Religion Zhuang

They were practising the cult to the nature, and to the ancestors.

They think that all the phenomena have his spirit that they governs, this way the God of the Sun exists for them, The Master of the Thunder, the God of the Wind and that of the Rain. Every thing on the ground also has his spirit. Every mountain, every tree, every flower, has a spirit. And if also it has a strange form it can be a declaration of his power, turning into a sacred object A the forces of the nature to him two times realized gifts a year.

The Zhuang never cut the trees of the mountain placed behind his village, since they think that there live the gods who protect them. It looks like a clear sample that from immemorial time the Zhuang they knew the existing relation between the deforestation and the increase of the danger of the floods.

The animals also have his spirit. Formerly every clan was thinking that an animal was his ancestor, which they were considering to be his totem pole. The principal totem poles of the Zhuang have relation with the agricultural production, like the thunder (it produces the rain), the frog, the crocodile, the snake (three animals related to the water), the dog and the buffalo (that helps the fields to work). Of them the most important is the Master of the Thunder, it is the most important deity, it governs the world and distributes the rain to the men. He is represented like a big bird with human form. A species of big phoenix.

The cult to the forces of the nature coexists with the cult to his ancestors. In fact in every village there is a Local Temple, where the forces of the nature are venerated, and a Temple of the Earth, where the ancestors are venerated. Since according to the beliefs zhuang, after the death of a person, his soul does not die, but it goes to the world of the darkness, where the alive ones guide him showing him the way with different rites. The soul remains in the world of the darkness during nine generations, and then it goes to the Temple of the Earth. Although in the houses also a pendant as memory stays.

The names of his traditional priests are Shigong expert in the myths and legends Zhuang, read them during the ceremonies at that they preside, which are the most important. Also they have a few sorcerers, who by means of the situation and the singing get in touch with the spirits to foresee the future.

In his mythological thought the most important god is Buluotou, creator of the sky and of the ground, and everything what exists in her, but as soon as his creative process was finished, does not have a direct influence in the everyday life of the people.
Huapo is the goddess mother, and it is said that it protects the children.

The Chinese religions came to the grounds zhuang during the dynasty Tang. Since then they coexist with his traditional religions. In fact, between them also there are priests Buddhists and tao�stas, and in most of the villages the holidays of these religions are celebrated.

The western religions came to the Guangxi region throughout the XIXth century. Although they obtained a good number of converted between the Zhuang, also they met the resistance of important segments of the population, who generated tensions that in some occasions they exploited of violent form.

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