MazuMazu or Matsu is a Chinese sea goddess also known by several other names and titles. She is the deified form of the legendary figure Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness whose life span is traditionally dated from 960 to 987. Revered after her death as a tutelary deity of seafarers, including fishermen and sailors, her worship spread throughout China's coastal regions and overseas Chinese communities throughout Southeast Asia and overseas, where some Mazuist temples are affiliated with famous Taiwanese temples.
Nakhi peopleThe Nakhi or Nashi (; Naxi: Naqxi; lit.: "Black people") are a people inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, as well as the southwestern part of Sichuan Province in China. The Nakhi are thought to have come originally from northwestern China, migrating south toward Tibetan populated regions, and usually inhabiting the most fertile riverside land, driving the other competing tribes farther up the hillsides onto less fertile land.
NingdeNingde (; Foochow Romanized: Nìng-dáik), also known as Mindong (; Foochow Romanized: Mìng-dĕ̤ng; lit. East of Fujian), is a prefecture-level city located along the northeastern coast of Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Fuzhou to the south, Wenzhou (Zhejiang) to the north, and Nanping to the west. Ningde is listed No.2 in China Integrated City Index 2016's environmental ranking, a study conducted by the National Development and Reform Commission.
BimoismBimoism (, Yi: ꀘꂾ) is the indigenous religion of the Yi people, the largest ethnic group in Yunnan after the Han Chinese. It takes its name from the bimo, shaman-priests who are also masters of Yi language and scriptures, wearing distinctive black robes and large hats. Bimo, which means 'master of scriptures', who officiate at births, funerals, weddings and holidays. One can become bimo by patrilinial descent after a time of apprenticeship or formally acknowledging an old bimo as the teacher.
Epic of King GesarThe Epic of King Gesar (), spelled Geser (especially in Mongolian contexts) or Kesar (ˈkɛzər,_ˈkɛs-), is a work of epic literature of Tibet and greater Central Asia. The epic originally developed around 200 BCE or 300 BCE and about 600 CE. Following this, folk balladeers continued to pass on the story orally; this enriched the plot and embellished the language. The story reached its final form and height of popularity in the early 12th Century. The Epic relates the heroic deeds of the culture hero Gesar, the fearless lord of the legendary kingdom of Ling ().
Monkey KingThe Monkey King, (), is best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West () and many later stories and adaptations. In said novel, Sun Wukong is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. After rebelling against heaven, he is imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha. After five hundred years, he accompanies the monk Tang Sanzang (唐三藏) riding on White Dragon Horse and two other disciples, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, on a journey to obtain Buddhist sutras from the West (India), where Buddha and his followers dwell.
Qiang peopleThe Qiang people (Qiangic: Rrmea; ) are an ethnic group in China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognised by the People's Republic of China, with a population of approximately 310,000 in 2000. They live mainly in a mountainous region in the northwestern part of Sichuan (Szechwan) on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The modern Qiang refer to themselves as Rma (/ɹmæː/ or /ɹmɛː/, 尔玛, erma in Chinese or RRmea in Qiang orthography) or a dialect variant of this word.
Chinese shamanismChinese shamanism, alternatively called Wuism (; alternatively 巫觋宗教 wū xí zōngjiào), refers to the shamanic religious tradition of China. Its features are especially connected to the ancient Neolithic cultures such as the Hongshan culture. Chinese shamanic traditions are intrinsic to Chinese folk religion. Various ritual traditions are rooted in original Chinese shamanism: contemporary Chinese ritual masters are sometimes identified as wu by outsiders, though most orders don't self-identify as such.
AlopenAlopen (, ; also "Aleben", "Aluoben", "Olopen," "Olopan," or "Olopuen") is the first recorded Assyrian Christian missionary to have reached China, during the Tang dynasty. He was a missionary from the Church of the East (also known as the "Nestorian Church"), and probably a Syriac speaker from the Sasanian Empire or from Byzantine Syria. He is known exclusively from the Xi'an Stele, which describes his arrival in the Tang capital of Chang'an in 635 and his acceptance by Emperor Taizong of Tang.
GuiyidaoGuiyidao (皈依道, "Way of the Return to the One"), better known as Precosmic Salvationism (先天救教 Xiāntiān jiùjiào; or "Former Heaven Salvationism") in contemporary Taiwan, and historically also known by the name of its institutions as Daodeshe (道德社), Guiyi Daoyuan (皈依道院) or later Daoyuan (道院)—respectively "Community of the Way and its Virtue", "School of the Way of the Return to the One" or simply "School of the Way"—is a Chinese folk religious movement of salvation belonging to the Xiantiandao ("Way of Former H
