Shinto, Taoist and folk Chinese traditions
Shinto, Taoist and folk Chinese traditions cover the native customs of Japan and China and their neighbours: shrine visits and festivals, ancestor veneration, temple fairs, the Lunar New Year, Qingming, the Hungry Ghost month, the rites of birth and marriage, feng shui and traditional medicine.
Shinto, Taoist and folk Chinese traditions cover the native customs of Japan and China and their neighbours: shrine visits and festivals, ancestor veneration, temple fairs, the Lunar New Year, Qingming, the Hungry Ghost month, the rites of birth and marriage, feng shui and traditional medicine. These are practised alongside Buddhism and Confucian ethics and often without a clear line between them. Many people take part in the customs without thinking of them as a religion. These pages describe them as those who keep them do.
Shrines, gods and spirits
In Shinto, kami, spirits of nature, places and ancestors, are honoured at shrines, with a bow, a clap, a coin and a prayer. Festivals, matsuri, carry the kami in portable shrines through the streets, accompanied by drums and food stalls. In Chinese folk religion, temples to local gods, such as Mazu and Guandi, are the centre of festivals, with incense, offerings and operas performed for the deities.
Ancestors and the year
Households keep an ancestral altar, and the year is marked by Lunar New Year, Qingming tomb sweeping, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Hungry Ghost Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. In Japan, hatsumode, setsubun, the Girls' Day and Obon give the year its rhythm. Many of these blend Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian elements, and families keep them as part of being at home.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Shinto, Taoist and folk Chinese (faith). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇯🇵 JapanKadomatsu門松
A Japanese New Year gateway decoration of pine and bamboo where a visiting deity can restSeasonal
🇯🇵 Kishiwada, JapanKishiwada Danjiri Matsuri岸和田だんじり祭
A high-speed festival of wooden shrine floats pulled through Kishiwada, JapanFestival
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreMid-Autumn Festival中秋節
An annual harvest festival celebrating family reunions, full moons and mooncakesFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreMaslenitsaМасленица
A seven-day Eastern Slavic festival of pancakes and bonfires marking the end of winter before Lent.Festival · Breakfast
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreQingming Festival清明节
A spring custom of sweeping family graves and honouring ancestors across East Asia.Spiritual
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 2 moreTanabataたなばた
A Japanese summer star festival of written wishes hung on leafy bamboo.Festival
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreGhost Festival中元節 / 中元节 (Zhōngyuán jié)
A full-moon night in the seventh lunar month for feeding ghosts and guiding souls homeSpiritual
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreQixi Festival七夕
A Chinese night of romance, needlecraft wishes and stargazing for two mythic loversFestival
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreDouble Ninth Festival重陽節
An autumn festival of mountain walks, chrysanthemum wine and ancestor remembranceSeasonal · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanHatsumōde初詣
The first shrine or temple visit of the Japanese New Year to pray for good fortuneSpiritual
🇯🇵 JapanHadaka Matsuri裸祭り
Japanese festivals where participants clad in loincloths seek luck and purificationSpiritual
🇭🇰 Cheung Chau, Hong KongCheung Chau Bun Festival包山節
A week of vegetarian days, bun towers and a midnight scramble on a Hong Kong islandFestival
🇯🇵 Takayama, JapanTakayama Festival高山祭
Twin seasonal shrine festivals in Japan famed for elaborate lantern-lit floatsFestival
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanGion Matsuri祇園祭
A month-long Kyoto festival of grand floats, evening markets and purifying ritualsFestival
🇨🇳 Suzhou, China and 3 moreDongzhi冬至
A midwinter festival celebrating the return of light with family feasts and dumplingsSeasonal · Dinner
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanDaijō-sai大嘗祭
The emperor's once-in-a-reign Shinto rite of thanks for the rice harvestSpiritual
🇨🇳 Suzhou, China and 4 moreDongzhi Festival冬至
A winter solstice festival of family reunions, ancestor rites and sweet rice ballsSeasonal · Dinner
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreDajiao打醮
An annual Taoist ritual and festival seeking peace and safety for the communitySpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇳 Tianjin, China and 1 moreBa-zha八蜡
An old Chinese harvest rite of eight offerings, later a guardian against locustsSpiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Hatsumōde: KKPCW, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dongzhi Festival: Alpha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ghost Festival: Chong Fat, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tanabata: Laika ac, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Qingming Festival: Jacklee ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Double Ninth Festival: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Qixi Festival: shizhao ( talk )拍摄，画者不明, Public domain, source
- Maslenitsa: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mid-Autumn Festival: Shizhao, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Kadomatsu: Nesnad, CC BY 4.0, source
- Hadaka Matsuri: CES, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Takayama Festival: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gion Matsuri: 江戸村のとくぞう, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dongzhi: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri: Kounosu, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Daijō-sai: Abasaa, Public domain, source
- Cheung Chau Bun Festival: ．怪貓．, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dajiao: 29cm, CC BY-SA 2.0, source