Nuo folk religion

Nuo folk religion, or extendedly, Chinese popular exorcistic religion, is a variant of Chinese folk religion with its own system of temples, rituals, orders of priests, and gods that is interethnic and practiced across central and southern China but is also intimately connected to the Tujia people. It arose as an exorcistic religious movement, which is the original meaning of nuó (). It has strong influences from Taoism. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Nuo folk religion is its iconographic style, which represents the gods as wooden masks or heads. This is related to its own mythology, which traces the origin of Nuo to the first two humans, who were unjustly killed by beheading and have since then been worshipped as responsive divine ancestors. Nuo rituals began as efficacious methods to worship them, Lord Nuo and Lady Nuo. Since the 1980s, Nuo folk religion has undergone a revitalisation in China, and today is a folk religion endorsed by the central government. Nuo priests are classified as 巫 wu (shamans) and their historical precursors were the 方相氏 fangxiangshi ("masters who assist the (astral) square"). The highest deities in the Nuo pantheon are Lord Nuo (傩公 Nuógōng) and Lady Nuo (Nuópó 傩婆), the two ancestors of humanity, according to mythology, whose sacrifice gave origin to Nuo practices. When a Nuo ceremony is performed, the ancestral couple is represented by carved wooden statues erected in front of the temple, while all lesser gods are placed behind them. In simpler rituals, they are seen as embodiments of all the other gods. Generally, right below the ancestral couple of Nuogong and Nuopo come the Three Pure Ones (三清 Sānqīng). These are the main trinity of Taoist theology, and were introduced among the Tujia by Han Chinese who moved to their areas. Apart from the trinity and some elaborate ritual styles, Nuo folk religion has not acquired the philosophical contents of Taoism, as the purpose of Nuo practices is mainly to "nourish" Nuo gods.