중국 샤머니즘는 구석기시대 말기에 발생하였으며, 巫는 국가의 출현과 함께 존재한다. 商代에는 巫咸 등이 巫의 대표자로서 정치와 종교의 대권을 장악하고 있었다. 周代에 오면 政敎의 분립이 일어나서 종교의 직무는 巫ㆍ祝ㆍ史에 분관되고 그에 따라 무의 권력도 점차 축소된다. 그러다 漢代 이후 무는 권력구조에서 배척되어 버리고 儒ㆍ佛ㆍ道가 대신 그 자리를 차지한다. 무는 그 후 민간신앙으로 명맥을 이어온다. 『산해경』과 고고학적 자료를 통해 巫의 形象, 巫의 用具, 靈魂과 偶像崇拜, 神殿祭祀, 占卜과 巫術에 관한 흔적을 발견할 수 있다. 최초의 무는 氏族長을 겸임했으며 주요활동은 점복ㆍ제사ㆍ무술ㆍ醫病ㆍ送葬 등이다. 모계 씨족사회에서 무는 여성이었으며 父權制가 출현하면서부터 점차 남성무가 증가한다. 중국 샤머니즘은 夏로부터 商ㆍ西周를 거쳐 춘추시기에 이르기까지 진일보 발전하여 전성기를 이룬다. 상ㆍ주의 무는 하대에 비해 보다 큰 권력을 지니고 전성기를 누렸다. 첫째, 그들은 샤머니즘의 주재자로서 제사ㆍ점복ㆍ무술ㆍ送葬 등 각종 종교활동을 했다. 그러나 소박한 多神信仰을 타파하고 諸神의 평등관계를 혼란시켰다. 天과 上帝를 위주로 하였으며 조상숭배로써 신앙을 보좌했다. 둘째, 무도 인민을 착취하는데 편승하여 사유재산을 증식시켰고 생산노동에서 이탈되었다. 무는 종교뿐 아니라 정치ㆍ경제 영역에서도 중요한 위치를 차지하는데 商代 일부 무는 대신ㆍ재상, 심지어 군왕까지 된다. 셋째, 과학문화 발전에 중요한 공헌을 하였다. 무는 甲骨文ㆍ?文 등 문자를 발명했으며 점성학을 축적하여 천문학 지식을 전파했다. 그 외 문학ㆍ역사ㆍ음악ㆍ무용ㆍ수학 등 諸學術 분야에 지대한 공적을 쌓은 지식인이었다. 당시 주변국으로서 楚ㆍ齊ㆍ燕ㆍ秦 등 역시 샤머니즘이 성행했으며, 그 중 초나라는 궁중이나 민간 할 것 없이 가장 흥성했다.
Shamanism has been deeply rooted as a folk religion from the ancient times even until now. The purpose of this study is to review the historical changes and the characteristics of Chinese shamans in order to understand an aspect of the ancient Chinese culture. The research was conducted through a critical review of Kyungshajajip(經史子集), archaeological literature, and ethnographic literature. Even though Chinese shamanism developed extensively through the periods of Ha(夏), Shang(商), Seoju(西周), and Chunchu(春秋), Chinese shamans had already emerged along with the development of the nation. In Shang Dynasty, politics and religion were under the authority of Mooham(巫咸), who were the representatives of Shangmu(商巫: shamans in the Shang age). In Ju(周) Dynasty, separation of politics and religion had occurred, and religious duties were transferred to Mu(巫: shaman), Chuk(祝), and Sha(史). Consequently, the political power of shamans obviously shrunk. After Han(漢) Dynasty, shamans were excluded by political institutions, thus, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism replaced it. As a result, shamans became to play a major role as a folk religion Chinese shamanism started in the late old stone age. The type of shamans, tools for shamanism, spirits, idol worship, ritual for God, fortune telling, and practicing shamanism can be tracked through the book, ShanHyeGyung(山海經) and many archaeological literature. During Shang and Ju Dynasty, shamans had greater power and authority compared to the similar groups in Ha Dynasty. First, as representatives of shamans, they performed all the religious activities, such as practicing exorcise, rituals, sorcery, medical remedy, and funerals. The religious activities mainly dealt with worshipping the heaven and the king of the heaven in Taoism, and later on, serving the ancestor was included. Second, shamans amassed a fortune and increased their private properties by exploiting the people. Shamans exercised their power on politics and economy, and some of them became powerful political features, such as executives and even kings. Third, they made distinctive contributions to the development of science. Shamans invented Gapgol characters(甲骨文) and Yi characters(?文: the letters of Yi tribe) and developed astrology and distributed the astrological knowledge. As erudite people, they also contributed to many fields of literature, history, music, and mathematics. Shamanism flourished in most of the neighboring countries of Ju, such as Cho(楚), Jae(齊), Yeon(燕), and Jin(秦) at that time. Among those countries, shamanism mostly flourished in Cho, and which is proven in Chosa(楚辭) and also in Shagi(史記) and Hanseo(漢書).