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Benzhuism
Benzhuism () is the indigenous religion of the Bai people, an ethnic group of Yunnan, China. It consists in the worship of the ''ngel zex'', the Bai word for "patrons" or "lords", rendered as ''benzhu'' (本主) in Chinese, that are local gods and deified ancestors of the Bai people. It is very similar to common Chinese religion. While many of the Bai are Buddhists, the local government of China has recently helped the revival of the Benzhu ethnic religion, for example through the promotion of the Gwer Sa La festival.Liang Yongjia, 2013. The patrons Local lords and ancestors The ''benzhu'' are mainly deified ancestors, "patrons" or "lords" of the local communities. Every Bai village has its own pantheon of gods which has formed throughout its existence, incorporating its history in deifying virtuous leaders, warriors, and heroes. ''Cultural China''The Benzhu religion of the Bai These deities, who are tied to the immediate surroundings, protect the people against sickness and v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benzhu Sanxing, Dali, Yunnan
Benzhuism () is the indigenous religion of the Bai people, an ethnic group of Yunnan, China. It consists in the worship of the ''ngel zex'', the Bai word for "patrons" or "lords", rendered as ''benzhu'' (本主) in Chinese, that are local gods and deified ancestors of the Bai people. It is very similar to common Chinese religion. While many of the Bai are Buddhists, the local government of China has recently helped the revival of the Benzhu ethnic religion, for example through the promotion of the Gwer Sa La festival.Liang Yongjia, 2013. The patrons Local lords and ancestors The ''benzhu'' are mainly deified ancestors, "patrons" or "lords" of the local communities. Every Bai village has its own pantheon of gods which has formed throughout its existence, incorporating its history in deifying virtuous leaders, warriors, and heroes. ''Cultural China''The Benzhu religion of the Bai These deities, who are tied to the immediate surroundings, protect the people against sickness and v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bai People
The Bai, or Pai ( Bai: Baipho, (白和); ; endonym pronounced ), are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province, Bijie area of Guizhou Province, and Sangzhi area of Hunan Province. They constitute one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by China. They numbered 1,933,510 as of 2010. Names The Bai people hold the colour white in high esteem and call themselves "Baipzix" (', Baizi, 白子), "Bai'ho" (', Baihuo, 白伙), "Bai yinl" (', Baini, 白尼) or "Miep jiax". ''Bai'' literally means "white" in Chinese. In 1956, the Chinese authorities named them the Bai nationality according to their preference. Historically, the Bai had also been called Minjia (民家) by the Chinese from the 14th century to 1949. The origin of the name Bai is not clear, but scholars believe that it has a strong connection to the first state Bai people built in roughly the 3rd century AD. This state, called ''Baizi Guo'' (白子國, State of Ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan, autonomous regions of Guangxi, and Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet as well as Southeast Asian countries: Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. Yunnan is China's fourth least developed province based on disposable income per capita in 2014. Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with high elevations in the northwest and low elevations in the southeast. Most of the population lives in the eastern part of the province. In the west, the altitude can vary from the mountain peaks to river valleys by as much as . Yunnan is rich in natural resources and has the largest diversity of plant life in China. Of the approximately 30,000 species of Vascular plant, higher plants in China, Yu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Religion In Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan, autonomous regions of Guangxi, and Tibet as well as Southeast Asian countries: Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. Yunnan is China's fourth least developed province based on disposable income per capita in 2014. Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with high elevations in the northwest and low elevations in the southeast. Most of the population lives in the eastern part of the province. In the west, the altitude can vary from the mountain peaks to river valleys by as much as . Yunnan is rich in natural resources and has the largest diversity of plant life in China. Of the approximately 30,000 species of higher plants in China, Yunnan has perhaps 17,000 or more. Yunnan's reserves of aluminium, lead, zi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Folk Religion
Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled with the contents of institutionalised religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, the Chinese syncretic religions". This includes the veneration of ''shen'' (spirits) and ancestors, exorcism of demonic forces, and a belief in the rational order of nature, balance in the universe and reality that can be influenced by human beings and their rulers, as well as spirits and gods. Worship is devoted to gods and immortals, who can be deities of places or natural phenomena, of human behaviour, or founders of family lineages. Stories of these gods are collected into the body of Chinese mythology. By the Song dynasty (960-1279), these practices had been blended with Buddhist doctrines and Taoist teachings to form the popular religious sy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azhaliism
Azhaliism (), also known as Dianmi or Baimi, is a Vajrayana Buddhist religion practiced among the Bai people of Yunnan, China. The name comes from lay tantric priests called ''azhali'' (Sanskrit: ''acharyas'') who are key figures in the religion, known for their use of spells and mantras. History Azhali (Acharya) was a form of Tantric Buddhism that originated around 821-824 when a monk from India called Li Xian Maishun arrived in Nanzhao (653–902). More monks from India arrived in 825 and 828 and built a temple in Heqing. In 839, an acharya named Candragupta entered Nanzhao. Quanfengyou appointed him as a state mentor and married his sister Yueying to Candragupta. It was said that he meditated in a thatched cottage of Fengding Mountain in the east of Heqing, and became an "enlightened God." He established an altar to propagate tantric doctrines in Changdong Mountain of Tengchong. Candragupta continued to propagate tantric doctrines, translated the tantric scripture ''Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bimoism
BimoismPan Jiao, 2011 (, Yi: ) is the indigenous religion of the Yi people, the largest ethnic group in Yunnan after the Han Chinese. It takes its name from the ''bimo'', shaman-priests who are also masters of Yi language and scriptures, wearing distinctive black robes and large hats. Bimo ''Bimo'', which means 'master of scriptures', who officiate at births, funerals, weddings and holidays. One can become bimo by patrilinial descent after a time of apprenticeship or formally acknowledging an old ''bimo'' as the teacher. A lesser priest known as ''suni'' is elected, but ''bimo'' are more revered and can read Yi scripts while ''suni'' cannot. Both can perform rituals, but only ''bimo'' can perform rituals linked to death. For most cases, ''suni'' only perform some exorcism to cure diseases. Generally, ''suni'' can only be from humble civil birth while ''bimo'' can be of both aristocratic and humble families. The Yi worshiped and deified their ancestors similar to the Chinese folk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Ancestral Worship
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 (in the sense of being outside nature) 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. Ancestor veneration is largely focused on male ance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mekong
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annually. From the Tibetan Plateau the river runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls in the Mekong make navigation difficult. Even so, the river is a major trade route between western China and Southeast Asia. Names The Mekong was originally called ''Mae Nam Khong'' from a contracted form of Tai language, Tai shortened to ''Mae Khong''. In Thai and Lao, ''Mae Nam'' ("Mother of Water[s]") is used for large rivers and ''Khong'' is the proper name referred to as "River Khong". However, ''Khong'' is an archaic word meaning "river", loaned from Austroasiatic languages, such as Vietnamese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qiang People
The Qiang people ( Qiangic: ''Rrmea''; ) are an ethnic group in China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognised by the People's Republic of China, with a population of approximately 310,000 in 2000. They live mainly in a mountainous region in the northwestern part of Sichuan (Szechwan) on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Names The modern Qiang refer to themselves as Rma ( or , , ''erma'' in Chinese or ''RRmea'' in Qiang orthography) or a dialect variant of this word. However, they did not define themselves with the Chinese term "Qiang ethnicity" ( zh, 羌族) until 1950, when they were officially designated ''Qiāngzú''. History People called " Qiang" have been mentioned in ancient Chinese texts since 3,000 years ago when they first appeared in oracle bone inscriptions. However, this term was applied to a variety of groups that might not be the same as the modern Qiang. Many of the people formerly designated as "Qiang" were gradually removed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dongba
Dongba (Nakhi: ''²dto¹mba'', ) refers to both the religion and the priests of the Nakhi people of Southwest China. Role in society ''Dongba'' is believed to have originated from the indigenous Tibetan Bon religion. According to Nakhi legend, these teachings first came to Yunnan from a Bon shaman from eastern Tibet named Dongba Shilo (丁巴什罗), a name similar to that of Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, the legendary founder of Bon. The strong Tibetan influence can be seen today in the rituals and costumes of the Dongba priests, who invoke Bon spirits and are often adorned with pictures of Bon gods on their headgear. Currently, the religion is deeply ingrained in Nakhi culture, with Dongba priests serving as the primary transmitters of traditional Nakhi culture, literature and the pictographic Dongba symbols. The priests also conduct a variety of rituals to propitiate the many gods and spirits which are believed to play an active part in the natural world. The core of the Dongba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, medicine and material culture. Chinese Buddhism is the largest institutionalized religion in Mainland China.Cook, Sarah (2017). The Battle for China's Spirit: Religious Revival, Repression, and Resistance under Xi Jinping.' Freedom House Report. Rowman & Littlefield. Currently, there are an estimated 185 to 250 million Chinese Buddhists in the People's Republic of China. It is also a major religion in Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, as well as among the Chinese Diaspora. Buddhism was first introduced to China during the Han Dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE). The translation of a large body of Indian Buddhist scriptures into Chinese and the inclusion of these translations (along with Taoist and Confucian works) into a Chinese Buddhist canon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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