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Religions In China
- Updated:
- Nov 02, 2009;
- by:
- China Highlights;
- Clicks:
- 608;
China is a multi-religious country. Taoism, Buddhism, lslamism, Protestantism and Catholicism have all developed quite a following in this country. Freedom of belief is a government policy, and normal religious activities are protected by the constitution.
Buddhism
Buddhism spread from India to China some 2,000 years ago. Chinese Buddhism may be classified according to languages into three communities: Mandarin, Tibetan and Bali. Most of the Mandarin Buddhist believers are Han Chinese while Tibetan Buddhist (generally called Lamaist) believers are people of the Tibetan, Mongolian, Yugur, Lhoba, Moinba and Tujia nationalities, and Bali Buddhist believers are people of the Dai and Bulang ethnic groups that mainly live in Yunnan Province. The Buddhist communities are the largest religious communities in China. However, since quite a few of Han believers are not always steadfast followers of Buddhism, it is hard to count their exact numbers.
Recommended Buddhist Sites
Taoism
Taoism is native and has a history of more than 1,700 years. Its founder was Lao tzu and its doctrines are based on his writings, the tao teaching. Taoism, a polytheistic religion, is still quite influential in rural areas inhabited by Han Chinese.
Recommended Taoist Sites
Islam
Islam spread from the Arab Countries to China more than 1,300 years ago. It now has more than 14 million believers among the Hui, Yugur, Kazak, Ozbek, Tajik, Tatar, Kirgiz, Dongxiang Sala and Banan ethnic groups. The Islamic followers mainly live in Provinces of Xinjiang, Ningxia, Ganxu and Qinghai in northwest China. There are also Islamic communities scattered in almost every city. The Muslims do not not eat pork, dogs, horses, donkeys or mules.
Recommended Islamic Sites
Christianity
Catholicism and other forms of Christianity began to make their way into China very early. In 635, a missionary of the Nestorian sect came to China from Persia, the then called JING. The religion withered long before gaining a strong foothold in China. It was after the Sino-British Opium War in 1840 that the Christian developed rapidly in China. After the founding of New China, Chinese Catholic and Christian communities took the path of independence and self administration. Now there are more than 3.3 million catholic and nearly 5 million protestants in the country.
Recommended Christian Sites
In addition, there are also members of the Orthodox Eastern Church and of other religions among minority groups.
No religion has ever assumed a dominant position in China. Foreign religions, influenced and assimilated by time-honored Chinese Culture and tradition have gradually become religions with Chinese characteristic. Religious believers make up only a tiny proportion of the 1.3 billion Chinese people.
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See Also
- China Accommodation
- Chinese Ethnic Groups
- China National Emblem
- China National Flag
- China Population
- China Living Standard
- Chinese Money
- China Security
- China Public Health
- China Tourism
- China Transportation
- China History
- Food and Drink
- China in Brief
- Chinese Chronology
- China Facts
- China Weather
- China National Anthem
- China National Day
