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97-483: Shrines are found in many of the world's religions, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese folk religion , Shinto , indigenous Philippine folk religions , and Germanic paganism as well as in secular and non-religious settings such as a war memorial. Shrines can be found in various settings, such as churches, temples, cemeteries, or as household shrines. Portable shrines are also found in some cultures. Many shrines are located within buildings and in

194-445: A rectification of names : distorted names are 'superstitious activities' ( 迷信活動 ) or 'feudal superstition' ( 封建迷信 ), that were derogatorily applied to the indigenous religion by leftist policies. Christian missionaries also used the label 'feudal superstition' as propaganda to undermine what they saw as religious competitition. Han calls for the acknowledgment of the ancient Chinese religion for what it really is,

291-498: A yin-yang emblem is placed among peaceful settings to encourage meditation and study of Taoist texts and principles. Taoists place less emphasis on formalized attendance but include ritualized worship than other Asian religions ; formal temples and structures of worship came about in Taoism with the influence from Buddhism . Frequent features of Taoist shrines include the same features as full temples, often including any or all of

388-546: A church. The term is generally applied to altars situated in bays of the nave , transepts , etc. Side-altars may be recessed in a side-chapel , or simply built against a main aisle wall. Before the liturgical reforms arising from the Second Vatican Council , separate Masses may be celebrated simultaneously by other priests at side-altars, even as there is an ongoing Mass at the high altar. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

485-609: A deified virtuous person ( xiān Chinese : 仙 , "immortal"). Some cults such as that of Liu Zhang, a king in what is today Shandong , date back to this period. From the 3rd century on by the Northern Wei , accompanying the spread of Buddhism in China, strong influences from the Indian subcontinent penetrated the ancient Chinese indigenous religion. A cult of Ganesha ( Chinese : 象頭神 Xiàngtóushén , "Elephant-Head God")

582-515: A deity was placed and offered prayers, instead of visits to a temple. Among Tamil Hindu homes, according to Pintchman, a shrine in Kitchen is more common. If the family is wealthy, it may locate the household shrine in a separate room. The line between a temple and a shrine in Taoism is not fully defined; shrines are usually smaller versions of larger Taoist temples or small places in a home where

679-563: A direct influence on things, making phenomena appear and things grow or extend themselves. An early Chinese dictionary, the Shuowen Jiezi by Xu Shen , explains that they "are the spirits of Heaven" and they "draw out the ten thousand things". As forces of growth the gods are regarded as yang , opposed to a yin class of entities called gui ( 鬼 ; guǐ ; cognate of 歸 ; guī 'return', 'contraction'), chaotic beings. A disciple of Zhu Xi noted that "between Heaven and Earth there

776-681: A few changed into schools". During the Japanese invasion of China between 1937 and 1945 many temples were used as barracks by soldiers and destroyed in warfare. In the 19th century in the Guangdong region, monotheism , likely of a henotheistic and/or monolatrous character in at least some contexts and locations, was well-known and popular in Chinese folk religion. In the past, popular cults were regulated by imperial government policies, promoting certain deities while suppressing others. In

873-600: A local diocesan bishop or archbishop can designate a local (arch)diocesan shrine. For a shrine to be a national shrine , the approval of the country's Episcopal Conference is required. Similarly, the approval of the Holy See at the Vatican in Rome is required for it to be "international. The Roman Catholic 1983 Code of Canon Law , canons 1230 and 1231 read: "The term shrine means a church or other sacred place which, with

970-449: A niche or grotto ; this type is colloquially referred to as a bathtub madonna . Religious images, usually in some sort of small shelter, placed by a road or pathway, sometimes in a settlement or at a crossroads. Shrines are found in many religions. As distinguished from a temple , a shrine usually houses a particular relic or cult image , which is the object of worship or veneration . A shrine may also be constructed to set apart

1067-681: A popular destination for pious visitation is the Zaouia Moulay Idriss II . The area around Timbuktu in Mali also has many historic Sufi shrines which were destroyed by Islamist in recent years. Many of these have since been rebuilt. A saint's tomb is a site of great veneration where blessings or baraka continue to reach the deceased holy person and are deemed (by some) to benefit visiting devotees and pilgrims according to Sufi beliefs. In order to show reverence to Sufi saints, kings, and nobles provided large donations or waqf to preserve

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1164-454: A range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese , including the Chinese diaspora . This includes the veneration of shen ('spirits') and ancestors , and worship devoted to deities and immortals , who can be deities of places or natural phenomena, of human behaviour, or progenitors of family lineages . Stories surrounding these gods form a loose canon of Chinese mythology . By

1261-552: A religion focused on gods of nature , Tian became a more abstract and impersonal idea of God. A popular representation is the Jade Deity ( Chinese : 玉帝 Yùdì ) or Jade Emperor ( Chinese : 玉皇 Yùhuáng ) originally formulated by Taoists. According to classical theology he manifests in five primary forms ( Chinese : 五方上帝 Wǔfāng Shàngdì , "Five Forms of the Highest Deity"). The qi Chinese : 气

1358-430: A shrine can commonly be found within the home or shop. This shrine is usually a small structure or a setup of pictures and figurines dedicated to a deity that is part of the official religion, to ancestors or to a localised household deity . Small outdoor yard shrines are found at the bottom of many peoples' gardens, following various religions, including historically, Balinese Hinduism , Christianity . Many consist of

1455-603: A similar way to shrines by parishioners. Side altars are specifically dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, to her husband Saint Joseph , or to other saints. A nativity scene could also be viewed as a shrine, as the definition of a shrine is any holy or sacred place. Islam's holiest structure, the Kaaba (within the Al-Haram Mosque ) in the city of Mecca , though an ancient temple (in

1552-488: A site which is thought to be particularly holy, as opposed to being placed for the convenience of worshipers. Shrines therefore attract the practice of pilgrimage . Shrines are found in many forms of Christianity, but not all. Catholicism , the largest denomination of Christianity, has many shrines, as do Orthodox Christianity , Anglicanism and some forms of Lutheranism . In the Roman Catholic Church,

1649-468: A spiritual world between heaven and earth and beseeched the gods of heaven and earth to influence the world to benefit their family. By the Han dynasty , the ancient Chinese religion mostly consisted of people organising into shè ( Chinese : 社 ["group", "body", local community altars]) who worshipped their godly principle. In many cases the "lord of the she " was the god of the earth, and in others

1746-481: A state religion), and all the various stages of the Taoist religion." Contemporary Chinese scholars have identified what they consider the essential features of the Chinese indigenous religion : according to Chen Xiaoyi ( 陳曉毅 ) local indigenous religion is the crucial factor for a harmonious 'religious ecology' ( 宗教生態 ), that is the balance of forces in a given community. Han Bingfang ( 韓秉芳 ) has called for

1843-513: A statue of Christ , Virgin Mary or a saint , on a pedestal or in an alcove, while others may be elaborate booths without ceilings, some include paintings, statuary, and architectural elements, such as walls, roofs, glass doors and ironwork fences. In the United States, some Christians have small yard shrines; some of these resemble side altars, since they are composed of a statue placed in

1940-402: A system of meaning, or have brought further development in C. K. Yang's distinction between "institutional religion" and "diffused religion", the former functioning as a separate body from other social institutions, and the latter intimately part of secular social institutions. In the beginning of Chinese civilization, "[t]he most honored members of the family were...the ancestors", who lived in

2037-550: Is Buddhism which came to China probably before the Christian era but which began to exert nation-wide influence only after the third century A.D. The other great religion has had no generic name, but I propose to call it Siniticism. It is the native ancient religion of the Han Chinese people: it dates back to time immemorial, over 10,000 years old, and includes all such later phases of its development as Moism, Confucianism (as

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2134-493: Is a common core that can be summarised as four theological, cosmological, and moral concepts: Tian , the transcendent source of moral meaning; qi , the breath or energy that animates the universe; ancestor veneration ; and bao ying 'moral reciprocity'. With these, there are two traditional concepts of fate and meaning: ming yun , the personal destiny or burgeoning; and yuanfen 'fateful coincidence ', good and bad chances and potential relationships. Yin and yang

2231-451: Is a matter of consensus." Similarly, Ibn Qudamah (d. 620 AH) considered ziyāra of Muhammad to be recommended and also seeking intercession directly from Muhammad at his grave. The tombs of other Muslim religious figures are also respected. The son of Ahmad ibn Hanbal , one of the primary jurists of Sunnism, reportedly stated that he would prefer to be buried near the mausoleum of a saintly person than his own father. While in some parts of

2328-507: Is a seldom used term taken by scholars in colonial Taiwan from Japanese during Japan's occupation (1895–1945). It was used between the 1990s and the early 21st century among mainland Chinese scholars. Shendao ( 神道 ; shéndào ; 'the Way of the Gods';) is a term already used in the I Ching referring to the divine order of nature. Around the time of the spread of Buddhism during

2425-678: Is attested in the year 531. Pollination from Indian religions included processions of carts with images of gods or floats borne on shoulders, with musicians and chanting. The ancient Chinese religion was subject to persecution in the 19th and 20th centuries. Many ancient temples were destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion and the Boxer Rebellion in the late 1800s. After the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 "most temples were turned to other uses or were destroyed, with

2522-477: Is bound to local communities, kinship, and environments. In each setting, institution and ritual behaviour assumes highly organised forms. Temples and the gods in them acquire symbolic character and perform specific functions involved in the everyday life of the local community. Local religion preserves aspects of naturalistic beliefs such as totemism , animism , and shamanism . Ancient Chinese religion pervades all aspects of social life. Many scholars, following

2619-608: Is focused on Lord Buddha or one of the bodhisattvas or arahants . Monks, nuns and laity will pay homage with the aide of Buddhist iconography at these shrines which are also used for Buddhist meditation . Typically, Buddhist shrines contain a statue of either Gautama Buddha, or (in the Mahayana and Vajrayana forms of Buddhism), one of the various Buddhas or bodhisattvas. They also commonly contain candles, along with offerings such as flowers, purified water, food, and incense. Many shrines also contain sacred relics , such as

2716-464: Is no thing that does not consist of yin and yang, and there is no place where yin and yang are not found. Therefore, there is no place where gods and spirits do not exist". The dragon is a symbol of yang, the principle of generation. In Taoist and Confucian thought, the supreme God and its order and the multiplicity of shen are identified as one and the same. In the Ten Wings , a commentary to

2813-595: Is one of the ugliest positions that has been reported of Ibn Taymiyya". The Hanafi hadith scholar Ali al-Qari stated that, "Amongst the Hanbalis, Ibn Taymiyya has gone to an extreme by prohibiting travelling to visit the Prophet – may God bless him and grant him peace" Qastallani stated that "The Shaykh Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya has abominable and odd statements on this issue to the effect that travelling to visit

2910-404: Is the breath or substance of which all things are made, including inanimate matter, the living beings, thought and gods. It is the continuum energy—matter. Stephen F. Teiser (1996) translates it as "stuff" of "psychophysical stuff". Neo-Confucian thinkers such as Zhu Xi developed the idea of li Chinese : 理 , the "reason", "order" of Heaven, that is to say the pattern through which

3007-488: Is the medium of the two states and the inchoate order of creation. The Chinese language historically has not had a concept or overarching term for "religion". In English, the terms 'popular religion' or 'folk religion' have long been used to mean local religious life. In Chinese academic literature and common usage 'folk religion' ( 民間宗教 ; mínjiān zōngjiào ) refers to specific organised folk religious sects . Contemporary academic study of traditional cults and

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3104-431: Is the polarity that describes the order of the universe, held in balance by the interaction of principles of extension ( 神 ; shén ; 'spirit') and returning ( 鬼 ; guǐ ; 'ghost'), with yang ('act') usually preferred over yin ('receptiveness') in common religion. The taijitu and bagua are common diagrams representing the forces of nature, and the power that deities like Zhong Kui wield. Ling

3201-490: Is the qi in its dense, dark, sinking, wet, condensing mode; yang denotes the light, and the bright, rising, dry, expanding modality. Described as Taiji (the 'Great Pole'), they represent the polarity and complementarity that enlivens the cosmos . They can also be conceived as 'disorder' and 'order', 'activity' or 'passivity', with action (yang) usually preferred over receptiveness (yin). The concept of shen ( 神 ; shén ; cognate of 申 ; shēn 'extending', 'expanding' )

3298-504: Is therefore both transcendent and immanent . Tian is defined in many ways, with many names, the most widely known being Tàidì Chinese : 太帝 (the "Great Deity") and Shàngdì Chinese : 上帝 (the "Primordial Deity"). The concept of Shangdi is especially rooted in the tradition of the Shang dynasty , which gave prominence to the worship of ancestral gods and cultural heroes . The "Primordial Deity" or "Primordial Emperor"

3395-1195: Is to visit or make pilgrimages to the tombs of saints, renowned scholars, and righteous people. This is a particularly common practice in the Indian subcontinent , where famous tombs include of saints such as Sayyid Ali Hamadani in Kulob , Tajikistan; Afāq Khoja , near Kashgar , China; Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sindh ; Ali Hujwiri in Lahore , Pakistan; Bahauddin Zakariya in Multan Pakistan; Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer , India; Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi , India; and Shah Jalal in Sylhet , Bangladesh. Likewise, in Fez , Morocco,

3492-472: Is translated as 'gods' or 'spirits'. There are shen of nature; gods who were once people, such as the warrior Guan Yu ; household gods, such as the Stove God ; as well as ancestral gods ( zu or zuxian ). In the domain of humanity the shen is the psyche, or the power or agency within humans. They are intimately involved in the life of this world. As spirits of stars, mountains and streams, shen exert

3589-540: Is usually placed in the main shrine. Confucian shrines exist outside of China too, mainly in Japan, Korea and Vietnam. There are also quite a number of Confucian shrines in Taiwan like Tainan Confucian Temple and Taipei Confucius Temple , they are well-maintained by the government. However, many Taoist temples dedicated a shrine for the worship of Confucius or Wen Chang Di Jun (God of Literature). In some countries around

3686-719: The Mozi ( Mohism ), the Huainanzi , the Shizi and the Xunzi . The " Interactions Between Heaven and Mankind " ( Chinese : 《天人感應》 ; pinyin : tiānrén gǎnyìng ) is a set of Confucianised doctrines compiled in the Han dynasty by Dong Zhongshu , discussing politics in accordance with a personal Tian of whom mankind is viewed as the incarnation. Taoism has a separate body of philosophical, theological and ritual literature, including

3783-661: The Taiyi Shengshui ( Chinese : 《太一生水》 ; lit. 'The Great One Gives Birth to Water'). Another book attributed to the Yellow Emperor is the Huangdi yinfujing ( Chinese : 《黃帝陰符經》 ; lit. 'Yellow Emperor's Book of the Hidden Symbol';). Classical books of mythology include the " Classic of Mountains and Seas " ( Chinese : 《山海經》 ; pinyin : shānhǎijīng ),

3880-742: The Al-Askari Shrine , and Imam Hussein Shrine . Other Shia shrines are located in the eponymous cities of Mazar-e Sharif ("The Noble Mausoleum ") in Afghanistan , and Mashhad ( al-Rida ) (" Martyrium [of Ali Rida ]") in Iran. The Mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran houses the tombs of Ruhollah Khomenei , the leader of Iran's 1978–79 revolution , his wife , and a few other related people. In popular Sufism , one common practice

3977-525: The American West Coast alone. In 1904, a reform policy of the late Qing dynasty provided that schools would be built through the confiscation of temple property. "Anti-superstition" campaigns followed. The Nationalist government of the Republic of China intensified the suppression of the ancient Chinese religion with the 1928 "Standards for retaining or abolishing gods and shrines";

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4074-733: The Chairman Mao period in the PRC, was the most serious and last systematic effort to destroy the ancient Chinese religion, while in Taiwan the ancient Chinese religion was very well-preserved but controlled by Republic of China (Taiwan) president Chiang Kai-Shek during his Chinese Cultural Renaissance to counter the Cultural Revolution. After 1978 the ancient Chinese religion started to rapidly revive in China, with millions of temples being rebuilt or built from scratch. Since

4171-498: The Disciples of Confucius . These temples are known as "Temples of Confucius" (孔廟) or "Temples of Literature" (文廟). Unlike Taoist temples, Confucian temples usually do not installed the images of Confucius but the tablets. It is argued that the temple was to honour Confucius's teachings, not Confucius himself. The temples consist of gardens and then a large pavilion where incense is burnt. The tablet or sometime an image of Confucius

4268-804: The Dome of the Rock and the smaller Dome of the Chain built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem . The former was built over the rock that marked the site of the Jewish Temple and according to Islamic tradition, was the point of departure of Muhammad's legendary ascent heavenwards ( al-Mi'raj ). More than any other shrines in the Muslim world, the tomb of Muhammad is considered a source of blessings for

4365-467: The Dragon King , Pangu or Caishen . Feng shui , acupuncture , and traditional Chinese medicine reflect this world view, since features of the landscape as well as organs of the body are in correlation with the five powers and yin and yang . Chinese religions have a variety of sources, local forms, founder backgrounds, and ritual and philosophical traditions. Despite this diversity, there

4462-461: The Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE), it was used to distinguish the indigenous ancient religion from the imported religion. Ge Hong used it in his Baopuzi as a synonym for Taoism . The term was subsequently adopted in Japan in the 6th century as Shindo , later Shinto , with the same purpose of identification of the Japanese indigenous religion. In the 14th century,

4559-527: The Hongwu Emperor (Taizu of the Ming dynasty , 1328–1398) used the term "Shendao" clearly identifying the indigenous cults, which he strengthened and systematised. "Chinese Universism"—not in the sense of " universalism " as in "a system of universal application", as that is Tian in Chinese thought—is a coinage of Jan Jakob Maria de Groot that refers to the metaphysical perspective that lies behind

4656-520: The I Ching , it is written that "one yin and one yang are called the Tao ... the unfathomable change of yin and yang is called shen ". In other texts, with a tradition going back to the Han dynasty , the gods and spirits are explained to be names of yin and yang, forces of contraction and forces of growth. While in popular thought they have conscience and personality, Neo-Confucian scholars tended to rationalise them. Zhu Xi wrote that they act according to

4753-468: The Second Vatican Council they contained small side altars or bye-altars. Shrines are always centered on some image (for instance, a statue, painting, mural or mosaic) of Jesus Christ , of Mary, mother of Jesus , or of a saint, and may have had a reredos behind them. Today, Mass would not necessarily be celebrated at them. They are simply used to aid or give a visual focus for prayers. Side altars, where Mass could actually be celebrated, were used in

4850-690: The Song dynasty (960–1279), these practices had been blended with Buddhist , Confucian , and Taoist teachings to form the popular religious system which has lasted in many ways until the present day. The government of China generally tolerates popular religious organizations, but has suppressed or persecuted those that they fear would undermine social stability. After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, governments and modernizing elites condemned 'feudal superstition' and opposed traditional religious practices which they believed conflicted with modern values. By

4947-639: The Wahhabi and Salafi movements, which believe that shrines over graves encourage idolatry / polytheism ( shirk ) and that there is a risk of worshipping other than God (the dead). The founder of the Wahhabi movement, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab derived the prohibition to build mosques over graves from a hadith attributed to the Muhammad in which he said "May God curse the Jews and Christians who make

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5044-401: The li . Zhang Zai wrote that they are "the inherent potential ( liang neng ) of the two ways of qi". Cheng Yi said that they are "traces of the creative process". Chen Chun wrote that shen and gui are expansions and contractions, going and coming, of yin and yang—qi. Side altar A side-altar or bye-altar is an altar that is subordinate to the central or high altar in

5141-475: The qi develops, that is the polarity of yin and yang . In Taoism the Tao Chinese : 道 ("Way") denotes in one concept both the impersonal absolute Tian and its order of manifestation ( li ). Yin ( 陰 ; yīn ) and yang ( 陽 ; yáng ), whose root meanings respectively are 'shady' and 'sunny', or 'dark' and 'light', are modes of manifestation of the qi, not material things in themselves. Yin

5238-415: The source of moral meaning; qi ( Chinese : 氣 ), the breath or substance of which all things are made; the practice of jingzu ( Chinese : 敬祖 ), the veneration of ancestors; bao ying ( Chinese : 報應 ), moral reciprocity. Confucians, Taoists, and other schools of thought share basic concepts of Tian . Tian is both the physical heavens, the home of the sun, moon, and stars, and also

5335-470: The " Guodian texts " in the 1990s and the Huangdi sijing ( Chinese : 《黃帝四經》 ; lit. 'Four Books of the Yellow Emperor';) in the 1970s, has given rise to new interpretations of the ancient Chinese religion and new directions in its post-Maoist renewal. Many of these books overcome the dichotomy between Confucian and Taoist traditions. The Guodian texts include, among others,

5432-587: The " Record of Heretofore Lost Works " ( Chinese : 《拾遺記 ; pinyin : shíyíjì ), " The Peach Blossom Spring " ( Chinese : 《桃花源記》 ; pinyin : táohuāyuánjì ), the " Investiture of the Gods " ( Chinese : 《封神演義》 ; pinyin : fēngshén yǎnyì ), and the " Journey to the West " ( Chinese : 《西遊記》 ; pinyin : xīyóujì ) among others. Fan and Chen summarise four spiritual, cosmological, and moral concepts: Tian ( Chinese : 天 ), Heaven,

5529-533: The 'core and soul of popular culture' ( 俗文化的核心與靈魂 ). According to Chen Jinguo ( 陳進國 ), the ancient Chinese religion is a core element of Chinese 'cultural and religious self-awareness' ( 文化自覺，信仰自覺 ). He has proposed a theoretical definition of Chinese indigenous religion in a 'trinity' ( 三位一體 ), apparently inspired to Tang Chun-i 's thought: Ancient Chinese religious practices are diverse, varying from province to province and even from one village to another, for religious behaviour

5626-465: The 1980s the central government moved to a policy of benign neglect or wu wei ( Chinese : 無為 ) in regard to rural community life, and the local government's new regulatory relationship with local society is characterised by practical mutual dependence; these factors have given much space for popular religion to develop. In recent years, in some cases, local governments have taken an even positive and supportive attitude towards indigenous religion in

5723-518: The 20th century, with the decline of the Qing dynasty, increasing urbanisation and Western influence, the issue for the new intellectuals who looked to the West was no longer controlling unauthorised worship of unregistered gods but the ancient Chinese religion itself, which they perceived as an issue halting modernisation. By 1899, 400 syncretic temples that combined folk religion elements and gods with Buddhist, Taoist, and/or Confucianist gods existed on

5820-519: The Chinese religious tradition. De Groot calls Chinese Universism "the ancient metaphysical view that serves as the basis of all classical Chinese thought. ... In Universism, the three components of integrated universe—understood epistemologically, 'heaven, earth and man', and understood ontologically, ' Taiji (the great beginning, the highest ultimate), yin and yang'—are formed". In 1931, Hu Shih argued that: "Two great religions have played tremendously important roles throughout Chinese history. One

5917-624: The Kaaba in Islamic tradition. The Green Dome sepulcher of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (where his burial chamber also contains the tombs of his friend Abu Bakr and close companion Umar ) in Medina , housed in the Masjid an-Nabawi ("The Mosque of the Prophet"), occurs as a greatly venerated place and important as a site of pilgrimage among Muslims. Two of the oldest and notable Islamic shrines are

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6014-416: The Muslim world the mausoleums of the tombs are seen as simply places of ziyāra of a religious figure's gravesite ( Mazār / Maqbara ), in others (such as the Indian subcontinent ) they are treated as proper shrines ( Dargah ). Many modern Islamic reformers oppose the building (and sometimes the visitation of ) tomb shrines, viewing it as a deviation from true Islam. This mainly includes followers of

6111-685: The Philippines. They were either small roof-less platforms or standing poles split at the tip (similar to a tiki torch ). They held halved coconut shells, metal plates, or martaban jars as receptacles for offerings. Taotao may sometimes also be placed on these platforms. Other types of sacred places or objects of worship of diwata include the material manifestation of their realms. The most widely venerated were balete trees (also called nonok , nunuk , nonoc , etc.) and anthills or termite mounds ( punso ). Other examples include mountains, waterfalls, tree groves, reefs, and caves. In Germanic paganism , types of shrines were employed, but terms for

6208-428: The Prophet is prohibited and is not a pious deed." Shias have several mazars dedicated to various religious figures important in their history, and several elaborate shrines ( Marqad / Maqam ) are dedicated to Shia religious figures, most notably in Iraq (such as in the cities of Karbala , Najaf , Samarra ) and in Iran (such as in the cities of Qom and Mashad ). Specific examples of Shia shrines include

6305-506: The aforementioned question to find an appropriate "name" for the ancient Chinese religion, is the difficulty to define it or clearly outline its boundaries. Old sinology , especially Western, tried to distinguish "popular" and "élite" traditions (the latter being Confucianism and Taoism conceived as independent systems). Chinese sinology later adopted another dichotomy which continues in contemporary studies, distinguishing "folk beliefs" ( minjian xinyang ) and "folk religion" ( minjian zongjiao ),

6402-517: The approval of the local Ordinary, is by reason of special devotion frequented by the faithful as pilgrims. For a shrine to be described as national, the approval of the Episcopal Conference is necessary. For it to be described as international, the approval of the Holy See is required." In unofficial, colloquial Catholic use, the term "shrine" is a niche or alcove in churches, especially larger ones, used by parishioners when praying privately. They were formerly also called devotional altars , since before

6499-422: The context known to foreign cultures. However, they do have sacred shrines , which are also called as spirit houses . They can range in size from small roofed platforms, to structures similar to a small house (but with no walls), to shrines that look similar to pagodas, especially in the south where early mosques were also modeled in the same way. These shrines were known in various indigenous terms, which depend on

6596-479: The creation of a government agency that gave legal status to this religion have created proposals to formalise names and deal more clearly with folk religious sects and help conceptualise research and administration. Terms that have been proposed include 'Chinese native religion' ( 民俗宗教 ; mínsú zōngjiào ), 'Chinese ethnic religion' ( 民族宗教 ; mínzú zōngjiào ), or 'Chinese religion' ( 中華教 ; zhōnghuájiào ) viewed as comparable to

6693-459: The ethnic group association. They can also be used as places to store taotao and caskets of ancestors. Among Bicolanos, taotao were also kept inside sacred caves called moog . During certain ceremonies, anito are venerated through temporary altars near sacred places. These were called latangan or lantayan in Visayan and dambana or lambana in Tagalog. These bamboo or rattan altars are identical in basic construction throughout most of

6790-449: The famous sacred tooth of Lord Buddha installed at a shrine in Sri Lanka . Site-specific shrines in Buddhism, particularly those that contain relics of past Buddhas and revered enlightened monks, are often designed in the traditional form known as the Stupa or Cetiya . Ancient Filipinos, and Filipinos today who continue to adhere to the indigenous Philippine folk religions generally do not have so-called "temples" of worship under

6887-453: The following features: gardens , running water or fountains, small burning braziers or candles (with or without incense ), and copies of Taoist texts such as the Tao Te Ching , Zhuangzi or other texts by Lao Tzu , Chuang Tzu or other Taoist sages. A number of Confucian temples and shrines exist across the sinophone world, it is a temple for the veneration of Confucius , great sages , eminent philosophers of Confucianism and also

6984-733: The fundamental Daodejing ( Chinese : 《道德經》 ; lit. 'Book of the Way and its Virtue'), the Daozang (Taoist Canon), the Liezi and the Zhuangzi , and a great number of other texts either included or not within the Taoist Canon. Vernacular literature and the folk religious sects have produced a great body of popular mythological and theological literature, the baojuan ( Chinese : 寶卷 ; lit. 'precious scrolls'). Recent discovery of ancient books, such as

7081-413: The graves of their prophets into places of worship; do not imitate them." Additionally, he commanded leveling of the graves ( taswiyat al-qubur ), which the scholar Imam Al-Shafi'i supported. The Wahhabi movement was heavily influenced by the works of the medieval Hanbali theologian Ibn Taymiyyah who was considered by them to be the "ultimate authority on a great number of issues". One of these issues

7178-644: The hall is commonly described as "enshrinement". By extension the term shrine has come to mean any place dedicated completely to a particular person or subject such as the Shrine of the Sun in Colorado Springs, Colorado . Chinese folk religion Model humanity: Main philosophical traditions: Ritual traditions: Devotional traditions: Salvation churches and sects : Confucian churches and sects: Chinese folk religion comprises

7275-485: The home of the gods and ancestors. Tian by extension is source of moral meaning, as seen in the political principle, the Mandate of Heaven , which holds that Tian , responding to human virtue, grants the imperial family the right to rule and withdraws it when the dynasty declines in virtue. This creativity or virtue ( de ) in humans is the potentiality to transcend the given conditions and act wisely and morally. Tian

7372-576: The late Qing dynasty , scholars Yao Wendong and Chen Jialin used the term shenjiao not referring to Shinto as a definite religious system, but to local shin beliefs in Japan. Other terms are 'folk cults' ( 民間崇拜 ; mínjiān chóngbài ), 'spontaneous religion' ( 自發宗教 ; zìfā zōngjiào ), 'lived religion' ( 生活宗教 ; shēnghuó zōngjiào ), 'local religion' ( 地方宗教 ; dìfāng zōngjiào ), and 'diffused religion' ( 分散性宗教 ; fēnsàn xìng zōngjiào ). 'Folk beliefs' ( 民間信仰 ; mínjiān xìnyǎng ),

7469-583: The late 20th century, these attitudes began to change in both mainland China and Taiwan, and many scholars now view folk religion in a positive light. In recent times traditional religion is experiencing a revival in both China and Taiwan. Some forms have received official understanding or recognition as a preservation of traditional culture, such as Mazuism and the Sanyi teaching in Fujian , Yellow Emperor worship, and other forms of local worship, such as that of

7566-454: The latter referring to the doctrinal sects. Many studies have pointed out that it is impossible to draw clear distinctions, and, since the 1970s, several sinologists swung to the idea of a unified "ancient Chinese religion" that would define the Chinese national identity, similarly to Hindu Dharma for India and Shinto for Japan . Other sinologists who have not espoused the idea of a unified "national religion" have studied Chinese religion as

7663-410: The lead of sociologist C. K. Yang , see the ancient Chinese religion deeply embedded in family and civic life, rather than expressed in a separate organizational structure like a "church", as in the West. Deity or temple associations and lineage associations , pilgrimage associations and formalized prayers, rituals and expressions of virtues, are the common forms of organization of Chinese religion on

7760-497: The limitations of written texts were acknowledged particularly in Taoism and folk religion. There are the classic books ( Chinese : 經 ; pinyin : jīng ; lit. ' warp ') such as the Confucian canon including the " Four Books and Five Classics " ( Chinese : 《四書五經》 ; pinyin : sìshū wǔjīng ) and the " Classic of Filial Piety " ( Chinese : 《孝經》 ; pinyin : xiàojīng ), then there are

7857-453: The local level. Neither initiation rituals nor official membership into a church organization separate from one person's native identity are mandatory in order to be involved in religious activities. Contrary to institutional religions, Chinese religion does not require "conversion" for participation. The prime criterion for participation in the ancient Chinese religion is not "to believe" in an official doctrine or dogma , but "to belong" to

7954-426: The local unit of an ancient Chinese religion, that is the "association", the "village" or the "kinship", with their gods and rituals. Sociologist Richard Madsen describes the ancient Chinese religion, adopting the definition of Tu Weiming , as characterized by "immanent transcendence" grounded in a devotion to "concrete humanity", focused on building moral community within concrete humanity. Inextricably linked to

8051-421: The name of promoting cultural heritage. Instead of signaling the demise of traditional ancient religion, China and Taiwan 's economic and technological industrialization and development has brought a spiritual renewal. Ancient Chinese religion draws from a vast heritage of sacred books, which according to the general worldview treat cosmology , history and mythology, mysticism and philosophy, as aspects of

8148-651: The policy attempted to abolish the cults of all gods with the exception of ancient great human heroes and sages such as the Yellow Emperor , Yu the Great , Guan Yu , Sun Tzu , Mazu , Xuanzang , Kūkai , Buddha , Budai , Bodhidharma , Lao Tzu , and Confucius . These policies were the background for those implemented by Communist Party after winning the Chinese Civil War and taking power in 1949. The Cultural Revolution , between 1966 and 1976 of

8245-487: The practice of ziyāra to Muhammad's tomb. The hadith scholar Qadi Ayyad (d. 554 AH) stated that visiting Muhammad was "a Sunna of the Muslims on which there was consensus, and a good and desirable deed." Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 852 AH) explicitly stated that travelling to visit the tomb of Muhammad was "one of the best of actions and the noblest of pious deeds with which one draws near to God, and its legitimacy

8342-559: The resting places for the respective remains of the two central figures of the Baháʼí Faith, the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh . They are the focal points of a Baháʼí pilgrimage : Other sites have been designated as Baháʼí Shrines, the most notable being the home of William Sutherland Maxwell and May Maxwell in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In Buddhism , a shrine refers to a place where veneration

8439-413: The same thing. Historically, the revolutionary shift toward a preference for textual transmission and text-based knowledge over long-standing oral traditions first becomes detectable in the 1st century CE. The spoken word, however, never lost its power. Rather than writing replacing the power of the spoken word, both existed side by side. Scriptures had to be recited and heard in order to be efficacious, and

8536-573: The sense of a "house of God"), may be seen as a shrine due to it housing a respected relic called the Hajar al-Aswad and also being the partial focus of the world's largest pilgrimage practice, the Hajj . A few yards away, the mosque also houses the Maqam Ibrahim (" Abraham 's station") shrine containing a petrosomatoglyph (of feet) associated with the patriarch and his son Ishmael 's building of

8633-399: The shrines show some level of ambiguity: In Hinduism , a shrine is a place where gods or goddesses are worshipped. Shrines are typically located inside a Hindu temple of various forms. Most Hindu families have a household shrine as well. For example, according to memoirs of Stephen Huyler of his visits to some Hindu homes, a part of home was dedicated to the household shrine. Here, image of

8730-693: The temples designed specifically for worship, such as a church in Christianity, or a mandir in Hinduism. A shrine here is usually the center of attention in the building and is given a place of prominence. In such cases, adherents of the faith assemble within the building in order to venerate the deity at the shrine. In classical temple architecture, the shrine may be synonymous with the cella . Historically, in Hinduism , Buddhism and Roman Catholicism , and also in modern faiths, such as Neopaganism ,

8827-414: The term 神教 ( shénjiào ; 'shenism'). Tan however, comments that is not the way the Chinese refer to their religion, which in any case includes worship of ancestors, not shen , and suggests it is logical to use "Chinese Religion". Shenxianism 神仙教 ( shénxiān jiào ), literally 'religion of deities and immortals ', is a term partly inspired by Elliott's "shenism" neologism. During

8924-469: The tombs and renovate them architecturally. Over time, these donation, rituals, annual commemorations formed into an elaborate system of accepted norms. These forms of Sufi practise created an aura of spiritual and religious traditions around prescribed dates. Many orthodox or Islamic purists denounce these visiting grave rituals, especially the expectation of receiving blessings from the venerated saints. The two most well-known Baháʼí Faith shrines serve as

9021-451: The usage of the term " Hinduism " for Indian religion. In Malaysia , reports the scholar Tan Chee-Beng, Chinese do not have a definite term for their traditional religion, which is not surprising because "the religion is diffused into various aspects of Chinese culture". They refer to their religion as 'Buddha worship' ( 拜佛 ; bàifó ) or 'spirit worship' ( 拜神 ; bàishén ), which prompted Alan J. A. Elliott to suggest

9118-441: The visitor. Among sayings attributed to Muhammad include one stated as: "He who visits my grave will be entitled to my intercession." Visiting Muhammad's tomb after the pilgrimage is considered by the majority of Sunni legal scholars to be recommended. The early scholars of the salaf , Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH), Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh (d. 238 SH), Abdullah ibn Mubarak (d. 189 AH) and Imam Shafi'i (d. 204 AH) all permitted

9215-444: The world, landmarks may be called "historic shrines." Notable shrines of this type include: Halls of fame also serve as shrines into which single or multiple individuals are inducted on the basis of their influence upon regions, cultures or disciplines. Busts or full-body statues are often erected and placed alongside each other in commemoration. This includes Halls of Fame that honor sports athletes, where an athlete's entrance to

9312-461: Was considered to be embodied in the human realm as the lineage of imperial power. Di ( Chinese : 帝 ) is a term meaning "deity" or "emperor" ( Latin : imperator , verb im-perare ; "making from within"), used either as a name of the primordial god or as a title of natural gods, describing a principle that exerts a fatherly dominance over what it produces. With the Zhou dynasty , which preferred

9409-480: Was the position on the visitation of Muhammad's tomb. According to Ibn Taymiyyah all the ahadith encouraging the visitation of the tomb are fabricated ( mawdu‘ ), are not contained in the six main collections of hadith or Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal , and violate tawhid al-uluhiya . This view of Ibn Taymiyyah was rejected by some mainstream Sunni scholars both during his life and after his death. The Shafi'i hadith master Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani stated that "This

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