about 160 million Chinese are Mazuists), Huangdi worship, and Black Dragon worship in Shaanxi.
Chinese folk religion is composed of a syncretistic combination of religious practices, including Confucianist ceremonies, ancestor worship, Buddhism and Taoism. Chinese folk religion also retains traces of some of its ancestral neolithic belief systems, which include the veneration of (and communication with) the sun, moon, earth, the heaven, and various stars, as well as communication with animals. It has been practiced by Chinese people for thousands of years, for much of that time alongside Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.
Ceremonies, veneration, legends, festivals and various devotions associated with different folk gods/deities and goddesses form an important part of Chinese culture today. The veneration of secondary gods does not conflict with an individual's chosen religion, but is accepted as a complementary adjunct to Buddhism, Confucianism or Taoism. Some mythical figures in folk culture have been integrated into Buddhism, as in the case of Miao Shan. She is generally thought to have inflluenced the beliefs about the Buddhist bodhisattva Kuan Yin. This bodhisattva originally was based upon the Indian counterpart Avalokiteshvara. Androgynous in India, this bodhisattva over centuries became a female figure in China and Japan. Kuan Yin is one of the most popular bodishisattvas to which people pray. Other folk deities may date back to pre-Buddhist eras of Chinese history. The Chinese dragon is one of the key religious icons in these beliefs.
There are many free folk religion texts such as the Journeys to the Under-World distributed in temples, folk religious or vegetarian shops.
There are hundreds of gods and goddess as well as "saints," immortals and demigods. After apotheosis, historical figures noted for their bravery or virtue are also venerated and honored with their own festivals. The following list represents some commonly worshipped deities:
(Note: This list is incomplete and should not be considered a full representation)
The absence of a proper name for this religion has for a long time caused Chinese folk religion to be viewed by Westerners as a popularized version of an "authentic" religion. Both in China and elsewhere, adherents often describe themselves, or are described by others, as followers of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, or a mix among these.
Many publications about religion in China do not include statistics on the number of adherents to traditional religion, with most adherents registered under the category of Taoist (four hundred million) or Buddhist. However, despite the significant influence of those two belief-systems, Chinese traditional religion is not coterminous with them and, strictly speaking, marked distinctions exist. Nonetheless, such overlaps or blurring of distinctions are consistent with East Asian cultural understandings of religion and identity that do not require exclusive identification as an adherent of solely one distinct tradition.
