Figure 1.--

There are two major indigenous Chinese religions, Confucianism and Daoism. They are notable in comparison to Western religions by the relative absence of metaphysics. They are much more philisophical. Confuscianism emnerged out of the court and is highly academic. Daoism emerged from the people and was a rebel movement confronting Cinfusist thoughtand the Han Dynasty. Perhaps surprisingly, Confucianism was a relatively recent arrival in Chinese society. It did not develop in a vacuume. Confucius (Kong Zi) was an actul man (551 to 479 BC). This was before the unification of China. He lived in the state of Lu (modem Shandong province). His father was an official as were many others in his family. As he gew older he became comcerned with the decline of scoiety. He wanted to see thev restoration of the Way (Dao) described by the ancient sages. Confuscianism was kind of cannoinization of ancient Chinese customs and ancestor veneration. China imported Buddhism from India long the Silk Road. It mixed with Chinese cultural constructs like Confuscim and Taoism without the antagnoism and violence associated with religious traditions in the West. Confusciism seems to have been the most influential of the Chinese religious traditions. It involved a notable lack of mysticism thus making utvseem more like a philosophy than a religion. After the Portuguese opened a sea route to China (late-15th century) , Christian missionaries introduced their religion to the country. The Taiping Rebellion was related to the spread of christianity. It disrupted China in the mid-19th century (1850-64). Millions of lives were lost. It was led by heterodox Christian convert--Hong Xiuquan. He claimed to have seem visions identifying him as the younger brother of Jesus Christ. This affected how many Chinese viewed Christianity. Some converts were made, but as the power of the Europeans grew, many Chinese began to see Christiabity as a tool of the Europeans to subjagate China. Ironically it was those same Christian missionaries that played a major role in bringung about Anmerican aid to Chinma after the Japabnese invaded. The Communists expelled the missionaries (1949) bd attempted to supress Christianoty and other relgions. The pressure on Christians reached a peak during the Cultural Revolution. Suprisinly, Christianity, primarily Protetantism, is today the most dynmic religion in China.

Confucianism

Perhaps surprisingly, Cinfucianism was a relatively recent arrival in Chinese society. It did bot developnin a vacuume. Confucius (Kong Zi) was an actul man (551 to 479 BC). This was before the unification of China. He lived in the state of Lu (modem Shandong province). His father was an official as were many others in his family. As he gew older he became comcerned with the decline of scoiety. He wanted to see thev restoration of the Way (Dao) described by the ancient sages. Confuscianism was kind of cannoinization of ancient Chinese customs and ancestor veneration. Confuscus began to teach about the proper structure of society and its government rather like Plato in ancient Greece. He created a complex system of moral, social, political, and philosophical thought which emerged as a kinf of quasi-religion. This Confusian system had an incalcuable influence on the culture and resukting history of not only China but the wuder East Asian area. Some authors have described >Confucianism as the state religion of East Asian. There was a notable absence of mysticim in his teachings, butvadose of ethics. More than anything he advocated conformity. His central teaching was that , and thought that correct individual behaviour within the family, would result in a well ordered society on the wider scale. He had lottle interest in wht might be called religion in the West, but undrstood that there was a connection with social life. Over time, Cinfuscus became so revered abd his teachings such an integralmprt of Chinese intelectual life that centuries later, a Han Emperor ordered that sacrifice should be made to Confucius (59 AD). Thus Confucian philosophy gradually became a kind of religion and the central pillar of Chinese political order. Confucius would not have apprived. In his life rime, he accepted sacrifice only to one's ancestors. Bu an official Confucian cult developed in Chinma with with temples and merged with the state cult of the Emperor. gter the appeaance of Buddhism and Daoism in China, orthodox Cinduscianism declined (5th century AD). Cofuscian thinkers respmded during the Song Dynasty by developing a metaphysical component to Confuscianism. This led to a kind of renaissance. This new thread is commonly called Neo-confucianism,. The most important voice expounding this new manifestation of Confuscan thought was Zhu Xi (1130-1200). It became the orthodoxy of the Chinese imperial system and dominated Chinese thought when after Portuguese navigators opened asea route to the East, China came in contact with the West. The focus of imperial scholar officials on stability and order, however, would play a role in Chinese society became resistant to change in the 19th century when challenged by the Europen poers amd Industrial Revolution. Ironically many of the technological innivations leding to the Industrial Revolution originated in China, but the Chinese focus or order and stability was incompatable with the change and innovation that were core components of their Industrial Revolution. This played a major role in the collapse of the imperial system (1912) and sharply contrasted with Japanese society which adapted to the European challenge. The Confucian cult as an organized religion no longer exists in China, but Cofuscan thought is a different matter and continues to be a potent element in popular thought.

Daoism (Taoism)

Lao Zi (the personification of the Dao) was a philosopher and poet of ancient China was the formal founder of Daoism. The origins are obscure, but over time Chinese thinkers began to object to important tenants og Confuscianism. Over time these objections came to be seen as a rival to central Confucian tennants. The first known individual to coherently present this new outlook was Lao Zi (Lao Tze) (5th century BC). He is believed to be author of the most influential Taoist text--the Dao De Jing (The Way and its Power). This was an ordered series ofconcepts and practices addressing political and religious issues. While Confucus stressed ethical behavior, Lao Zi described of the virtue in Wu Wei (action through inaction). Daoism emerged from the people and was a rebel movement confronting Confusist thought and the Han Dynasty. Daoism is not a cohesive religion like Christianity and Buddhism, but rarher a collection of some 1,500 texts that began to appear indepedently in various regions (2nd century AD). This was in the later part of the Han Dynasty. Doism might be simplistically described as 'going long with the flow'. Daoist ethics emphasized the Three Jewels of the Dao meaning path: 1) compassion, 2)moderation, and 3) humility. Daoist thinkers commonly focus on a complex intertwining of nature, humanity, and the cosmos; health and longevity; and Wu Wei. This Dao was believed to result inharmony with the Universe. Doism was similar to Confuscianism in that they both harkened back to an earlier golden age. The good ruler meaning ideal emperor was one who led his people with humility, not seeking to interfere with the natural rhythms of social life. The Daoist sought to achieve 'immortality', meaning the transmutation of earthly existence. This led to the development of both alchemy and meditation which were attempt to achieve material immortality. As Buddhism reached China, Daoism found itself in direct competition with this foreign implant. Overvtime, Daoisn borrowed from Buddhist practices as well as fomestic folk traditions. And that like Conduscaniam, what began as a philosophy gradually developed into a religion, but in doing this the it changed fub=ndmebtally from the philosophy of the earliest teachers. The more more philosophical early teaching seem to have been especially meaningful to Chinese painters and poets.

Buddhism

Buddhism is the only foreign religion impored into China with aby success, at least until very recent times. Buddhism originated in India, a fact unknown until recent times because it was so throughly dispaced by Hinduism. Buddhism reached China via the Silk Road (2nd century AD). It was by the Tang dynasty the most dynamic of the Chinese religions. It was unlike Conuscanism and Daoism a more recognizable religion as opposed to scholarly philosophy. Its declined resulted from this success. Tang authorities began to see its rise and influence as a threat, not only to their own power and to public order and the prosperity of the kingdom. It continued to be an important thread in Chinese cultural life, although not a dominant influence. Buddhism was a major departure it Chinese thought. Both Confucian and Daoist teaching shared many features--most importantky they were 'non-dualistic'. For both, matter and spirit formed a continuum within a hilosophical cosmos that was not only self-generating, but also impersonal. Buddhism was a radical departure--dualism. As Buddhism adapted ti Chinese society, different schools of Buddhist thought emerged. Perhaps the best known is Chan (Zen). The Pure Land school was the other principal school of Chinese Buddhism although not so well known in the west. Both were more in keeping with traditional Chinese thought than the Buddhism which first emerged from India. Zen developed meditative techniques while Pure Land stressed faith in the Amitabha Buddha as the path to salvation. Both schools focused on sudden enlightenment and on salvation through grace rather than through the ascetic practices of Indian Buddhist schools appealed to the prctical Chinese. Buddhism unlikeConfuscanism nd Daoism is a living religion in parts of China, although this is difficult to asses as religiin is a sensitive issue in the country. Culturally the influencevof Duddhism is deep, but we notice it as an importnt part of village religion. In the morec open Chinasincecthe Cultural Revolution, temples operate and and monasteries are reopening, New monks and nuns are training.

Islam

Islam followed Buddhism 5 centuries later durungbthe Tang dynasty. It not only reached northest China over the Silk Road, but also arrived by sea at porths in sutheast China. Unlike Buddhism, however, it was nec=ver acceoted by the Han Chinese. It became a religin of minority groups on the perifery of China. Minority groups in the northeast converted from from Buddhism and Nestorianian Christianity. These people were incorporated into China during the Qing dynasty. China this acquired a sizeable Muslim population, although relatively small in Chinese terns. Some male Muslim settlers from the Middle East married Chinese women but retained their Middle Eastern cultural patterns. This was the origins of the Hui people who have settled in various parts of China, primarily along established trade routes and eventually in the larger cities, as far into the interior as Yunnan and Lhasa. Precise statistics on religious adherents are not available. Some estimates suggest that there are some 15 million Muslims in China. About half the total are the Hui. The fact tht practioners are minorities make Islam a sensutive issue in Chin. Muslms in the northeast have exhibited some resistance to Han rule. There have been reports of Muslim terrorist attacks and Chinese Government repression. Government control of the media makes it difficult to assess these reports. The political component of Islam does not sit well with the Communist Party already suspicious of religion. And the fact that the non-Hui Muslims live in sensitive border areas further escalates Party concerns. This is somewhat balanced by the fact that Chinese foreign policy seeks good relations with Muslim countries like Pakistan, Iran, and Sudan. Chinese Muslims are almost enturely Sunn. Sufi brotherhoods have had some influence.

Christianity

Medieval Europeans wdely believed in the legend of Prester John, a Christian patriarch and king who rule over a Christian kingdom suronded by thevlost amidst the Muslims and pagans deep in Asia. Christian missionaries arrived over the Silk Road from Persia (7th century AD). The resulting Nestorian Church that developed mostly within the foreign communities in the larger cities. Som Nestorian converted to Islm. But the community as a whole daisppeared with the end of the Tang dynasty and had little influence on Chinese society. It was the Portuguese who began the more comprehensive introduction of Christianity to China. After the Portuguese opened a sea route to China (late-15th century), Christian missionaries introduced their religion to the country. Under the Mongol dynasties in China, both Nestorian and Roman Catholic churches were established in China, but they servrd the Mongol ruling class rather than trying to convert the Han population. It was with the arrival of the Jesuit Matteo Ricci that Christianity began to make an impact on thecChinese (1588). The number of converts were small, but of some signifcance. Qing Emperor Kang Xi's isued an edict banning Christianity (1721), reducedctge Christian community, but did not eliminate it. Finally missionaries came to china in large numbers including many Protestant musdiinaries. They found some surviving Catholic communities. The Eurooeans demanded rights fir missiinaries apart of the settlement of the Opium Wars. The Taiping Rebellion was related to the spread of christianity. It disrupted China in the mid-19th century (1850-64). Millions of lives were lost. It was led by heterodox Christian convert--Hong Xiuquan. He claimed to have seem visions identifying him as the younger brother of Jesus Christ. This affected how many Chinese viewed Christianity. Some converts were made, but as the power of the Europeans grew, many Chinese began to see Christiabity as a tool of the Europeans to subjagate China. Christian missionaries forvthis reasons were targetted by the Boxers (1900). Ironically it was those same Christian missionaries that played a major role in bringung about Anmerican aid to Chinma after the Japannese invaded. The Communists expelled the missionaries (1949) and attempted to supress Christianoty and other relgions. The pressure on Christians reached a peak during the Cultural Revolution. Since that timectherechs been a quiet,poorly reoported resurgence of Chrutianity with little outside support. Christianity no longer has hge assicuation with foreigners tht it once had. o onecknow how many Chrustians there are in China. Many new churches have been repopened wofficually but other Christians practivectheir religion informlly in small groups. Suprisinly, Christianity, primarily Protetantism, is today the most dynmic religion in China. It is concentrated in the big indistrial cities, but gradually spreading. One soyrce estimates that therecare about 10 million Christians in China, but this is probably a significant under estimation of the size of the Christian community.

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Created: 3:58 AM 6/1/2012
Last updated: 3:58 AM 6/1/2012