Religion in Contemporary China - Essay Example

 Religion in Contemporary China Religion in China has been set apart by pluralism since the start of history in China. The religions in China are based on the family and do not require the complete devotion of members. A number of professionals do not agree with the use of the word religion when referring to Taoism and Buddhism. They argue that these two practices should be thought of as philosophies, cultural practices or thought systems. In China, it is debatable what should be referred to as religion and people who should be referred to as religious. Buddhism is still the most popular religion in China from its inception in the 1st century. Nonetheless, one of the biggest units of religious traditions in China is the Shenism or the Chinese folk religion. These religious traditions comprise the worship of the shens, a collection of ancestors, heroes local ethnic deities, figures from Chinese mythology, and Taoism (Spence 23). This paper will look at religion in Contemporary China. China has had one of the most diverse and richest religious cultures in the universe prior to the modernist changes of the twentieth century. The radical anti-traditionalist laws of both communist and republic administrations, in addition to other historical factors, have caused a transformation to China’s religious traditions. Christianity in China was established in the 7th century. Christianity decreased due to hounding between the 10th and 14th centuries. Nevertheless, Christianity was revived in the 16th century. The increased incursion of Western ideas in China during the 18th and 19th centuries saw Western religions increase their dominance in China. The Western Religions had a hand in the Taiping Rebellion (Spence 71). The Communist Party of China was considered an atheist administration which perceived traditional religions as non-rewarding and Western religions, for example, Christianity, as a strategy of Western dominance, and has persistently asserted separation of the church from affairs of the country so as to avoid events, for example, the Taiping Rebellion. Currently, Buddhism, Shenism and Taoism are the key religions in China with a total of over 58% of people in China being members. The rest of the population is made up of other world religions. A number of new religious movements, both exogenous and indigenous are spread all over China. In addition, Confucianism as a religious movement has become popular with intellects. Nevertheless, these different religious groups are spreading all over China because the administration is permitting them to extend. China has a number of the globe’s tallest statues, as well as the tallest of all. The majority of these buildings symbolize religious personalities, deities, and Buddhas (Spence 113). The Spring Temple Buddha is the globe’s tallest sculpture. It is found in Henan. Also, the globe’s tallest stupa and the globe’s tallest pagoda have been recently constructed in China. The government of China is atheist. This is because it has presumed religion as a symbol of foreign colonialism and feudalism and has upheld separation of the country affairs from the church activities. The cultural revolution of 1966 and 1967 resulted to the formulation of a law that led to the removal of religions. The consequence was the destruction and damage of places of worship. The law against religion largely eased in the end of 1970. This was also a period that signified the termination of the Cultural Revolution. Ever since this period, there has been permission to perform religious activities. From the middle of 1980, there has been a significant plan to reconstruct Taoist and Buddhist temples. In addition, the government of China has shown support for Taoism and Buddhism coordinating the World Buddhist Forum in 2006 (Spence 147). The government of China has perceived these religions as a significant component of the Chinese culture. Nevertheless, there are a number of religious groups realized by the China nation, they include, Taoism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. Also, the government of China manages the institutions in the religious groups it realizes. The new decree of China in 2007 regards religion as one of the most significant components of human life. In contrast, the government of China has also outlawed a number of novel religious groups. Taoism refers to a number of associated religious and philosophical concepts and traditions. Taoism started in China in the 6th century. Taoist ideas concentrate on spontaneity, health, non-action, immortality, and longevity (Spence 151). The Taoist traditions have had an impact on China for more than two thousand years, and a number of them have extended globally. Popular Taoism incorporates reverence of ancestor spirits and nature. Organized Taoism also separates its ritual doings from the folk religion. In addition, Taoism is related to Chinese traditional medicine, Chinese alchemy, astrology, a number of Chinese martial arts, and cuisine. A number of Taoist activities and concepts have been adopted from Buddhism. Taoism developed because of political support from several reasons while other male and female intellects supported and engaged in its activities because of its power and beauty. In the past, Taoism progressed due to help from the rulers. In addition, contemporary China employs arts related to Taoism, for example, people utilize traditional herbal medicines. There is also, the Chinese Taoist Association, a national organization established in 1956, and exists in all cities and provinces (Spence 156). This national organization was established to manage activities of the Taoists. Both the Shanghai Taoist Association and Beijing Taoist Association give an account of their membership. In 2007, government officials and celebrities attended the International Forum on the Daodejing and pledged to authenticate Taoism as one of the basis of Chinese customs. In China, Christianity consists of Catholics, a small number of Orthodox Christians, and Protestants. Christianity has been an emergent marginal religion for almost 200 years. The growth of Christianity has been considerable after the relaxing of constraints on religion after the 70s. Chinese citizens who have attained the age of 18 or above can attend authorized Christian meetings through the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association or the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. In addition, a number of Christians in China who wish to evade the religious movements controlled by the state conduct their meetings in unlawful house churches. These people risk death, fines, torture, or imprisonment (Spence 331). Christianity has been in existence in China since the 7th century AD, having numerous cycles of stout existence for significant periods, fading away for long periods, and then being introduced again. Christianity was first introduced in the Republic of China during the initial stages of the Tang dynasty, and the coming of the Persian missionary in 635. Europeans referred to this period as the Nestorian Christianity. Christianity was successful for a number of years before Emperor Wuzong embraced anti-religious laws in 845. These laws provided for the removal of Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Buddhism and confiscation of their numerous assets. In the 13th century, Christianity was re-introduced in China. This was during the Yuan dynasty, when Nestorianism was re-introduced in China (Spence 363). Nonetheless, when the Yuan dynasty was overthrown by the Ming dynasty of native China in the 14th century, Christianity was again abolished, and Christians were ejected from China. Currently, Christianity is accepted in China and is both studied and practiced with other religions. Also, the study of Christianity as an academic subject is thriving. Buddhism was introduced during the Han Dynasty, from India. This was in the 1st century. Buddhism became common among Chinese from all areas, supported by leaders of a number of empires and appreciated by commoners. It is presumed that the Buddhist organizations were the stoutest in china, by the 9th century, challenging the power of the Chinese administration and exceeding the Taoist Institutions. The dominance of Buddhism led to the Great Anti-Buddhism Persecution, which led to the suppression of the religious group (Spence 432). Nonetheless, Buddhist activities survived the suppression and developed in the subsequent periods. Buddhism went through significant progress during several Chinese dynasties, for example, Song Dynasty, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Tang Dynasty, and Sui Dynasty. Currently, Buddhism is highly incorporated in the Chinese pop culture, philosophy of China, and the culture of China. The Buddhist religion has its national organization called The Buddhist Association of China. This organization was established in 1953. Buddhism is the leading organized religion in China (Spence 467). The government of China’s statistics approximate the number of Buddhist followers to be 100 million. The World Buddhist Forum was held in China, in 2006. Also, in 2007, the Chinese government outlawed mining activities on Buddhist sacred mountains. The remnants of Gautama Buddha’s skull was revealed and placed as an artifact, in 2010 at Qixia Temple. In China, Islam developed as a result of trading activities. Also, a number of Muslims were sent to govern China in the Yuan Dynasty. Muslims continued dominating the government of China during the Ming Dynasty. Currently, the Islam religion is going through a resurgence. There is an increase in Islamic manifestation and a number of country-wide organizations have arranged to organize events between Muslims (Spence 501). In addition, members of the Muslim religion can be traced in all the provinces, in China. Ten groups of the fifty five minorities groups in China are mainly Muslim. It is estimated that the Muslim community makes up almost 2% of the total Chinese population. Moreover, a large number of Chinese went to Mecca for the hajj, in 2006. Work Cited Spence, J. D. The Search for Modern China. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1991. Print. Read More