Ancient Chinese "popular religion" or  "folk religion"  or "folk belief" have long been used to indicate the local and communal religious life and complexities of Han local indigenous cults of China in English-language academic literature, though the Chinese language historically has not had a concept or overarching name for this.
In Chinese academic literature and common usage "folk religion" (民間宗教 mínjiān zōngjiào) refers to specific organised folk religious sects. "
Folk beliefs" (民間信仰 mínjiān xìnyǎng) is a technical term with little usage outside the academia, in which it entered into usage at first among Taiwanese scholars from Japanese language during Japan's occupation (1895–1945), and later between the 1990s and the early 21st century among mainland Chinese scholars.

With the rise of the study of traditional cults and the creation of a government agency to give legal status to this religion, intellectuals and philosophers in China have proposed the adoption of a formal name in order to solve the terminological problems of confusion with folk religious sects and conceptualise a definite field for research and administration.
The terms that have been proposed include "Chinese native religion" or "Chinese indigenous religion" (民俗宗教 mínsú zōngjiào), "Chinese ethnic religion" (民族宗教 mínzú zōngjiào), or also simply "Chinese religion" (中華教 Zhōnghuájiào) viewed as comparable to the usage of the term "Hinduism" for Indian religion, and "Shenxianism" (神仙教 Shénxiānjiào, "religion of deities and immortals"), partly inspired by the term "Shenism" (神教 Shénjiào) that was used in the 1950s by the anthropologist Allan J. A. Elliott.
The Qing dynasty scholars Yao Wendong and Chen Jialin used the term shenjiao not referring to Shinto as a definite religious system, but to local shin beliefs in Japan.
Other definitions that have been used are "folk cults" (民間崇拜 mínjiān chóngbài),"spontaneous religion" (自發宗教 zìfā zōngjiào), "lived (or living) religion" (生活宗教 shēnghuó zōngjiào), "local religion" (地方宗教 dìfāng zōngjiào), and "diffused religion" (分散性宗教 fēnsàn xìng zōngjiào).

"Shendao" (神道 Shéndào, the "Way of the Gods") is a term already used in the Yijing referring to the divine order of nature.
Around the time of the spread of Buddhism in the Han period (206 BCE–220 CE), it was used to distinguish the indigenous ancient religion from the imported religion.
Ge Hong used it in his Baopuzi as a synonym for Taoism.
The term was subsequently adopted in Japan in the 6th century as Shindo, later Shinto, with the same purpose of identification of the Japanese indigenous religion.
In the 14th century, the Hongwu Emperor (Taizu of the Ming dynasty, 1328–1398) used the term "Shendao" clearly identifying the indigenous cults, which he strengthened and systematised.

"Chinese Universism", not in the sense of "universalism", that is a system of universal application, that is Tian in Chinese thought, is a coinage of Jan Jakob Maria de Groot that refers to the metaphysical perspective that lies behind the Chinese religious tradition.
De Groot calls Chinese Universism "the ancient metaphysical view that serves as the basis of all classical Chinese thought. ...
In Universism, the three components of integrated universe—understood epistemologically, "heaven, earth and man", and understood ontologically, "Taiji (the great beginning, the highest ultimate), yin and yang"—are formed".

In 1931 Hu Shih argued that "Two great religions have played tremendously important roles throughout Chinese history.
One is Buddhism which came to China probably before the Christian era but which began to exert nation-wide influence only after the third century A.D. The other great religion has had no generic name, but I propose to call it Siniticism.
It is the native ancient religion of the Han Chinese people: it dates back to time immemorial, over 10,000 years old, and includes all such later phases of its development as Moism, Confucianism (as a state religion), and all the various stages of the Taoist religion."
Ancient Chinese "popular religion" or  "folk religion"  or "folk belief" have long been used to indicate the local and communal religious life and complexities of Han local indigenous cults of China in English-language academic literature, though the Chinese language historically has not had a concept or overarching name for this. In Chinese academic literature and common usage "folk religion" (民間宗教 mínjiān zōngjiào) refers to specific organised folk religious sects. "Folk beliefs" (民間信仰 mínjiān xìnyǎng) is a technical term with little usage outside the academia, in which it entered into usage at first among Taiwanese scholars from Japanese language during Japan's occupation (1895–1945), and later between the 1990s and the early 21st century among mainland Chinese scholars.
With the rise of the study of traditional cults and the creation of a government agency to give legal status to this religion, intellectuals and philosophers in China have proposed the adoption of a formal name in order to solve the terminological problems of confusion with folk religious sects and conceptualise a definite field for research and administration. The terms that have been proposed include "Chinese native religion" or "Chinese indigenous religion" (民俗宗教 mínsú zōngjiào), "Chinese ethnic religion" (民族宗教 mínzú zōngjiào), or also simply "Chinese religion" (中華教 Zhōnghuájiào) viewed as comparable to the usage of the term "Hinduism" for Indian religion, and "Shenxianism" (神仙教 Shénxiānjiào, "religion of deities and immortals"), partly inspired by the term "Shenism" (神教 Shénjiào) that was used in the 1950s by the anthropologist Allan J. A. Elliott. The Qing dynasty scholars Yao Wendong and Chen Jialin used the term shenjiao not referring to Shinto as a definite religious system, but to local shin beliefs in Japan. Other definitions that have been used are "folk cults" (民間崇拜 mínjiān chóngbài),"spontaneous religion" (自發宗教 zìfā zōngjiào), "lived (or living) religion" (生活宗教 shēnghuó zōngjiào), "local religion" (地方宗教 dìfāng zōngjiào), and "diffused religion" (分散性宗教 fēnsàn xìng zōngjiào).
"Shendao" (神道 Shéndào, the "Way of the Gods") is a term already used in the Yijing referring to the divine order of nature. Around the time of the spread of Buddhism in the Han period (206 BCE–220 CE), it was used to distinguish the indigenous ancient religion from the imported religion. Ge Hong used it in his Baopuzi as a synonym for Taoism. The term was subsequently adopted in Japan in the 6th century as Shindo, later Shinto, with the same purpose of identification of the Japanese indigenous religion. In the 14th century, the Hongwu Emperor (Taizu of the Ming dynasty, 1328–1398) used the term "Shendao" clearly identifying the indigenous cults, which he strengthened and systematised.
"Chinese Universism", not in the sense of "universalism", that is a system of universal application, that is Tian in Chinese thought, is a coinage of Jan Jakob Maria de Groot that refers to the metaphysical perspective that lies behind the Chinese religious tradition. De Groot calls Chinese Universism "the ancient metaphysical view that serves as the basis of all classical Chinese thought. ... In Universism, the three components of integrated universe—understood epistemologically, "heaven, earth and man", and understood ontologically, "Taiji (the great beginning, the highest ultimate), yin and yang"—are formed".
In 1931 Hu Shih argued that "Two great religions have played tremendously important roles throughout Chinese history. One is Buddhism which came to China probably before the Christian era but which began to exert nation-wide influence only after the third century A.D. The other great religion has had no generic name, but I propose to call it Siniticism. It is the native ancient religion of the Han Chinese people: it dates back to time immemorial, over 10,000 years old, and includes all such later phases of its development as Moism, Confucianism (as a state religion), and all the various stages of the Taoist religion."
Chinese folk religion