section_path: Sociological typology/Organised folk religious sects/Tiandi teachings
section_name: Tiandi teachings
paragraph_text: Tiandi teachings
  
  The Tiandi teachings are a religion that encompasses two branches, the Holy Church of the Heavenly Virtue (Chinese: 天德聖教 Tiāndé shèngjiào) and the Church of the Heavenly Deity (Chinese: 天帝教 Tiāndìjiào), both emerged from the teachings of Xiao Changming and Li Yujie, disseminated in the early 20th century. The latter is actually an outgrowth of the former established in the 1980s.
  
  The religions focus on the worship of Tiandi (Chinese: 天帝), the "Heavenly Deity" or "Heavenly Emperor", on health through the proper cultivation of qi, and teach a style of qigong named Tianren qigong. According to scholars, Tiandi teachings derive from the Taoist tradition of Huashan, where Li Yujie studied for eight years. The Church of the Heavenly Deity is very active both in Taiwan and mainland China, where it has high-level links.