From ancient times, China has been a multi-ethnic country, with a multitude of religions. According archeological evidence between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago, the ancestors of the Chinese first became conscious of religion. It was discovered that bodies were buried with their heads in alignment at the site of the " Upper Caveman ", unearned in a mountaintop cave overlooking Zhoukoudian, on the outskirts of Beijing. The bodies were also buried with spindles, arrowheads and finely made decorations. There's hematite powder scattered around the bodies, which isn't produced in the local area with the closest source a few hundred of kilometers away. From the archeological evidence, it appears the cavemen attached much importance to burials and archeologists conclude the cavemen believed in the concept of an afterlife, in other words, in the concept of a soul. This is the earliest evidence of a religious belief found in China.

Early society was an agrarian culture and great importance was put in agricultural production and animal husbandry. Since agrarian cultures are strongly affected by changes in nature, early- humans prayed to an worshipped nature.

In this worship of nature, " Heaven " was given precedence over " Earth ", as were the hosts of heaven such as mountains and rivers, wind, rain and thunders, and all natural phenomenon that had a direct relationship with agricultural production. Worship was also extended to all kinds of natural phenomenon and objects. An abundance of vessels painted with the hosts of heaven have been found in archeological excavations in recent years. " God," as a word representing " Heaven" has often been found in the remains of ancient books, showing the prevalence of nature worship. The heroic actions of ancient historical figures, often involving battles with natural disasters, led people to worship their ancestors for protection. Nature and ancestor worship became a primitive form of religious for the early Chinese.

Ancestor worship reached a peak during the Shang dynasty, from 1384 to 1111BC. The excavation of substantial inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells from the Shang dynasty gives evidence to this. Shang society was very superstitious and frequently asked the gods' for advice on any issue, from memorial ceremonies, to wars and diseases; the Shang beseeched their gods to guide actions. Such soothsaying rituals were rigidly controlled by the state up until the Zhou dynasty, which ruled from 1027 to 777BC. The timing, style and scale of soothsaying rituals were all laid down. The most important of these rituals were presided over by the emperor and junior officials could only preside over lesser rituals.

Ancient Chinese religious beliefs such as the worshipping of Heaven and Earth and the ancestors have continued to this day, influencing Confucianism and all other Chinese religious beliefs.