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Religion in China

In China, there are five main religions; Buddhism, Confucianism,

Taoism, Islam, and Christianity. The interesting thing about all of these

religions is that they all originated in different places around the globe.

Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha in Northeastern India around 6th

century B.C.E. Over the years, it slowly made its way to China by Indian

practitioners traveling along the Silk Road. At first, Buddhism was struggling

with competing against Confucianism and Taoism but eventually it adapted

by observing the worship of the ancestors and Chinas hierarchal system.

Confucianism originated in Eastern China around 551 B.C. This religion

spread across China because the founder of Confucianism was a well-known

and looked-up-to philosopher, politician and teacher named Confucius.

Confucius had such a strong impact on political, social, and religious

development that everyone turned to him to find what was right. Taoism also

originated in China but during the 4th or 3rd century. Since the Taoists do not

believe in missionaries, they sat firmly and waited for people to ask them

about their religion if they were interested. So Taoism was spread across

China using their followers that they already had. Islam on the other hand

originated in Mecca and Medina during the start of the 7th century. It is

actually the newest religion to China since it arrived after Buddhism and

Christianity. It is believed that this religion spread across China because of

the arrival of Muslim traders during the Tang Dynasty and the Muslim

conquest of nomadic tribes and Empires between Arabia and China.

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Christianity, on the other hand, originated in Israel. It was introduced to

China during the 19th century and it later spread after the 1840s. The main

reason for the wide spread of Christianity throughout China was because of

the numerous missionaries that the Christian church sends out each year.

Since there are various different religions in China, there are various

different ways that each one affects peoples lives. Buddhists religious

beliefs and norms are simple and can be summed up into five main precepts;

do not kill, do not steal, abstain from sexual misconduct, do not lie, and do

not do drugs or drink alcohol. These beliefs shape who they are as a person

and the choices they are allowed to make in their lives. According to

Confucianism Info, To be a Confucian, you must see all people equally. Do

not blame yourself or others for mistakes that dont matter. Try hard to reach

the perfect state of mind and be free from all ignorance. Embrace learning

and know that the hardest working people will be rewarded. Yet, do not think

lowly of other peoples philosophies and lifestyles. They also believe that

prayer and meditation should be a part of their followers daily lives. For

Taoists, according to BBC, The heart of the Taoist ritual is the concept of

bringing order and harmony to many layers of the cosmos: the cosmos as a

whole (the world of nature), the world or human society, and the inner world

of human individuals. As for Islam, Muslims are supposed to pray five times

a day, give a portion of their earnings to charity, fast during the month of

Ramadan and travel to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. Some of their

customs include; pronouncing Gods name before eating or drinking, keeping

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body hair neatly groomed, and having women cover their hair and entire

body when around males. Christians go to church every Sunday, have

baptisms and communions, pray before eating meals, and study the

scriptures. Now of course all people follow their religions rules as closely or

as loosely as they want to, so some of these rules might not be followed by

all citizens practicing these religions in China.

Each of these religions have sacred places scattered throughout the

world. For Buddhists their sacred places are; Lumbini-Birth of Buddha, Bodh

Gaya-Enlightenment of Buddha, Sarnath-Teaching of Buddha, and Kusinara-

Death of Buddha. The Lumbini Temple is located at the foothills of the

Himalayas in Nepal, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, and Kusinara are in India. A sacred

site for Confucianism is the birth place of Confucius Qufu in the Shandong

province which is located in China. The sacred places for Muslims are Mecca,

Medina, and Jerusalem. Mecca and Medina are in Saudi Arabia while

Jerusalem is in Israel. Lastly, the sacred sites for Christianity are Jerusalem,

Bethlehem, Nazareth, Lourdes, Rome and Canterbury. None of these sacred

sites are located in China.

Religion and government are tightly intertwined in China. In fact,

according to Huffington Post, the Chinese government has declared that

there can only be five main religions in China. These religions are; Buddhism

Taoism, Islam Protestantism and Catholicism. All the rest of the religions are

banned. The rule is so strict that religious believers are not allowed to join

the CCP. Before anyone joins the CCP they must be screened for evidence of
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religious faith or participation. Since Christianity has been banned, Christians

have started creating underground churches underneath the watchful eye of

the Communist Party so they can still practice their religion of choice.

Honestly, I think that it is crazy that the Communist party is allowed to

choose what religions people can practice. I feel like the beauty of the world

revolves around everyone having different opinions about major things like

politics and religion. If everyone were to practice the same five religions the

diversity of the world would slowly diminish and eventually everyone would

become cookie-cutter figures. What is the point in saying that people cannot

believe in a certain God or that they cannot practice a certain way of life? I

just thought it was interesting that China went from embracing all different

religions with open arms to being super strict about what they want their

citizens to believe. They are just going to raise sneaky people who will go

behind their backs and practice their religions without them knowing. I think

that all of the different religions in the world bring us closer and unite us in a

way that wouldnt be possible if we all believed the exact same thing.
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Works Cited

Buddhism. (n.d.). Retrieved March 01, 2017, from

http://buddhism.ygoy.com/2010/08/04/how-does-buddhism-spread-to-
china/

Confucius. (2017, February 28). Retrieved March 02, 2017, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius

McCraw, J. (2012, October 04). Confucianism. Retrieved March 02, 2017, from
https://prezi.com/cm04p1j8upih/confucianism/

The Origins of Taoism: History, the Uncarved Block & Tao-Te Ching - Video & Lesson
Transcript. (n.d.). Retrieved March 02, 2017, from
http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-origins-of-taoism-history-the-uncarved-
block-tao-te-ching.html

Taoism Spreads. (n.d.). Retrieved March 02, 2017, from

http://thewaysofthetao.weebly.com/taoism-spreads.html

Islam in China. (n.d.). Retrieved March 02, 2017, from

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/islam.htm

Customs. (n.d.). Retrieved March 02, 2017, from

http://confucianisminfo.blogspot.com/p/customs.html

BBC - Religions - Taoism: Rites and rituals of Taoism. (n.d.). Retrieved March 02,
2017, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/rites/rites.shtml

Sheehan, M. (2015, February 02). China's Communist Party Bans Believers,

Doubles Down On Atheism. Retrieved March 02, 2017, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/02/china-communist-party-atheism-
zhejiang-ban-religious-members-christianity_n_6599722.html
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