Religion in China

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Summary

“All land under heaven belongs to the emperor; all people on the land are subjects of the emperor”. This used to be the conception of the imperial power in traditional Chinese culture. As everything depends on and serves the imperial power in traditional Chinese culture. As everything depends on and serves the imperial power, so does every religion. Religion as an ideological system must gain the recognition of the monarch. This has been the first criterion of religions. The more an ideological system was recognize, supported and praised by the monarch, the more this ideological system became a religion.
For humans, whether as communities or individuals, religion is a ghost that can never be dismissed. It is a partner of humans. It is greeted in awe and never leaves. In China, Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism are the three main religious beliefs. Confucianism is the main belief. Buddhism and Daoism are secondary beliefs. Other beliefs are supplementary. Every religious belief involves a religion and a philosophy. Confucianism is a patriarchal religion that reveres heaven and ancestors. Its philosophy is Confucianism. But, whereas a traditional patriarchal religion has usually a religious belief but no philosophy, Confucianism has no actual religious belief but a philosophy. Buddhism is both a religion and a philosophy. Daoism is both a religion and a school of thought. To classify the traditional Chinese religions, Confucianism is a philosophy with a patriarchal religious style. Daoism is akin to the patriarchal, clericalist power, with disciples pursuing individual religious goals. Buddhism gives support to the masses to live quietly under the combined rule of the patriarchal, state power and religious power. Either of them provides but the external form of the patriarchal religion.

Traditional Religions Influential in China

Confucianism

Confucius (Kong Zi) lived from 551 to 479 BC in the state of Lu (in modem Shandong province). He came from a family of officials and his concern was with the restoration of the Way (Dao) of the ancient sages. His teaching was therefore related mainly to society and its government. He advocated strict conformity, and thought that fostering correct behaviour, within the context of the family, would produce an ordered society. He was not particularly interested in religion, except insofar as it related to social life.

However, in 59 AD during the Han dynasty, it was decreed that sacrifice should be made to Confucius and this began a process which was to make Confucian philosophy into the foundation of the Chinese political order. Confucius himself had only accepted the legitimacy of sacrifice to one's own ancestors, but from now on an official Confucian cult emerged, with its own temples. It gradually became linked with the state cult of the Emperor.

From the fifth century AD Confucian orthodoxy retreated before the popularity of Buddhism and Daoism. But a renaissance came during the Song dynasty when Confucianism responded to the challenge and developed its own metaphysics. This new trend is known as Neo-confucianism, and its main exponent was Zhu Xi (1130-1200). It subsequently became the main orthodoxy of the scholar officials until the demise of the imperial system in 1912.

In contemporary China, the Confucian cult has disappeared, but the Confucian approach to government and society retains a powerful hold on many people.

Taoism

The origins of Daoism are obscure, but it is first seen as a rival to Confucianism. The teachings of early Taoism are ascribed to Lao Zi (Lao Tze) in the fifth century BC who is the reputed author of the most influential Taoist text, the Dao De Jing (The Way and its Power). Where the Confucian stressed ethical action, the Taoist spoke of the virtue of Wu Wei (non-action), going with the flow of things.

Like the Confucianists, Daoists looked back to a golden age. The good ruler, they thought, guided his people with humility, not seeking to interfere with the rhythms of social life conducted within the larger patterns of the natural world and the whole cosmos.

The Daoist adept was concerned to achieve 'immortality', seen as transmuted earthly existence. This led to the development of alchemy and to methods of meditation aimed at reaching material immortality.

As time passed Daoism found itself in direct competition with the foreign teachings of Buddhism. It borrowed Buddhist practices and also drew on folk religious traditions to create its own religious form and ethos. It secured an essential place in popular religious life, but in this form it has ceased to bear much resemblance to the philosophical precepts of the early teachers. The earlier, more philosophical Daoism has continued to inspire Chinese painters and poets through the ages and its teachings appealed to many a scholar official who adhered to a strictly Confucian ethic in public life.

Buddhism

Buddhism is the only foreign religion that has been widely accepted in China. It first entered China in the second century AD and by the Tang dynasty was the most dynamic and influential of all religions. However, its very success led to a severe curtailment of its activities in the late Tang, since officials began to see its power as a threat, both to their own power and to the order and prosperity of society. After this it remained an important element in Chinese life, but took its place alongside Daoism and a revitalised Confucianism.

Both Confucian and Daoist teaching were 'non-dualistic' - matter and spirit formed a continuum within a cosmos that was self-generating and impersonal. Buddhism, however, taught a radical dualism. Through a long process of adaptation, various Chinese schools emerged such as Chan (Zen) and the Pure Land school, which were far more congenial to traditional Chinese thought. Zen, with its meditative techniques, and Pure Land with its stress on faith in the Amitabha Buddha as the way to salvation, became the dominant forms of Chinese Buddhism. These teachings with their focus on sudden enlightenment and on salvation through grace rather than through ascetic practices appealed to many ordinary Chinese.

Buddhism today continues as an important force in some parts of the country. The extent of its influence is unclear, but it remains a key component in village religion. Temples and monasteries are reopening in many places and new monks and nuns are in training.

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