A City God,is a tutelary deity in Chinese folk religion who is believed to protect the people and the affairs of the particular village,town or city of great dimension,and the corresponding location in the afterlife. City God cults appeared over two millennia ago,and originally involved worship of a protective deity of a town's walls and moats. Later,the term came to be applied to deified leaders from the town,who serve in authority over the souls of the deceased from that town,and intervene in the affairs of the living,in conjunction with other officials of the hierarchy of divine beings. City Gods are considered above tudigongs,which themselves are above landlord deities.
A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home,looking after the entire household or certain key members. It has been a common belief in paganism as well as in folklore across many parts of the world.
Taoism in Singapore is the religion of about 8.8% of the country's entire population as per the 2020 census. The definition of "Taoism" in the country is included as part of the wider Chinese folk religion. In general,nearly all adherents of Taoism in Singapore are associated with the mainstream Zhengyi school. Larger proportion of older residents adhere to Taoism,as compared with those in younger age groups.
Chinese folk religion comprises 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 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.
Kusu Island is one of the Southern Islands in Singapore,located about 5.6 kilometres to the south of the main island of Singapore and below the Singapore Straits. "Kusu" means "Tortoise Island" or "Turtle Island" in Hokkien;the island is also known as Peak Island or Pulau Tembakul in Malay.
A spirit house is a shrine to the protective spirit of a place that is found in the Southeast Asian countries of Burma,Cambodia,Laos,Thailand,Malaysia,Indonesia,Vietnam and the Philippines. They are normally in the form of small roofed structure mounted on a pillar or a dais,and can range in size from small platforms to houses large enough for people to enter. Spirit houses are intended to provide a shelter for spirits that could cause problems for the people if not appeased. They often include images or carved statues of people and animals. Votive offerings are left at them to propitiate the spirits;more elaborate installations include an altar for this purpose.
A Tudigong is a kind of Chinese tutelary deity of a specific location. There are several Tudigongs corresponding to different geographical locations and sometimes multiple ones will be venerated together in certain regions.
Phra Phrom is the Thai representation of the Hindu creator god Brahma. In modern Thailand,Phra Phrom is often worshipped outside of Hindu contexts by regular Buddhists,and,like many other Hindu deities,has usually come to represent guardian spirits in Thai animist beliefs,which coexist alongside Buddhist practices. He is regarded as the deity of good fortune and protection. The concept of Brahma is also represented in Buddhist cosmology as Brahmāor Mahabrahma,the lord of Brahmaloka,which may also be represented as Phra Phrom.
Tua Pek Kong is a Taoist deity in the pantheon of Peranakan folk religion practiced by ethnic Chinese in Malaysia,Singapore,and parts of Indonesia.
Malaysian folk religion refers to the animistic and polytheistic beliefs and practices that are still held by many in the Islamic-majority country of Malaysia. Folk religion in Malaysia is practised either openly or covertly depending on the type of rituals performed.
The religious belief of the Datuk Keramat worship can be found in Malaysia,Singapore and along the Strait of Malacca. It is a fusion of Malaysian folk religion,Sufism,and Chinese folk religion in Southeast Asia.
Jìngxiāng,shàngxiāng,bàishén,is a ritual of offering incense accompanied by tea and or fruits in Chinese traditional religion. In ancestral religious worship it's jìngzǔ or bàizǔ 拜祖. It is observed by a devotee holding joss incense with both hands in front of an altar during the worship. For greater reverence or devotion,the devotee will kneel and bow before the altar during and after placing the incense inside the urn at the altar.
The Tai folk religion,Satsana Phi or Ban Phi is the ancient native ethnic religion of Tai people still practiced by various Tai groups. Tai folk religion was dominant among Tai people in Asia until the arrival of Buddhism and Hinduism. It is primarily based on worshipping deities called Phi,Khwan and Ancestors.
Chinese ancestor veneration,also called Chinese ancestor worship,is an aspect of the Chinese traditional religion which revolves around the ritual celebration of the deified ancestors and tutelary deities of people with the same surname organised into lineage societies in ancestral shrines. Ancestors,their ghosts,or spirits,and gods are considered part of "this world". They are neither supernatural nor transcendent in the sense of being beyond nature. The ancestors are humans who have become godly beings,beings who keep their individual identities. For this reason,Chinese religion is founded on veneration of ancestors. Ancestors are believed to be a means of connection to the supreme power of Tian as they are considered embodiments or reproducers of the creative order of Heaven. It is a major aspect of Han Chinese religion,but the custom has also spread to ethnic minority groups.
Loyang is a subzone region located in the town of Pasir Ris in the East Region of Singapore. The region consists of three subzones,Loyang West,Loyang East and Flora Drive. The name means brass or tray in Malay.
Vietnamese folk religion or Đạo Lương (道良) is a group of spiritual beliefs and practices adhered by the Vietnamese people. About 86% of the population in Vietnam are reported irreligious,but are associated with this tradition.
Burmese folk religion refers to the animistic and polytheistic religious worship of nats and ancestors in Myanmar (Burma). Although the beliefs of nats differ across different regions and villages in Burma,there are a handful of beliefs that are universal in Burmese folk religion.
Chinese folk religion plays a dynamic role in the lives of the overseas Chinese who have settled in the countries of this geographic region,particularly Burmese Chinese,Singaporean Chinese,Malaysian Chinese,Thai Chinese,Indonesian Chinese and Hoa. Some Chinese Filipinos also still practice some Chinese traditional religions,besides Christianity of either Roman Catholicism or Protestantism,with which some have also varyingly syncretized traditional Chinese religious practices. Chinese folk religion,the ethnic religion of Han Chinese,"Shenism" was especially coined referring to its Southeast Asian expression;another Southeast Asian name for the religion is the Sanskrit expression Satya Dharma.
The German Girl Shrine is a shrine on the island of Pulau Ubin in Singapore. It marks the site of the burial of an unknown 18-year-old girl who died on the island in 1914 after falling from a cliff while fleeing from British forces who sought to detain a number of German nationals then resident on the island. Her body was recovered and interred in an urn on the site by Chinese workers,and a makeshift shrine structure was built. The site was visited frequently by gamblers who thought the spirit of the girl would bring them good luck. A permanent structure was erected in 1974 by a company carrying out quarrying on the island. Quarrying has since ceased,and the shrine is now within Ketam Mountain Bike Park. Visitors often leave offerings,including makeup and Barbie dolls,at the site.
Tua Pek Kong Temple Chinese temple in Singapore,located on Kusu Island. It is dedicated to the worship of deity Tua Pek Kong.
