Gods and goddesses

There are hundreds of gods and goddeses as well as "saints," immortals and demigods. Historical figures noted for their bravery or virtue are also venerated and honored with their own festivals after they are apotheosized. The following list represents some commonly worshipped deities:

• The Jade Emperor(玉帝, yǜ dì), named Bairen Zhang, king of the gods, who stands in relation to the other gods as the human emperors of old did to China's bureaucracy.
  
• Tu Di Gong (土地公, tǔ dì gōng), the "God of the earth", a genius loci who protects a local place (especially hills), and whose statue may be found in roadside shrines. He is also the god of wealth, by virtue of his connection with the earth, and therefore, minerals and buried treasure.
  
• Cai Shen (財神 "god of wealth"), named Gongming Zhao, who oversees the gaining and distribution of wealth through fortune. He is often the deified manifestation of certain historical personalities.His shape is that of a giant blue whiskered cat.
  
• Guan Yu (關羽), the red-faced, bearded hero of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and symbol of loyalty. He is the patron god of policemen and law, and gangsters, as he shows forgiveness, and often also serves as "Wu Sheng".
  
• Cheng Huang (城隍), a class of protective deities: Each city has a Cheng Huang who looks after the fortunes of the city and judges the dead. Usually these are famous or noble persons from the city who were deified after death. The Cheng Huang Miao (城隍廟) or "Shrine of the Cheng Huang" was often the focal point of a town in ancient times.
  
• Mazu (媽祖), the patron goddess of sailors. Shrines can be found in coastal areas of Eastern and South-Eastern China. Today, belief in Mazu is especially popular in the South and South-East, including Fujian (福建), Guangdong (廣東), Hainan (海南), Taiwan (台灣), Hong Kong (香港), and Vietnam (越南).
  
• Baosheng Dadi (保生大帝), the "Great Emperor Protecting Life." A divine physician, whose powers extend to raising the dead. Worship is especially prevalent in Fujian and Taiwan.
  
• Xi Wangmu (西王母), the "Queen Mother of the West" who reigns over a paradisial mountain and has the power to make others immortal. In some myths, she is the mother of the Jade Emperor (玉帝).
  
• The Eight Immortals (ba xian, 八仙) are important literary and artistic figures who were deified after death, and became objects of worship.
  
• Zao Shen (灶君灶神), the 'Kitchen God' mentioned in the title of Amy Tan's novel, The Kitchen God's Wife. He reports to heaven on the behavior of the family of the house once a year, at Chinese New Year, and is given sticky rice in order to render his speech less comprehensible on that occasion.
  
• Wenchangdi (文昌帝 "Emperor Promoting Culture"), god of students, scholars, and examination. He is worshipped by students who wish to pass their examinations. Inept examiners in ancient times sometimes sought "divine guidance" from him to decide rank between students.
  
• Zhusheng Niangniang (註生娘娘 "Birth-Registry Lady"). Worshipped by people who want children, or who want their child to be a boy.
  
• Yuexia Laoren (月下老人 "Old Man Under the Moon"). The matchmaker who pairs lovers together, worshipped by those seeking their partner.
  
• Hu Ye (虎爺 "Lord Tiger"), a guardian spirit.
  
• Qiye (七爺 "Seventh Lord") and Baye (八爺 "Eighth Lord"), two generals and best friends, often seen as giant puppets in street parades. 7 is black, because he drowned rather than miss his appointment to meet with 8, even though a flood was coming. 8 has his tongue sticking out, because he hanged himself in mourning for 7.
  
• Jiu Wang Ye (九皇爺 "Nine Emperor God")is held over the first 9 days of the 9th lunar month to celebrate the return from heaven to earth of the Nine Emperor spirits.
  
• Sun Wukong ("The Monkey King" or "Great Sage Equaling Heaven") is the stone monkey born from heaven and earth who wreaked havoc in heaven and was punished under the five elements mountain for several years. Released by the Tang Priest, Chen Xuanzang (or Sanzang), he traveled under Xuanzang as his disciple to the Thunder Monastery in the West (presumably India) for the Buddhist scriptures to redeem himself. Depending on which version of the Journey to the West legend, where Sun Wukong supposedly originates, Sun Wukong is only sometimes referred to as an actual God.
  
• Guanyin (Simplified Chinese: 观音; Traditional Chinese: 觀音; Hanyu Pinyin: Guānyīn) is the bodhisattva of compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists, usually as a female. She is also known as the Chinese Boddhisattva of Compassion.