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JumpyDelivery3079 t1_je16qfo wrote

Reply to comment by sadorna1 in TIL that in Chinese Folk Religion, a mortal human being could ascend into godhood not through the decisions of a clergy/church, but by the sheer number of people who believe that their extraordinary achievements led to apotheosis, which forced Confucian/Taoists clerics to canonize a person as a God. by Khysamgathys

The Chinese case is very informal and relies solely on popular praise for a dead person. Plus you become a fully developed god.

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sadorna1 t1_je1cept wrote

Yes obviously this throw a bit of a loophole in, but the overall premise remains the same. Wherein communities celebrating an individual within that community leads to a revered status akin to god-hood for the individual whether it be before or after their death.

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Astalon18 t1_je2efgs wrote

Chinese it has to be after death.

Also the Taoist and Confucian clergy will not acknowledge people who had led horrible lives or caused more harm than good. There is one person who some people alleges is now a God who has not been elevated at all ( after all how can a person who caused the Cultural Revolution be elevated ).

Genghis Khan is also not elevated for the same reason, as is Qin Shih Huang.

This is despite people actually reporting supernatural interventions. Some beings are simply never acknowledged.

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NovelCandid t1_je319db wrote

Is the approval by a formal council or does a thought leader just refer to the deceased as divine and it becomes generally accepted?

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