Chinese temple architecture also "wu" and "tongji" shamans, may perform services within these temples. Shenist temples are usually small and decorated with traditional figures on their roofs (dragons and deities), although some evolve into significant structures. Chinese temples can be found throughout Mainland China, Taiwan and also where Chinese expatriate communities settled over centuries. An old name in English for Chinese traditional temples is "joss house". "Joss" is an Anglicized spelling of the Portuguese word for "god", "deus". "Joss house" was in common use in English in western North America during frontier times, when joss houses were a common feature of Chinatowns. The
God (word) translation for the word "deus" of the Latin Bible was influenced by the then current usage by the tribes for their highest deity, namely "Wodan" by Angles, Saxons, and Franks of north-central and western Europe, and "Godan" by the Lombards of south-central Europe around Rome. There are many instances where the name Godan and Wodan are contracted to God and Wod. One instance is the wild hunt (a.k.a. Wodan's wild hunt) where Wod is used. The earliest uses of the word God in Germanic writing is often cited to be in the Gothic Bible or Wulfila Bible, which is the