Over the ages, many religions have entered China and at present, there are five main religions, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism. Each religion has added its own mark to the cultural history of China.
According to recent surveys, China has over 100 million followers of various religions. Buddhism and Taoism has the largest number of followers, though accurate numbers are hard to come by because Buddhism and Taoism has become a blended faith with many following both religions.
NATURE WORSHIP & ANCESTOR WORSHIP
From ancient times, China has been a multi-ethnic country, with a multitude of religions. According archeological evidence between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago, the ancestors of the Chinese first became conscious of religion. It was discovered that bodies were buried with their heads in alignment at the site of the “Upper Caveman” (shāndǐngdòng rén 山顶洞人), unearthed in a mountaintop cave overlooking Zhoukoudian (zhōukǒudiàn 周口店), on the outskirts of Beijing. The bodies were also buried with spindles, arrowheads and finely made decorations. There’s hematite powder scattered around the bodies, which isn’t produced in the local area with the closest source a few hundred of kilometers away. From the archeological evidence, it appears the cavemen attached much importance to burials and archeologists conclude the cavemen believed in the concept of an afterlife, in other words, in the concept of a soul. This is the earliest evidence of a religious belief found in China.
Early society was an agrarian culture and great importance was put in agricultural production and animal husbandry. Since agrarian cultures are strongly affected by changes in nature, early-humans prayed to and worshipped nature.
In this worship of nature, “Heaven” (tiān 天) was given precedence over “Earth” (dì地), as were the hosts of heaven such as the mountains and rivers, wind, rain and thunders, and all natural phenomena that had a direct relationship with agricultural production. Worship was also extended to all kinds of natural phenomenon and objects. An abundance of vessels painted with the hosts of heaven have been found in archeological excavations in recent years. “God,” as a word representing “Heaven,” has often been found in the remains of ancient books, showing the prevalence of nature worship. The heroic actions of ancient historical figures, often involving battles with natural disasters, led people to worship their ancestors for protection. Nature and ancestor worship became a primitive form of religion for the early Chinese.
Ancestor worship reached a peak during the Shang dynasty, from 1384 to 1111 BC. The excavation of substantial inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells (jiǎgǔ wén 甲骨文) from the Shang dynasty gives evidence to this. Shang society was very superstitious and frequently asked the gods’ for advice on any issue, from memorial ceremonies, to wars and diseases; the Shang beseeched their gods to guide their actions. Such soothsaying rituals were rigidly controlled by the state up until the Zhou dynasty, which ruled from 1027 to 777 BC. The timing, style and scale of soothsaying rituals were all laid down. The most important of these rituals were presided over by the emperor and junior officials could only preside over lesser rituals.
Ancient Chinese religious beliefs such as the worshipping of Heaven and Earth and the ancestors have continued to this day, influencing Confucianism and all other Chinese religious beliefs.
THE INTRODUCTOIN OF BUDDHISM & THE BIRTH OF TAOISM
Indian prince Siddhartha Gautama founded Buddhism in 556 BC and by AD 2 it had spread to China amongst the imperial family, nobles and scholars. Emperor Mingdi of the Han dynasty was a devout Buddhist and dispatched an embassy to India in a quest for eminent Buddhist teachers. Before arriving in India, his envoys met two distinguished Indian Buddhist missionaries who were invited to meet the emperor. Buddhism spread to the common people once the sutras the two priests carrying were translated into Chinese. Preaching to the commoners began and Buddhism expanded. Buddhism influenced Confucianism and Taoism, and was in turn influenced by them, from this Buddhism became Sinicized.
Buddhism increased in popularity from the 3rd to 6th century and many temples were built across China. In the middle of 3rd century, the first Han Chinese men were initiated into the Buddhist priesthood and the first Han women became nuns in the 4th century. Monk Dao’an established a doctrine that prohibited monks and nuns from eating fish and meat. It was during the Sui and Tang dynasties that Buddhism in China reached its height of influence and splendor.
Xuan Zang, a famous Chinese monk, undertook an epic pilgrimage to India that lasted 17 years. He brought back to China a wealth of sutras and translated them into Chinese, greatly contributing to the development of Buddhism in China. Eventually eight schools of Buddhism developed in China, the Three-Treatises (sānlùnzōng 三论宗), Dharmalaksana (fǎxiàngzōng 法相宗), Avatamsaka (huáyánzōng 华严宗), Vinaya (lǜzōng 律宗), Tiantai (tiāntáizōng 天台宗), Tantra (mìzōng 密宗), Pure Land (jìngtǔzōng 净土宗) and Chan (chánzōng 禅宗), which is also known by its Japanese name, Zen. Buddhism became thoroughly Sinicized, no longer relying on Indian sources and became a huge influence on China’s politics, economy, culture and society.
Before Buddhism spread into Tibet around the 7th or 8th centuries from central China and Nepal, the Tibetans practiced Bön, a multi-theistic religion. Princess Wencheng became an important figure in spreading Buddhism to Tibet when Tang dynasty Emperor Taizong gave her in marriage to Songtsen Gampo, king of the Tibetan Tubo Kingdom. She brought to Lhasa many Buddhist artifacts and help convert the Tibetans. Padmasambhava (Liánhuāshēng 莲花生), an ancient Indian monk, combined Tantra with the local Bön religion. His Buddhist preaching was popular among Tibetans because he adapted many native Bön rituals and ideas. This developed into Tibetan Buddhism, which is also known as Lamaism because the monks are called Lamas.
Ethnic minority groups living in southwest China later adopted Buddhism and from ancient India, Buddhism spread to SriLanka, Burma, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries.
THE RISE OF TAOISM
Taoism originated in the 2nd century AD as the Eastern Han dynasty began falling apart. As the empire fell into feuding kingdoms, two peasant rebellions broke out in Hebei and Sichuan provinces; one was based on Taiping Taoism and the other on Wudoumi Taoism. They raised Laozi (Lǎozǐ 老子), a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period, as the forefather of Taoism. According to the Tao Te Jing (diàodé jīng 道德经), which is attributed to Laozi, Taoism’s core belief is to establish a utopian peace where everyone lives in equality.
The rebellion in Hebei was defeated; however, Wudoumi Taoism in Sichuan and south Shaanxi provinces survived when the rebels surrendered to Cao Cao (Cáo Cāo 曹操), the emperor of the Wei kingdom. After the 3rd century, many scholars and officials began to turn to Wudoumi Taoism, which gradually lost its peasant rebellion origins became a religion based on the Tao (dào 道).
Taoists worship Laozi as their forefather, Zhang Daoling (Zhāng Dàolíng 张道陵), founder of Wudoumi Taoism, as the Celestial Master (tiānshī 天师) and take the Tao Te Jing as their bible. In the book, “tao” is the origin of the universe and the creator of all living beings. Taoism also adopted nature and ancestor worship from earlier Chinese beliefs, they also believed men could attain immortality and become a celestial beings by living an austere life.
The emperors of past dynasties bestowed the title Celestial Master to the descendents of Zhang Daoling in order to canonize Taoism where it became known as “tianshi dao” or “zhengyi dao.” In the middle of the 12th century, the Taoist Wang Chongyang laid the foundations for the Quanzhen School of Taoism by proposing that Taoists should also adhere to tenets of Buddhism and Confucianism; that Taoists should remain celibate, only live with other Taoists, become vegetarians and adopt other austerities. Taoism then became divided into two schools, Quanzhen and Zhengyi.
ISLAM ARRIVES WITH CULTURAL EXCHANGE & MIGRATION
The exchanges of embassies, trade and culture between China and Arabia was becoming increasingly frequent by the 7th century. Many Arabian merchants became integrated into central China and along the Silk Road due to business or inter-marriage. The traders and their descendants would become the earliest Muslims in China.
Trade on the Silk Road all but ceased during the Song dynasty due to wars; this led to the creations of the Maritime Silk Road that departed from China’s coastal cities down to the coast of Southeast Asia then onto Arabia. Many mosques built in the Song dynasty still survive in Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Hangzhou and Yangzhou.
Ethnic immigration is another factor that contributed to the introduction of Islam to China. A major wave of immigration took place during the An Lushan and Shi Siming rebellions during the Tang dynasty. The Tang emperor had to recruit soldiers from the Arabia in order to crush the revolt and after the war, many of the Muslim soldiers settled in China. Another mass influx occurred after Genghis Khan established his enormous empire across Asia and Europe. He encouraged a large number of people from Central and Western Asia to immigrate to China, most whom were Muslims. This later migration formed the basis of the Hui nationality and today the Hui continue to practice Islam with their own unique traditions.
After the 10th century, ethnic minorities in China’s northwest began turning to Islam. In the late 15th century, it spread to the Uyghurs living in Xinjiang and it became the dominant religion in the region by the 17th century with the majority of Chinese Muslims following the Sunni branch.
THE INTERRUPTIONS & RE-ENTRY OF CHRISTIANITY
The earliest version of Christianity in China was called Jingjiao – Nestorian, which diverged from the Eastern Orthodox Church and spoke of Christ as one person (prosopon) with two natures (physis), human and divine. Olopen, a clergyman from Rome, arrived at Chang’an the capital of the Tang dynasty, and was welcomed by Emperor Taizong in 635. In 638 Olopen was allowed to build a church, the Daqin Temple (dàqín sì大秦寺) for the emperor. During the reign of the Emperor Gaozong, Nestorian churches sprang up all over China, but 250 years later, the religion became prohibited. Nonetheless, groups in northwest China continued in their faith and practice of Nestorian Christianity. It wasn’t until the Yuan dynasty in the 13th century did Nestorian Christianity spread again to central China and four bishoprics were established in Datong, Beijing, Zhangye and Kashgar.
The first Catholic priest to visit China was Giovanni da Montecorvino who was sent in 1294 by the Vatican to Dadu, the capital of the Yuan dynasty at present day Beijing. He was received by the emperor and allowed to build a church and preach in Dadu. A bishopric was set up in Dadu in 1307 with da Montecorvino as bishop until his death in 1328.
The Franciscan priest Marignolli was dispatched by the Vatican to become the bishop in Dadu in 1342. However, Catholicism was only prevalent amongst the Mongolian ruling class and once the Ming dynasty overthrew the Yuan dynasty, Catholicism and Nestorian Christianity were banished from central China along with the Mongolians.
The second influx of Christianity to China was the arrival of the Italian Jesuit, Matteo Ricci, in Macau. He built churches in Guangdong and developed a local priesthood numbering about 80. Ricci and his followers worked within the framework of Chinese culture and etiquette and introduced advanced western science to China. He was given the position of court astronomer and served both the Ming and Qing dynasty, gaining the trust of emperors and court officials. Catholicism developed rapidly and had about 300,000 followers and 250 churches around China; however, the Franciscans and the Order of Preachers condemned the Jesuits. Their disagreement triggered the Rites Controversy and in 1704, the Vatican issued a ban on Chinese customs such as ancestor worship, which the Jesuits had argued wasn’t incompatible with Catholic teachings. This irritated Emperor Kangxi and he ordered the expulsion of all missionaries who sought to convert the Chinese from their customs. This initiated a 100-year-long ban on Catholicism and the end of the second stage of missionary activity in China.
In 1807, Robert Morrison, from the London Missionary Society arrived in Guangzhou. He not only preached the gospel but also translated the New and Old Testaments into Chinese. He was the first to preach Protestantism, but his mission didn’t go well and by 1814, he had only one follower. The third entry of Catholicism to China came in 1840 after the Opium War. The war had turned China into a half-colonial state and foreign missionaries secured a series of privileges including the right to proselytize. This did little to win over the Chinese who continued to view Christianity as a “foreign religion.”