Christmas is a festive time to think about nativity and religion. In this city which is now a part of China, it is fitting to talk about the Chinese religious culture. The photos in the post are all about death in a way, mostly the unique paper offerings which you may not find them around unless you befriend a local who knows the way.
This is an educational series to give you a glimpse into China's mysterious colours of folk religious beliefs. You may be also interested to read some related old posts are here, here and here.
^Two almost life-size paper effigies representing a male and female servants to be burnt as offerings for the dead.
China boasts a history of over 5 000 years. In this wide span of time, religion has taken root and grown leafy in the Chinese land of diversity. Apart from the home-grown Confucianism and Taoism, as well as Buddhism adopted from India, the folk religions are what truly represent the colourful and complex system of Chinese religious culture. These folk religions are mostly mixtures of bits of Taoism and bits of local customs.
The origins of the Chinese folk religions are not an answer to be deduced from a simple equation. But one of the reasons certainly lies at the dawn of the Han Dynasty (founded 221 BC) when it saw a weakening adherence to the Confucian teachings which governs the running of the ancient imperial states.
^A worker is delivering some items for a religious activity of some sort.
When a void emerged, the physical rule has it that there would be something going to fill it somehow. At that time, people started their quest for a new economy of the earthly matters, sprouting the seeds of sorcery, theurgy, the doctrine of ends and beginnings, divination combined with mystical Confucian belief, as well as Taoism.
Changes in the religious realm took place among the posh noble class too. During the transitional period between the warring years among various imperial powers and the founding of the Han Dynasty, the royals mainly worshipped supernatural forces which they thought gave them the 
authority to rule. Over time the sacral activity was combined with ancestral worship which added a handy justification to the passing of the imperial throne from the father to the son. By the same token, the forefathers of the thrones were mystified as the protectors of the nations.
« A paper crane to be burnt as an offering. Crane connotes longevity in many oriental societies including the Chinese.
Among the common folks, sorcery and theurgy pointed to the existence of an unseen world mirroring the physical world. This unseen world had the commanding power over the ruling class. Apart from sorcery and theurgy, people started formulating their own economy of the material world with other religious practices. Dream tellers interpreted dreams for people to keep themselves out of the harm’s way. Physiognomists read people’s faces and told them the fate so bestowed. Palm readers analysed how the material world corresponded to the natural phenomena.
^ A paper backyard to be offered to the deceased by burning.
These religious beliefs in their raw forms were found on the same cornerstone: the nature's law had a decisive bearing on the ups and downs, highs and lows of a person.
^Next to the paper garden, it is a driveway to the paper house where a paper miniature car is parked.
With Buddhism introduced into China during the Han Dynasty and gradually spread among the people over the centuries, the Chinese folk religious beliefs carried a tinge of Buddhism too. We will continue from there tomorrow.
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