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.
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreChinese knotting中國結 (Zhōngguó jié)
A folk craft of cord tied into lucky shapes, made in China and given as charmsCraft
🇯🇵 Aomori, JapanAomori Nebuta Matsuri青森ねぶた祭
A summer festival in Aomori featuring large warrior floats and dancing participants.Festival
🇯🇵 JapanOmikujiおみくじ
Paper fortunes drawn at Japanese shrines and temples to consult divine guidanceSpiritual
🇨🇳 Puyang, ChinaFeng shui風水
The Chinese spatial practice of aligning homes and graves with natural energyFolklore
🇮🇳 India and 5 morePretaप्रेत
Offerings and rites for spirits enduring deep hunger across Asian traditions.Spiritual
🇯🇵 Kyoto, Japan and 4 moreHanami花見
A Japanese spring custom of gathering under blooming cherry trees to eat, drink, and celebrate the fleeting beauty of thFestival · Lunch
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 2 moreTanabataたなばた
A Japanese summer star festival of written wishes hung on leafy bamboo.Festival
🇨🇳 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
🇨🇳 Meizhou Island, China and 5 moreMazu媽祖
A sea goddess of the Chinese coast, asked for calm water and a safe returnSpiritual
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese funeral rituals
Traditional rites of mourning, vigils, offerings, and ancestor veneration across ChinaRite of passage
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreJoss paper金紙 (jīnzhǐ)
Paper money burned for ancestors and gods, folded and offered in Chinese worshipSpiritual
🇦🇱 Gjirokastër, Albania and 5 moreDodola and Perperuna
A rainmaking ritual kept across Southeast Europe, where children dressed in greenery lead processions to call for summerSpiritual
🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaZangfu脏腑
The traditional Chinese medical model of interconnected organ networks and vital energyFolklore
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreRed Thread of Fate姻緣紅線
An East Asian belief in an invisible cord binding two people destined for marriageFolklore
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreQimen Dunjia奇門遁甲
A classical Chinese divination system that maps time, space, and strategySpiritual
🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaZangfu臟腑 (simplified 脏腑; zàngfǔ)
A Chinese medicine view of organs as networks of qi, blood and five phasesFolklore
🇨🇳 Tianjin, China and 1 moreBa-zha八蜡
An old Chinese harvest rite of eight offerings, later a guardian against locustsSpiritual
🇨🇳 Luoyang, China and 1 moreYin and yang陰陽
Two opposite but complementary forces that Chinese thought sees in all thingsFolklore
🇨🇳 Ziyang, China and 1 moreThree Corpses三尸
A Daoist belief in three inner parasites that cause illness and cut life shortFolklore
🇨🇳 ChinaTui na推拿
A traditional Chinese hands-on therapy using pushing, grasping, and acupressure pointsFolklore
🇯🇵 JapanTairyō-bata大漁旗
Traditional Japanese flags flown by fishing boats to celebrate a bountiful catchFestival
🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaZangfu脏腑
A traditional Chinese model of internal organs as paired networks of energy and functionFolklore
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreChinese patchwork
A needlework craft joining fabric scraps into protective clothing, quilts and folk artCraft
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFive Grains五穀
A sacred grouping of staple crops honoured as the bedrock of East Asian civilizationFolklore
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Five Grains: Kurt Stüber [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hanami: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tanabata: Laika ac, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Double Ninth Festival: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Qixi Festival: shizhao ( talk )拍摄，画者不明, Public domain, source
- Chinese knotting: Ucla90024, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chinese funeral rituals: Salzmann, E.v., CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Preta: Temple, Richard Carnac, Sir, Public domain, source
- Feng shui: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Omikuji: C121749n, Public domain, source
- Aomori Nebuta Matsuri: Fisherman, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Zangfu: Foristslow, CC BY 4.0, source
- Joss paper: Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mazu: Prince Roy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yin and yang: Klem, Public domain, source
- Three Corpses: Michał Boym, Public domain, source
- Tairyō-bata: Wiki4423, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chinese patchwork: Unknown author, CC0, source