|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
March 8, 2014 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
A wide variety of religions have been practiced in China since the beginning of its history of China|history. Temples of many different religions dot the landscape of China. The study of religion in China is complicated by several issues. Because many Chinese belief systems have concepts of a sacred and sometimes spiritual world yet do not invoke a concept of God, classifying a Chinese belief system as either a religion or a philosophy can be problematic. Thus, some regard Confucianism and Taoism as religions, while others regard them as solely philosophies of life. Secondly, unlike Abrahamic religion, Chinese belief systems allow for syncretism and it is common to profess a belief in multiple belief systems. It is possible for someone to claim to be a Buddhism|Buddhist while living life according to Taoism|Taoist principles and participating in ancestor worship rituals. A Buddhist would have no trouble viewing Jesus as a Bodhisattva and incorporating Christian concepts into Buddhism while the reverse is not necessarily the case. Major belief systems that developed within China include ancestor worship, Chinese folk religion, Confucianism, shamanism, and Taoism. Most Chinese have a conception of heaven and yin and yang. The Chinese have also believed in such practices as Chinese astrology|astrology, Feng Shui, and geomancy. Historically, the Chinese sovereign|emperor was regarded as the Son of Heaven (天子), and he typically led the imperial court in performing elaborate annual rituals. He was not believed to be a deity, but rather someone who mediated between the forces of heaven and earth. A central idea of the dynastic cycle was that an unjust imperial dynasty that had lapsed into corruption could lose the Mandate of Heaven and be overthrown by a rebellion. Influential religions introduced from abroad include Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity. Main article: Buddhism in China Buddhism was introduced from India during the Han dynasty and has been very popular among Chinese of all walks of life, admired by commoners, and sponsored by emperors. Estimate of Buddhists in China range from 70 million to 150 million. Main article: Taoism Taoism is a Chinese indigenous religion. Its primary written work, the Dao De Jing is attributed to Lao Zi, who may or may not have been a real person. The philosophy is centered on 'the way', an understanding of which can be likened to recognising the true nature of the universe. Main article: Islam in China Islam was introduced into China via the Silk Road in the 7th century. It is now practised by a vast number of Chinese, predominantly such list of Chinese ethnic groups|minority groups as the Hui, the Uyghurs, and the Kazakhs. These make up majorities in Ningxia and Xinjiang Autonomous Regions. Some Chinese Christians have begun an effort to convert Chinese Muslims to Christianity. Islam in China, particularly in the western, minority-dominated regions, can be connected with non-Chinese nationalism and even separatist movements. Main article: Christianity in China Some consider the first entry of Christianity into China was the introduction of Nestorianism spread by European or Middle-Eastern travellers who came to China in AD 635, as documented by the Nestorian Stone in Xi'an. In 1289, Franciscan friars from Europe initiated mission work in China. This mission collapsed in 1368, as the Ming Dynasty abolished Christianity in China. The first Jesuit attempt to reach China was made in 1552 by Francis Xavier, but he died the same year on the Chinese island of Shangchuan, without having reached the mainland. In 1582, Jesuits once again initiated mission work in China, introducing Western science, mathematics, and astronomy. One of these missionaries was Matteo Ricci. In the early 18th century, the Chinese Rites controversy, a dispute within the Catholic Church, arose over whether Chinese folk religion rituals and offerings to the emperor constituted idolatry. During the 1840s, Western missionary|missionaries spread Christianity rapidly through the foreign occupied coastal cities; the Taiping Rebellion was connected in its origins to the missionary activity. British and American denominations, such as the Methodist Church in Britain|British Methodist Church, continued to send missionaries until they were prevented from doing so following the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Protestant missionaries played an extremely important role in introducing knowledge of China to the United States and the United States to China. The book The Small Woman and film Inn of the Sixth Happiness tell the story of one such missionary, Gladys Aylward. Since loosening of restrictions on religion after the 1970s, Christianity has grown significantly within the People's Republic. It is still, however, tightly controlled by government authorities. The Three-Self Patriotic Movement and China Christian Council (Protestant) and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which has disavowed the Pope and is considered schismatic by other Roman Catholics, have affiliations with government and must follow the regulations imposed upon them. Many Christians choose however to meet independently of these organisations, typically in Chinese house church|house churches. These fellowships are not officially registered and are seen as illegal entities and are often persecuted heavily. For this reason some meetings take place underground, coining the term "underground church". These Christians have been persecuted throughout the 20th century, especially during the Cultural Revolution, and there remains some official harassment in the form of arrests and interrogations of Chinese Christians. At the same time, there has been increasing tolerance of house churches since the late 1970s. Chinese Christian Brother Yun's book "The Heavenly Man" achieved the Christian Book of the Year award in 2003. The book describes Yun's life from his call to preach the gospel across China and the enlargement of the house church movement. Estimates of Christians in China are difficult to obtain because of the numbers of Christians unwilling to reveal their beliefs, the hostility of the national government towards some Christian sects, and difficulties in obtaining accurate statistics on house churches. See also: Protestantism in China, Catholicism in China, Chinese house church and Persecution of Christians The People's Republic of China was established in 1949 and for much of its early history maintained a hostile attitude toward religion which was seen as emblematic of feudalism and foreign colonialism. Houses of worship, including temples, mosques, and churches, were converted into non-religious buildings for secular use. In the early years of the People's Republic, religious belief or practice was often discouraged because it was regarded by the government as backwards and superstitious and because some Communist leaders, ranging from Vladimir Lenin to Mao Zedong, had been critical of religious institutions. During the Cultural Revolution, religion was condemned as feudalistic and thousands of religious buildings were looted and destroyed. This attitude, however, relaxed considerably in the late 1970s, with the end of the Cultural Revoluion. The 1978 Constitution of the People's Republic of China guarantees freedom of religion with a number of restrictions. In practice, the Communist Party of China will react harshly against groups such as Falun Gong which it perceives as challenging its authority while in general ignoring groups that are not seen as challenging the state. Since the mid-1990s there has been a massive program to rebuild Buddhist temples that were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. Many Chinese actually continue to practice a wide variety of religions. One source gives about 100 million religious worshippers (less than 10% of the population) in mainland China:
However, this estimate of only 100 million worshippers possibly vastly undercounts the actual extent of religious practice in mainland China because some may be afraid, for various reasons, to admit religious belief. sect-stub category:Religion in the People's Republic of China category:Chinese culture This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Religion in China".
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
![[F]](/images/site.gif){kind=small}
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
All informatin on the site is © FamousChinese.com 2002-2005. Last revised: January 2, 2004 Are you interested in our site or/and want to use our information? please read how to contact us and our copyrights. To post your business in our web site? please click here. To send any comments to us, please use the Feedback. To let us provide you with high quality information, you can help us by making a more or less donation: |