Cult of Gods

Chinese

China and its diaspora, from the Shang period onward.

Chinese tradition has no single mythology. Early texts (Shanhaijing, Huainanzi) preserve fragments; the later bureaucratic heaven under the Jade Emperor is systematised in Song-to-Ming literature, notably Fengshen Yanyi. Many deities are deified humans, so the line between history and religion is deliberately porous. Kinship between them varies by text and region.

The Jade Emperor, a Ming dynasty painting.
The Jade Emperor, a Ming dynasty painting.

Family graph

Parent lines run downward, partners are joined by a thicker line. Select a deity to trace its ancestry.

Choose a deity to see where it comes from. Dashed lines are links the sources describe that are not parent and child.

PángǔFúxīNǚwāYellow EmperorShénnóngHòu YìCháng'éQueen Mother of the WestJade EmperorKitchen GodGuan YuMazuDragon KingsYanluo

The deities

Pángǔcreation of the worldFúxīhunting, writing the trigrams, marriageNǚwācreation of humans, repair of the skyYellow Emperorancestor of the Chinese people, cultural heroShénnóngagriculture, medicineHòu Yìarcher who shot down sunsCháng'éthe moonQueen Mother of the Westimmortality, plagueJade Emperorruler of heavenKitchen Godthe hearth, reports to heavenGuan Yuloyalty, war, wealth (as Guandi)Mazusailors, the seaDragon Kingsrain, the four seasYanluoking of the dead, judgment

Today

Chinese folk religion, Daoism and Chinese Buddhism are practised by hundreds of millions in China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and worldwide. Deities such as Mazu, Guan Yu and the Kitchen God receive offerings in homes and temples today.

More traditions

Odin rides to Hel, W. G. Collingwood, after the Poetic Edda.NorsePapyrus of Ani, British Museum (New Kingdom), a Book of the Dead.EgyptianA chaos monster and a sun god, drawn by L. Gruner for A. H. Layard's Monuments of Nineveh.MesopotamianVishvarupa Vishnu, Kashmir or Himachal, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art collection.Hindu

Sources used