Shangdi (Chinese: 上帝; pinyin: Shàngdì; Wade–Giles: Shang4 Ti4), also called simply Di (Chinese: 帝; pinyin: Dì; lit. 'God'), is the name of the Chinese Highest Deity or "Lord Above" in the theology of the classical texts, especially deriving from Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the later Tiān ("Heaven" or "Great Whole") of Zhou theology.
The Three Pure Ones, also translated as the Three Pure Pellucid Ones, the Three Pristine Ones, the Three Divine Teachers, the Three Clarities, or the Three Purities, are the three highest gods in the Taoist pantheon. They are regarded as pure manifestations of the Tao and the origin of all sentient beings, along with the "lords of the Three Life Principles", or qi. They were also gods who were "associated with the sky, the earth and the underworld."
Tian (天) is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang dynasty, the Chinese referred to their highest god as Shangdi or Di. During the following Zhou dynasty, Tian became synonymous with this figure. Before the 20th century, worship of Tian was an orthodox state religion of China.
Erlang Shen, or simply Erlang, is a god in Chinese folk religion and Daoism, associated with water, justice, warriorhood, hunting, and demon subdual. He is commonly depicted as a young man with a third, truth-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead, wielding a three-pronged spear, and being accompanied by his loyal hunting dog, Xiaotian Quan.
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.
Ame-no-Koyane-no-mikoto is a kami and a male deity in Japanese mythology and Shinto. He is the ancestral god of the Nakatomi clan, and Fujiwara no Kamatari, the founder of the powerful Fujiwara clan. An Amatsukami, 'Kami of heaven', he resides in Takamagahara.
Jiutian Xuannü is the goddess of war, sex, and longevity in Chinese mythology. The swordswoman Yuenü is a reincarnation of Jiutian Xuannü.
Yuanshi Tianzun, the Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Beginning or the Primeval Lord of Heaven, is one of the highest deities of Taoism. He is one of the Three Pure Ones and is also known as the Jade Pure One. He resides in the Great Web or the Heaven of Jade Purity. It is believed that he came into being at the beginning of the universe as a result of the merging of pure breaths. He then created Heaven and Earth.
The Trāyastriṃśa heaven is an important world of the devas in the Buddhist cosmology. The word trāyastriṃśa is an adjective formed from the numeral trayastriṃśat, "33" and can be translated in English as "belonging to the thirty-three [devas]". It is primarily the name of the second in the six heavens of the desire realm in Buddhist cosmology, and secondarily used of the devas who dwell there. Trāyastriṃśa is ruled by Śakra, also known as Indra.
Ao Bing is a character in the classic Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods. He is a dragon prince and the third son of the East Sea Dragon King Ao Guang of the Crystal Palace. He has two brothers named Ao Jia and Ao Yi. Both of them are older than him. Ao Bing was originally revered as a rain god who would bestow the rain at his command upon any individual in need, but, as time passed, his father became corrupt, and soon the people were living in fear of the stormy malevolence of Ao Guang and his three sons. After the divine child-hero Nezha had slain the yaksha Li Gen and been seen creating tremors that threatened to destroy the Crystal Palace of the Dragon King, Ao Bing set out to confront Nezha, riding upon a great green beast and accompanied by his father's troops.
Shen is a Chinese word with senses of deity, god or spirit. The Japanese equivalent is shin, as in Shinto. This single Chinese term expresses a range of similar, yet differing, meanings.
Chinese gods and immortals are beings in various Chinese religions seen in a variety of ways and mythological contexts.
Chinese theology, which comes in different interpretations according to the Chinese classics and Chinese folk religion, and specifically Confucian, Taoist, and other philosophical formulations, is fundamentally monistic, that is to say it sees the world and the gods of its phenomena as an organic whole, or cosmos, which continuously emerges from a simple principle. This is expressed by the concept that "all things have one and the same principle". This principle is commonly referred to as Tiān 天, a concept generally translated as "Heaven", referring to the northern culmen and starry vault of the skies and its natural laws which regulate earthly phenomena and generate beings as their progenitors. Ancestors are therefore regarded as the equivalent of Heaven within human society, and therefore as the means connecting back to Heaven which is the "utmost ancestral father". Chinese theology may be also called Tiānxué 天學, a term already in use in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Wen Tian or Wentian or variation, may refer to:
The Twenty-Four Protective Deities or the Twenty-Four Devas, sometimes reduced to the Twenty Protective Deities or the Twenty Devas, are a group of dharmapalas in Chinese Buddhism who are venerated as defenders of the Buddhist dharma. The group consists of devas, naga kings, vajra-holders and other beings, mostly borrowed from Hinduism with some borrowed from Taoism.
The Last Immortal is a Chinese television series based on the novel Hidden God by Xing Ling, starring Zhao Lusi and Wang Anyu. It is the spin-off of the 2021 drama series Ancient Love Poetry. The series aired on Tencent Video and Mango TV on December 11, 2023.
Xiaotian Quan is a Chinese mythological beast and companion of the Chinese god Erlang Shen. Depicted as a black dog, it assists Erlang Shen in battle by using its powerful bite and howl to attack, maul, or subdue demons. Xiaotian Quan appears in Journey to the West, Fengshen Yanyi, and other legends about Erlang Shen, such as Lotus Lantern and several Chinese folktales.
