The post that inspired this!
This is the promised post on Chinese deities, immortals and religions. I am still doing research, so progress might be slow, and English is not my first language, so I apologise for any translation mistakes. That is all. Thank you for reading.
As China is very vast, the post will be divided into a long series, and there are a whole lot of other things to cover besides the religions, so the actual explaining about the deities, immortals and others will be more in the middle.
However, there were things that I and to write about in order for the posts to make sense. I hope you can bear with my rambling. Thank you again.
When you are in China, the first thing you have to know is that China is a vast, diverse country. Buddhism is a major religion, but Chinese folk worship also is, along with a whole lot of other things. But besides these major religions, there are also many other religions as well.
Before I continue, let me share with you quickly that there are 56 cultural ethnicities in China.
Achang, Bai, Bonan, Bouyei, Blang, Dai, Daur, Deang, Dong, Dongxiang, Dulong, Ewenki, Gaoshan, Gelao, Hani, Hezhe, Hui, Jing, Jingpo, Jinuo, Kazak, Kirgiz, Korean, Lahu, Li, Lisu, Luoba, Manchu, Maonan, Menba, Miao, Mongolian, Mulao, Naxi, Nu, Oroqen, Ozbek, Pumi, Qiang, Russian, Salar, She, Shui, Tajik, Tatar, Tibetan, Tu, Tujia, Uigur, Wa, Xibe, Yao, Yi, Yugur and Zhuang take up around 10 percent of the entire Chinese population. They are also called the 55 ethnic minorities.
Han Chinese take up around 90 percent of the entire Chinese population. They are also called the ethnic majority.
Defined online, ethnic groups are people with shared beliefs, cultures, traditions, ancestries and language among other things. And China is not the only country with ethnic groups. For example, indigenous people from one tribe or clan can also be considered to be in one ethnic group.
At this point, you might be thinking: Isn’t everyone in China Chinese? Why are there ethnic groups as well?
There is an answer: People living in China with a citizenship are considered Chinese citizens of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and since people from ethnic groups in China are citizens as well and they have lived there with the Han Chinese (the major ethnic group of China, taking up 90% of the population) since a long time ago, they are Chinese as well.
The only thing that separates Han Chinese and the other 55 Ethnic Minorities are their beliefs, cultures, and traditions. That is it. This also means that each of the cultural minorities will believe different things from each other, as in religion, but there will be similarities as well.
This is the 56 cultural ethnicities in China and a short introduction. If anyone has any questions or things to add or change, please let me know! Thank you. My original plan for the next part of the post was to cover the base religions, but now, I’ve decided to share about one of the cultural minorities in the next post, and maybe some facts about myself as well, to clear up any confusion.
This was super short but I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you. (Believe it or not, this post took three hours to write)
