East Asian · macro
Chinese Folk Religion
Ancestors, local gods, Buddhist figures and Daoist ritual specialists used together without embarrassment, organised around efficacy rather than around creed. Belonging is to a family and a place, not to a doctrine.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- A3 Pluralitymany powers and spiritsFurther toward "many powers and spirits" than most traditions in the matrix.
- E3 Locus of belongingleaning a people, inheritedFurther toward "a people, inherited" than most traditions in the matrix.
- D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribedFurther toward "essential and prescribed" than most traditions in the matrix.
- E1 Exclusivitymany valid pathsFurther toward "many valid paths" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly existsEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.95 | 0.06 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | leaning a personal being one can addressEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.70 | 0.15 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | many powers and spiritsEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.95 | 0.04 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | fully present within itEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.88 | 0.08 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experienceEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.48 | 0.20 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | leaning metaphorical, or no text at allEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.72 | 0.15 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | between clergy and tradition decide and individual conscience decidesEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.48 | 0.20 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | continues in some formEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.88 | 0.10 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | between one life, then judgment and cyclical returnEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.62 | 0.20 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | leaning ignorant but fundamentally soundEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.72 | 0.14 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | leaning achieved by effort or insightEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.68 | 0.16 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | essential and prescribedEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | between to be disciplined and to be celebratedEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.55 | 0.16 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | many valid pathsEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.88 | 0.08 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | between an intentional act and beginningless or naturalEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.62 | 0.20 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | leaning a people, inheritedEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.18 | 0.13 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | leaning animate and itself sacredEthnographic scholarship on Chinese popular religion (Feuchtwang, Yang) | 0.82 | 0.10 |
Further reading
- Feuchtwang, Popular Religion in China — The imperial metaphor and the logic of efficacy behind D1.
- Yang, Chinese Religious Life — Why E1 sits at 0.88 without anyone ever arguing for pluralism.
Compared with
Where do you sit?
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.