Most Popular Gods & Goddesses of Ancient China
There were over 200 gods and goddesses worshipped throughout ancient China, but if one were to count every deity or spirit, the number would be over 1,000. Each town, village, city, field, farm, and sometimes even separate plot in a graveyard, had its own Tudi Gong, an elemental earth spirit, who was recognized and honored.
There were also spirits known as Kuei-Shen, nature spirits, who might inhabit a tree or live by a stream or preside over a garden. These were eternal spirits who had never been mortal but others, known as guei (or kuei, gui, kui), had once been human beings who had died and passed on to the afterlife. The guei could return to haunt the living for various reasons, and rituals, spells, and religious practices developed to appease them.
There were also deities who had once been mortal and now lived with the gods, such as the Baxian (Pa Hsien), the Eight Immortals of holy Taoists who were rewarded by the goddess Queen Mother of the West with immortality. The Baxian were prayed to like any of the other gods, as were one’s ancestors who had passed over the bridge between the land of the living and the realm of the dead to live among the gods and watch over the living.
The gods were believed to have created the world and human beings, and they kept the world and surrounding universe functioning. Each deity had his or her own special area of power and influence, and the most important were given their own shrines and temples, although shrines were also erected to local spirits and to noble men and women who became deified after death.
These deities lived in palaces and castles high above human beings in places like the Kunlun Mountains, Mount Tai, the Jade Mountain, and Mount Penglai which was the mystical island of the afterlife somewhere far out at sea. Even though they were far away, they were still connected to human life on a daily basis, watching over and keeping account of the good and bad deeds people did. Each of the deities had their own part to play in the lives of people and the operation of the world from the most intimate moments to events of national importance such as a dynasty’s collapse.
All of the gods, goddesses, and spirits were important to the people of ancient China, and remain so today, and selecting a certain small group leaves out many, many others who remain just as significant. However, one can single out those deities who had national prominence, are among the oldest, or are without question the most popular as shown through ancient writings and evidence from archaeological excavations.
The gods and goddesses listed below are given in the order they appear in Chinese writings. Most likely, deities like Nuwa, Fuxi, and P'an Ku were recognized much earlier than written records indicate, and the same is probably true of most of the gods and goddesses on the list. These deities are selected because they were all very important to the people of ancient China even though some were more prominent at certain times in history than at others.
The dragon is the oldest symbol of a deity found in China. The dragon symbol appears on pottery found at the Neolithic site of Banpo Village dating from between c. 4500-3750 BCE. Dragon was considered a composite of yin and yang energies and was originally seen as a balancing force who was wise and just. The dragon Yinglong was known as The Dragon King and god of rain and waters. As god of the sea, he was known as Hong Shen and was prayed to regularly by sailors and fishermen, but farmers who needed rain for their crops worshipped Dragon as well. He is also shown in human form as a wise man with the full sun behind his head watching over a boat full of people.
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