Model humanity:
29-519: Main philosophical traditions: Ritual traditions: Devotional traditions: Salvation churches and sects : Confucian churches and sects: Hēidì ( Chinese : 黑帝 ; lit. 'Black Deity') or Hēishén ( 黑神 ; 'Black God'), who is the Běidì ( 北帝 ; 'North Deity', Cantonese : Pak Tai ) or Běiyuèdàdì ( 北岳大帝 ; 'Great Deity of the Northern Peak';),
58-544: A Chinese religious tradition characterised by a concern for salvation (moral fulfillment) of the person and the society. They are distinguished by egalitarianism , a founding charismatic person often informed by a divine revelation , a specific theology written in holy texts , a millenarian eschatology and a voluntary path of salvation, an embodied experience of the numinous through healing and self-cultivation, and an expansive orientation through evangelism and philanthropy . Some scholars consider these religions
87-563: A Confucian identity, with the foundation of the Holy Confucian Church of China which aims to unite in a single body all Confucian religious groups. Many of the movements of salvation of the 20th and 21st century aspire to become the repository of the entirety of the Chinese tradition in the face of Western modernism and materialism, advocating an "Eastern solution to the problems of the modern world", or even interacting with
116-507: A single group they are said to have the same number of followers of the five state-sanctioned religions of China taken together. Scholars and government officials have been discussing to systematise and unify this large base of religious organisations; in 2004 the State Administration of Religious Affairs created a department for the management of folk religions. In the late 2015 a step was made at least for those of them with
145-416: A single phenomenon, and others consider them the fourth great Chinese religious category alongside the well-established Confucianism , Buddhism and Taoism . Generally these religions focus on the worship of the universal God ( Shangdi ), represented as either male, female, or genderless, and regard their holy patriarchs as embodiments of God. "Chinese salvationist religions" ( 救度宗教 jiùdù zōngjiào )
174-613: Is a deity in Chinese religion , one of the cosmological " Five Forms of the Highest Deity " ( 五方上帝 ; Wǔfāng Shàngdì ). He is also identified as Zhuānxū ( 颛顼 ), today frequently worshipped as Xuánwǔ ( 玄武 ; 'Dark Warrior') or Zhēnwǔ ( 真武 ), and is associated with the essence of water and winter. His animal form is the Black Dragon and his stellar animal is the tortoise-snake. By virtue of his association with
203-658: Is a statutory body in Hong Kong established in 1928 under the Chinese Temples Ordinance ( 華人廟宇條例 ) (Cap. 153). It is mainly responsible for the operation and management of twenty-four temples directly under its management. It also handles temple registration. There are 20 additional temples, of which management has been delegated to other organisations. The committee is chaired by the Secretary for Home Affairs . It consists of eight persons, including
232-507: Is a contemporary neologism coined as a sociological category and gives prominence to folk religious sects' central pursuit that is the salvation of the individual and the society, in other words the moral fulfillment of individuals in reconstructed communities of sense. Chinese scholars traditionally describe them as "folk religious sects" ( 民间宗教 mínjiān zōngjiào , 民间教门 mínjiān jiàomén or 民间教派 mínjiān jiàopài ) or "folk beliefs" ( 民间信仰 mínjiān xìnyǎng ). They are distinct from
261-522: Is managed by the Chinese Temples Committee . 22°19′46″N 114°09′45″E / 22.329333°N 114.162494°E / 22.329333; 114.162494 ( Sam Tai Tsz Temple and Pak Tai Temple ) Managed by the Chinese Temples Committee . 22°19′34″N 114°11′07″E / 22.326235°N 114.18516°E / 22.326235; 114.18516 ( Old Sheung Tai Temple, Lomond Road ) Only
290-532: Is worshipped among other places in: Note : A territory-wide grade reassessment of historic buildings is ongoing. The grades listed in the table are based on these updates [1] [2] (8 June 2023). The temples with a "Not listed" status in the table below are not graded and do not appear in the list of historic buildings considered for grading. 22°16′22″N 114°10′26″E / 22.272876°N 114.173823°E / 22.272876; 114.173823 ( Wan Chai Pak Tai Temple ) Managed by
319-591: The Book of Rites . Some scholars even find influences from Manichaeism , Mohism and shamanic traditions . In the Ming and Qing dynasties many folk religious movements were outlawed by the imperial authorities as "evil religions" ( 邪教 xiéjiào ). With the collapse of the Qing state in 1911 the sects enjoyed an unprecedented period of freedom and thrived, and many of them were officially recognised as religious groups by
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#1732771716995348-414: The Chinese Temples Committee . 22°17′02″N 114°14′06″E / 22.283951°N 114.235025°E / 22.283951; 114.235025 ( Coastal temple, A Kung Ngam ) The inscription at the front reads 北帝契爺 . 22°14′50″N 114°09′23″E / 22.247261°N 114.156269°E / 22.247261; 114.156269 ( Pak Tai Temple, Aberdeen ) Part of
377-563: The Chinese Temples Committee . The interior of the temple can be explored with Google Street View . 22°16′03″N 113°59′28″E / 22.267548°N 113.991165°E / 22.267548; 113.991165 ( Pak Tai Temple, Tai Tei Tong ) Chinese salvationist religions Model humanity: Main philosophical traditions: Ritual traditions: Devotional traditions: Salvation churches and sects : Confucian churches and sects: Chinese salvationist religions or Chinese folk religious sects are
406-457: The Chinese folk religion consisting in the worship of gods and ancestors, although in English language there is a terminological confusion between the two. The 20th-century expression for these salvationist religious movements has been "redemptive societies" ( 救世团体 jiùshì tuántǐ ), coined by scholar Prasenjit Duara . A collective name that has been in use possibly since the latter part of
435-484: The early republican government . The founding of the People's Republic in 1949 saw them suppressed once again, although since the 1990s and 2000s the climate was relaxed and some of them have received some form of official recognition. In Taiwan all the still existing restrictions were rescinded in the 1980s. Folk religious movements began to rapidly revive in mainland China in the 1980s, and now if conceptualised as
464-694: The "Guardians of Aberdeen" group of small temples and shrines. 22°13′01″N 114°12′31″E / 22.217011°N 114.208705°E / 22.217011; 114.208705 ( Pak Tai Temple, Stanley ) Built in 1805. Managed by Stanley Kai-fong Welfare Association Ltd. by delegation from the Chinese Temples Committee . 22°12′34″N 114°14′49″E / 22.209398°N 114.246872°E / 22.209398; 114.246872 ( Pak Tai Temple, Hok Tsui Village ) 22°18′41″N 114°11′14″E / 22.31126°N 114.18732°E / 22.31126; 114.18732 ( Pak Tai Temple, Hung Hom ) Built in 1929. It
493-533: The Qing dynasty is huìdàomén ( 会道门 "churches, ways and gates"), as their names interchangeably use the terms huì ( 会 "church, society, association, congregation"; when referring to their corporate form), dào ( 道 "way") or mén ( 门 "gate[way], door"). Their congregations and points of worship are usually called táng ( 堂 "church, hall") or tán ( 坛 "altar"). Western scholars often mistakenly identify them as " Protestant " churches. The Vietnamese religions of Minh Đạo and Caodaism emerged from
522-605: The label "secret sects" ( 秘密教门 mìmì jiàomén ) to distinguish the peasant "secret societies" with a positive dimension of the Yuan, Ming and Qing periods, from the negatively viewed "secret societies" of the early republic that became instruments of anti-revolutionary forces (the Guomindang or Japan ). Many of these religions are traced to the White Lotus tradition ("Chinese Maternism", as mentioned by Philip Clart ) that
551-413: The late Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and moved back to the present site in 1948. 22°18′40″N 114°17′12″E / 22.311012°N 114.286771°E / 22.311012; 114.286771 ( Pak Tai Temple, Clear Water Bay ) 22°12′45″N 114°01′40″E / 22.212382°N 114.027852°E / 22.212382; 114.027852 ( Yuk Hui Temple ) Managed by
580-506: The modern discourse of an Asian -centered universal civilisation. The Chinese folk religious movements of salvation are mostly concentrated in northern and northeastern China, although with a significant influence reaching the Yangtze River Delta since the 16th century. The northern provinces have been a fertile ground for the movements of salvation for a number of reasons: firstly, popular religious movements were active in
609-515: The north, he has been identified and revered frequently as a representation of the supreme God of Heaven . His planet is Mercury . His animal form is the Black Dragon and his stellar animal is the tortoise-snake. A Taoist title of Heidi is the "Dark (or Mysterious) Heavenly Highest Deity" ( 玄天上帝 ; Xuántiān Shàngdì ). According to a myth, during the fall of the Shang, the Demon King ravaged
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#1732771716995638-488: The population of China, which is around 30 million people, claim to be members of folk religious sects. The actual number of followers may be higher, about the same as the number of members of the five state-sanctioned religions of China if counted together. In Taiwan, recognised folk religious movements of salvation gather approximately 10% of the population as of the mid-2000s. Chinese Temples Committee The Chinese Temples Committee ( Chinese : 華人廟宇委員會 )
667-552: The region already in the Han dynasty , and they deeply penetrated local society; secondly, northern provinces are characterised by social mobility around the capital and weak traditional social structure, thus folk religious movements of salvation fulfill the demand of individual searching for new forms of community and social network. According to the Chinese General Social Survey of 2012, approximately 2.2% of
696-494: The same tradition of Chinese folk religious movements. A category overlapping with that of the salvationist movements is that of the "secret societies" ( 秘密社会 mìmì shèhuì , or 秘密结社 mìmì jiéshè ), religious communities of initiatory and secretive character, including rural militias and fraternal organisations which became very popular in the early republican period, and often labeled as " heretical doctrines" ( 宗教异端 zōngjiào yìduān ). Recent scholarship has begun to use
725-441: The stone doorframe of the demolished temple remains. 22°28′36″N 114°00′20″E / 22.476585°N 114.005515°E / 22.476585; 114.005515 ( Yuen Kwan Tai Temple, Mong Tseng Wai ) Dedicated to Yuen Tai/Pak Tai and Kwan Tai . 22°26′54″N 114°01′59″E / 22.448276°N 114.032943°E / 22.448276; 114.032943 ( Yuen Kwan Yi Tai Temple ) It
754-456: The temple is Pak Tai with some others including Hau Wong and the Earth God . 22°30′00″N 114°08′07″E / 22.499995°N 114.135405°E / 22.499995; 114.135405 ( Sam Shing Temple, Fanling ) For the worship of three deities: Pak Tai (main deity of the temple), Kwan Tai , and Man Cheong ( 文昌 ). The temple was moved to So Kwun Po ( 掃管埔 ) in
783-470: The world, so that Yuanshi Tianzun ordered the Jade Emperor to appoint Heidi as the commander of twelve heavenly legions to fight this evil. Heidi defeated the Demon King and was subsequently granted the title of Mysterious Heavenly Highest Deity. In temples dedicated to him, the bronze tortoise and serpent under the feet of his image signify that the good always prevails over evil. In Hong Kong, it
812-459: Was already active in the Song dynasty ; others claim a Taoist legacy and are based on the recovery of ancient scriptures attributed to important immortals such as Lü Dongbin and Zhang Sanfeng , and have contributed to the popularisation of neidan ; other ones are distinctively Confucian and advocate the realisation of a "great commonwealth" ( datong 大同 ) on a world scale, as dreamt of in
841-474: Was probably built in 1714. Commonly known as Pak Tai Temple, it is dedicated to Yuen Tai/Pak Tai and Kwan Tai (Guan Yu). The temple functions as an ancestral hall and a temple of Sai Pin Wai . Village meetings are also held there. 22°25′32″N 114°04′40″E / 22.425563°N 114.077705°E / 22.425563; 114.077705 ( Chung Shing Temple, Yuen Kong Tsuen ) The main deity of
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