The world’s eyes turned to China when it hosted the XXIX Olympic Games Aug. 8-24, 2008, in Beijing. For many, those eyes were on the ascendant Asian economic powerhouse. Tensions and issues involving China made headlines daily. The riots in the Buddhist region of Tibet, the dissenters on trial in China, the allegations of terrorism by China’s Muslim minority, the protests and the calls for Olympic boycotts – all these stories have faith dimensions.
Background
As a communist country, China is officially atheist, but religious practice is permitted by Article 36 of the country’s constitution. China’s size and history make it a land of diverse religious beliefs and practice; experts, including those within China, say that religious activity is increasing. The religious picture in China is particularly complex. In addition to the usual challenges posed by scope and diversity of practices, religion in China today has at least two levels: one official, one underground. China officially acknowledges, and regulates, five major religions: Catholic Christianity, Protestant Christianity, Taoism, Buddhism and Islam. Its regulations make it difficult for those outside these sanctioned belief systems to practice their religion; some within these five groups also experience a variety of barriers to religious freedom. The Chinese government argues that its regulations on religious activity promote social stability and discourage foreign interference in its affairs.
China’s own major religious/spiritual/philosophical traditions are Taoism and Confucianism; Buddhism, which came to China early in its development, is widespread. Islam likewise came long ago to China as that religion rapidly spread eastward in its early development. The growth of Christianity reflects China’s interaction with the West, and mission work continues there even as distinctly Chinese Christianity asserts itself. China is a religious quilt; some patches represent folk or regional religions, others represent such historic traditions as Judaism or the spread of more contemporary religions, such as Mormonism. Religious expression also takes the form of new religions that draw on China’s character and history; the Falun Gong movement is a high-profile example of a distinctively Chinese blend of mind-body-spirit practices. The movement was banned in China in 1999 as an “evil cult.”
Freedom of religious expression is part of the larger set of human rights issues that are a flashpoint in China. Many groups concerned with the state of human rights and the rule of law monitor religious freedom issues in China. Still other groups are more narrowly concerned with religious rights issues, including the ability to proselytize. But some major issues are at once religious and political. Tibet is a case in point, a perfect storm for China. Tibet’s spiritual and political head, the Dalai Lama, a Buddhist monk who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, enjoys worldwide popularity, and supporters of Tibet have built a worldwide network. The issue of Tibet – called Tibet Autonomous Region by the Chinese, whose army entered the area in 1950 – reaches deep into the region’s history and involves religious, ethnic, economic, social and political differences.
Demonstrations aimed at spotlighting human rights issues dogged the Olympic torch run before the opening of the Games, with Tibet an especially high-profile cause for demonstrators. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom called on President Bush to boycott the Games’ opening ceremonies if conditions in Tibet do not improve. Many organizations supporting independence for Tibet pushed for dialogue between the Dalai Lama and China about Tibet’s status.
Support for China’s view that Tibet is an autonomous Chinese region was expressed by Chinese people living abroad and, significantly, Chinese students studying abroad, including in the United States. China’s youngest citizens have grown up with the view that Tibet is, and historically has been, a part of China. Some universities were the site of both pro-Tibet actions and counterdemonstrations. Chinese students also used the Internet to promote this view. Western support for Tibet in turn prompted some anti-Western demonstrations within China, since the West’s stance on Tibet readily stirred Chinese grievances about Western imperialism.
Although less well-known than Tibet, another region in western China where similar tensions are at work also made occasional headlines. Xinjiang in Central Asia is home to a Muslim population of Turkic descent, the Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gurs). Historically the eastern part of the region of Turkestan, this area is today called Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Chinese authorities have responded to unrest there and have implicated terrorism as its cause.
Religion in China
Overview
The government of China recognizes five major religions: Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Catholic Christianity and Protestant Christianity. Religious groups that have clergy and a worship site are required to register with the government (most do not have English-language websites). Some religious groups have chosen not to register, giving rise to a variety of alternative forms of religious organizations, clergy and places of worship, particularly among Christians. Unregistered churches are sometimes called “underground” churches, even though they may meet in a public place. “House churches” are embryonic religious groups, often without an ordained leader. Experts also estimate that hundreds of millions of Chinese engage in spiritual practices through local temples or altars, worship of ancestors and other practices that are neither legal nor explicitly banned by the government.
These informal practices may appear cultural or behavioral rather than religious/spiritual. The ancient Chinese tradition of Confucianism is a system of values and ethics deeply embedded in culture that influences institutions and decision-making today, even though it is not an institutional religion. Popular practices can also walk a fine line between being religious or having another purpose and meaning. The Falun Gong movement is a case in point; it is a system of exercises that draws on some traditional ideas and attitudes about health as well as spiritual elements.
The Chinese government and religion
- Read the “religious beliefs” section of the English-language version of the People’s Republic of China government website.
- Read background papers on religious belief in China from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States of America.
- Xinhua is the government-authorized news agency in China; its archive of government white papers includes a 1997 white paper – the most recent – on religious belief in China.
- See a timeline of measures passed by the Chinese government since 2004 regulating religion.
Other resources
- The Pew Form on Religion & Public Life analyzed several recent surveys of religious affiliation among Chinese. The report also looks at characteristics of people who are interested in information about religion.
- Read “The Red, Black, and Gray Markets of Religion in China,” a 2006 Sociological Quarterly article by China scholar Fenggang Yang that provides statistics over time of religious believers in China. The article also provides a brief history of the changing attitudes of the Chinese communist government toward religion.
- Read a Feb. 8, 2007, Washington Post story about a government-sponsored survey in China that found as many as 300 million religious believers, around three times the official estimate. Even while this number is higher than government figures, scholars outside China are skeptical of the survey methodology; they believe the number of believers is even higher.
- Read an April 12, 2008, Wall Street Journal story about the growth of religious seeking in China today.
- Read the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding’s brief overview of religion in China.
- The Library of Congress Federal Research Division country profile of China includes information about religion on Pages 11-12.
Major religious groups
Buddhism
About: Buddhism came to China in the early centuries of the Common Era and developed some distinctive variations there, Pure Land and Chan (in Japan, Zen). The Pure Land school emphasizes devotion; Chan emphasizes meditation. Chinese Buddhism includes a great tradition of influential teachers. Over millennia, Buddhism has spread through its adaptability to the countries which it has penetrated. In China, Buddhism has evolved into coexistence and compatibility with the native traditions of Confucianism and Taoism.
Government-sanctioned group: Buddhist Association of China
What’s new: Buddhism is China’s biggest religion, with more than 13,000 temples, 200,000 monks and nuns and tens of millions of believers, according to government estimates. Signs of interest in Buddhism can be found on the streets today in the form of prayer bead bracelets worn by individuals. The money that can be generated by “temple tourism” makes it important for political authorities to maintain harmonious enough relations with the Buddhist community.
Resources:
- Read a March 13, 2007, China Daily story about the popularity of Buddhism in China.
- See a timeline of Buddhism in China.
Catholicism
Government-sanctioned group: Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association
About: Tension has existed for decades between those who join the association and those who refuse to accept governmental regulation of religion and/or understand church authority as vested in the Vatican. These issues of authority and allegiance have produced an underground as well as “official” church.
What’s new: In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI issued a letter decrying this division while rejecting government regulation, seen as a step toward healing a long-standing split and improving relations with the government, which does not recognize the Vatican. Part of the split manifests itself in disagreement over who appoints the Chinese Catholic hierarchy, a disagreement that has led both sides to refuse to recognize some high-ranking clergy. But the ordination in December 2007 of Bishop Joseph Gan Junqiu had Vatican approval, a sign of movement in Chinese-Vatican relations.
Resources:
- Read a 2007 Catholic News Service package of stories on the Catholic Church in China.
- Read a 2002 presentation by researcher Jean-Paul Wiest summarizing the tensions between China and the Vatican.
Confucianism
About: Confucianism is not popularly perceived as a religion, though scholars may treat it as such. It is an ethic and way of life that has deeply permeated China’s culture since its beginnings in the 6th to 5th century BCE with the sage Confucius. At its core is the Confucian idea of virtue, which found expression in government and other social institutions as well as in individual character. After vilifying this ancient tradition during the time of the Cultural Revolution, Chinese officials today are using to their advantage the Confucian cultural values that promote social harmony.
What’s new: A Confucian revival is exemplified by China’s plan for a “Confucius City,” a complex that would not only celebrate Confucius and other ancients but also Chinese technology from past to present.
Resources:
- Confucius Institutes are springing up all over the world to promote the study of Chinese language and culture.
- Read a Chinese appreciation of the formative influence of Confucius at ChinaTravelGuide.com.
Falun Gong
About: The Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) movement was banned in China in 1999 as an “evil cult.” Falun Gong is a mind-body-spirit practice that builds on traditional Chinese thought and practices. Founder Li Hongzhi began teaching it in 1992. The Chinese government estimated the number of practitioners at 70 million when it cracked down on the sect in 1999.
Resources:
- The Falun Dafa Information Center compiles and checks reports about the Falun Gong in China.
- Read Beliefnet resources on Falun Gong.
Islam
Government-sanctioned group: The Islamic Association of China.
According to Chinese government statistics, China has more than 20 million Muslims, more than 40,000 Islamic places of worship and more than 45,000 imams.
About: China’s major ethnic Muslim groups are the Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gurs) and the Hui. The Hui are related to the ethnic majority Han Chinese. The Uighurs are a Central Asian Turkic group living in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
Resources:
- The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China heard testimony in 2004 about the status of the Uighurs in China.
- Read the BBC’s history of Islam in China.
- Read about historical mosques in China at the British site Muslimheritage.com.
Protestant Christianity
Government-sanctioned groups: The Three-Self Patriotic Movement and China Christian Council
About: The TSPM is a lay movement; the CCC is the umbrella group of church leadership. (The term “three-self” refers to self-support, self-government and self-propagation, principles intended to emphasize the independence of Chinese Protestants from foreign influence.) Chinese Protestants are not denominational. These two groups, headquartered in Shanghai, also have a relationship with the Amity Foundation, which works with Protestant churches in China.
What’s new: Christianity, China’s second largest permitted religion, is growing in China in a variety of ways. The Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass., projects that China will have 196 million Christians and be the world’s third largest Christian nation by 2050. China’s independent “house church” movement is driving that growth.
Research:
- Read a list of books on Christianity published in China since 1978.
Taoism (Daoism)
Government-sanctioned group: China Taoist Association
About: Taoism began in China in the third century BCE and is based on the teachings of Lao Tzu, author of the Tao-Te Ching (also Daodejing; means “Classic of the Way of Power”).
What’s new: The Research Association of Laozi Taoist Culture was launched in China in March 2008. The group is the first in recent history dedicated to the study of this traditional Chinese religion. In 2007, China hosted an international forum on the Tao-Te Ching Taoism’s sacred text. Chinese officials said at the forum that Taoism was an important part of China’s history and a way to build a harmonious society today.
Resources:
- Read an introduction to Chinese Taoism from the Chinese Taoist Association, the official group for believers.
- Read a short essay on the cultural influence of Taoism from the Asia Society.
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Center of Traditional Taoist Studies
The Center of Traditional Taoist Studies is a non-profit religious organization dedicated to promoting traditional Taoist studies.
Organizations
Groups that focus on research and policy regarding China
Academic centers
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Center for the Study of World Religions
The Harvard Divinity School includes the Center for the Study of World Religions. It is a residential community of academic fellows, graduate students, and visiting professors of major world religious traditions.
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Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies
The Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies has a rich history of scholarship on China.
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Ohio State University Institute for Chinese Studies
Ohio State University Institute for Chinese Studies is part of the university’s East Asian Studies Center.
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Center for East Asian Studies
Stanford University’s Center for East Asian Studies is a multidisciplinary teaching and research effort. Religious studies is among the disciplines, and faculty there have expertise in Buddhism, Taoism and classical Chinese thought.
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Stanford China Program
The Stanford China Program, begun in 2007 and part of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford, includes conferences, exchanges and fieldwork in China. Program director is Jean C. Oi.
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University of California’s Center for Chinese Studies
The Center for Chinese Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, focuses on research and teaching; research projects there include Rethinking Confucianism.
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University of Colorado’s Center for Asian Studies
The Center for Asian Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder is a national resource center for Asian studies.
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University of Michigan Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies
The University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies coordinates the work of more than 30 faculty members. San Duanmu is director of the center.
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University of Pennsylvania Center for East Asian Studies
The University of Pennsylvania Center for East Asian Studies coordinates teaching and research about East Asian subjects at Penn. Center director is Jacques deLisle.
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University of Southern California’s U.S.-China Institute
The University of Southern California’s U.S.-China Institute supports research, teaching and outreach to improve understanding of U.S.-China relations.
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Purdue University’s Center on Religion and Chinese Society
Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., opened in 2008, focuses on religions in Chinese societies, including mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other Chinese communities. Fenggang Yang is the director.
Think Tanks
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The Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center
The Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center develops analysis and policy recommendations. Director Jeffrey Bader worked for the U.S. government for 27 years.
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Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s China Program
The China Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., hosted “China’s Olympian Challenge: Can Beijing Deliver on Its Promises?” on Oct. 11, 2007. It is the oldest international affairs think tank in the United States. Email via the website.