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Northeast China folk religion[note 1] is the variety of Chinese folk religion of northeast China, characterised by distinctive cults original to Hebei and Shandong, transplanted and adapted by the Han Chinese settlers of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang (the three provinces comprising Northeast China) since the Qing dynasty.[2] It is characterised by terminology, deities and practices that are different from those of central and southern Chinese folk religion. Many of these patterns derive from the interaction of Han religion with Manchu shamanism.[3]
Prominence is given to the worship of zoomorphic deities, of a "totemic" significance.[4][3] In the region the terms shen 神 ("god") and xian 仙 ("immortal being") are synonymous. Figures of ritual specialists or shamans[note 2] perform various ritual functions for groups of believers and local communities, including chūmǎxiān (出馬仙 "riding for the immortals"),[5] dances, healing, exorcism, divination, and communication with ancestors.[6]
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