ABSTRACT
Chinese religion has generally been divided into "orthodox popular religion" and "heterodox sects." 1 Popular religion has referred to the mixture of Buddhism, Taoism, spiritism, and ancestor worship that centers on family altars and village temples. Heterodox sects, on the other hand, have been groups of believers claiming to have found the way to individual salvation, implicitly rejecting the worldly hierarchy (emperor to local official) reflected in popular religion's pantheon (Jade Emperor to Earth God).
