religion_govtchina

=**Religion and the Government of China**= media type="youtube" key="bggXAhKhS4s&hl=en" height="344" width="425" By Andrej, and Nick

Christianity
//Ancient History of Christianity in China// (Chao, 1999)
 * **Dynasty (Years)** || **Missionaries** || **Response** ||
 * Tang (618-907) || Nestorians (accomodating) || accepted by court at first, then rejected ||
 * Yuan (1279-1368) || Nestorians & Catholics || some acceptance ||
 * Ming (1368-1644) || Jesuits || received well by Ching Court ||
 * after 1st opium war (1839-1842) || Protestant & Catholic Missionaries || rejection ||

//Christianity In China Development Up to Modern Times// A 25-year-old English Christian, Robert Morrison, arrived on September 4, 1807 with a commission from the London Missionary Society and a passion to evangelize China. After extensively studying Mandarin Chinese, he had translated the entire bible into Chinese by 1920. In 1814, he baptized the first Chinese convert to Protestantism (Aikman, 2003). As a result of Morrison’s ministry, several generations after him a man by the name of Hong Xiuquan encountered the message of Christianity—an event that would come to have a tremendous influence on the Chinese government’s relationship with Christianity. Believing he was called by God to overthrow the Chinese dynasty, Hong created the “Society of God-Worshippers” and began a decade of insurgent uprising. The Taiping Rebellion, as it is called today, left central and southern China littered with over 20 million Chinese corpses. Its end in 1864 solidified the government’s view that Christianity was a dangerous religion that would seek to overthrow the established power if given the opportunity (Aikman, 2003). Nevertheless, in the midst of this violence and anti-Christian sentiment came the most infamous of missionaries to China, an English doctor by the name of Hudson Taylor. After a long arduous voyage that nearly cost him his life, he arrived on the shores of China in spring of 1854 and stayed for over a decade ministering to and treating in the poorer rural areas. Suffering starvation, persecution, theft, and illness, this young man was eventually forced to leave China. Upon returning to England, he founded the China Inland Mission and before his death was responsible for the conversion of millions of Chinese to Christianity, and his impact is still felt today (Taylor, 2000). In the 1920s and 1930s, civil war broke out in China. Missionaries desperate to spread Christianity to the deep recesses of China stowed aboard gunboats to penetrate deep into lands formerly unreachable. Nevertheless, their associations with these warships sparked a great deal of hatred toward Christianity by the Chinese people and severe persecution from the government. The numbers of Protestant missionaries reached record highs while their treatment reached higher levels of capture, persecution, and executions than ever before (Aikman, 2003). On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic of China (the PRC). The establishment of this communist rule in China combined with the bitter taste left in the mouth of the Chinese from the missionaries arriving during the civil war, many thousands of Protestant and Catholic missionaries were forced to leave China. However, by this point in time, among the native Chinese there were an estimated 3 million Roman Catholics and 750,000 Protestants. And these native believers boldly continued the work they had started (Aikman, 2003). A self-professed Christian at a young age, Wang Mingdao began a life as a pastor and evangelist. He was a reformer of the church, insisting they not receive any support from foreign mission organizations or churches and chastising members for not living in accordance with Scriptural teachings. When the Protestant churches were forced to become Three Self churches (or those controlled by the government), Wang refused and was arrested in 1955. After being released after promising to join the Three Self, he later denounced this action and as a result spent another 22 years in prison suffering tremendously. Yet this time he refused to do what he viewed as “denying Christ” and set a tremendous example for other Chinese Christian leaders (Aikman, 2003). Yuan Xiangchun was a contemporary pastor with Wang Mingdao. After graduating Far East Theological Seminary, he traveled the Hebei Province preaching until his arrest in 1958, a period of strong government persecution of Christians in Beijing. He spent 22 years in prison, where he met Wang Mingdao, and upon his release returned to his work as pastor of a house church. He continues to do this work to this day and enjoys more freedom from the government, which is aware of his activities (Aikman, 2003).

//Tiananmen Square// There were several events that led up to the relatively recent tragic events that occurred at Tiananmen Square. A dreary economy caused intellectuals to consider non-Marxist solutions to political problems of the day. As a result, they began advocating for freedom of to criticize Marxism throughout the 1980s. The government's open-door policy to Westerners led to more discussion on the topic. Chinese spoke and wrote publicly in favor of freedom and democracy. Many petitioned government leaders asking for the release of political prisoners (Aikman, 2003). The Tiananmen Square protest of June 3-4, 1989, was the largest pro-democracy protest in the history of the PRC. Unfortunately, it ended tragically. The government responded with violence on June 4, shooting into the crowds of people and killing hundreds of people. Although not directly related to the government's action on Christians, the PRC sees the pro-democracy movement and Christianity as being linked (Liang, 2001).

//Most Recent Developments// It is clear to anyone who has been keeping tabs on China that the government has given its people much more freedom than they had granted during Mao Zedong's reign from 1949-1976. China's latest constitution, drafted in 1982, states, "Citizens of the PRC enjoy freedom of religious belief." Nevertheless, the government only protects what it defines as "normal religious activities" and, as a result, many Christians continue to be victims of arrest and torture by not adhering to the government's narrow definition (Aikman, 2003). The examples of this, unfortunately, are numerous. The Hong Kong Voice of Democracy listed fifty-eight Chinese Christians it knew that had been arrested by the PRC in 1998, and only 38 had been released by the end of that year. In spring of 2003, photographs appeared on the Internet of Chinese police officers proudly torturing Chinese Christians (Aikman, 2003). Clearly, much of the government's intolerance of Christianity has carried into modern times. Nevertheless, there has been tremendous progress. Since the 1980s, there have been increasing numbers of Chinese Communist Party members secretly becoming Christians. Yuan Xiangchun has admitted to baptizing many of these members in his own church. Hundreds of seminaries are actively raising up pastors throughout the country, though many of them are underground (Aikman, 2003). media type="youtube" key="rZMwM1XPSAk&hl=en" height="344" width="425"

**Buddhism**

 * Development of Buddhism today
 * Popular feelings
 * Tourism
 * Economy
 * shaolin
 * tibet
 * Governmental feelings
 * Progress against other religions (?)

The interaction between China and Buddhism has been varied, both in feel and amount. When Buddhism was first introduced to China, it spread like wildfire, because it did not require citizens to renounce their other religions in order to practice (unlike the other religions that were being pressed upon them, Christianity for example). Sutras and texts were also translated into Chinese, allowing anyone with literacy to practice. Opposition grew, however, knowing the fact that Buddhism was an “outside” religion and that the “Buddha was [one of] the barbarians who did not speak the language of China.” Even as little as 300 years after Buddhism entered China, political giants were destroying temples, fearful of their economic income and popular influence.

China had had a recent revitalization by adapting ancient texts and sayings to modern life at the beginning of the century. However, it was blatantly repressed during the rise of the PRC in the 50s, and the Cultural Revolution that followed. Since then, the government has taken a slightly more tolerant policy. Buddhism is not as repressed as it was in those times; in fact, I might say that it has been allowed to flourish as one of the main tourism pulls of China. Buddhism is such a large tourist destination that a particular temple often provides income to cover the expenses of an entire district.

It is my opinion that certain sects have become distorted and commercialized in china. Take for example the Shaolin temple, the most famous temple in China. Here, Buddhist military training becomes more of a popular display than a spiritual focus of the body. The Shaolins, instead of having an abbot who practices with the rest of the monks and is equally humble, have a CEO who drives expensive cars and blogs on the internet.

Tibetan Buddhism, however, is being repressed to the point of extinction. The Tibetan government is in exile, and China has invaded the state, claiming it as their own. Some of the restrictions placed upon them are futile and laughable, such as preventing reincarnation of living Buddhas without government permission. As if the Chinese government can control the supernatural. This excludes the previous process of the Dali Lama searching for living Buddhas, and dilutes the pool from which the next Dali Lama is chosen.

In short, the Chinese government is bolstering the "legitimacy" of in-house Buddhism by allowing it to become more of a popular corporation than a religious temple, and by removing the rightful overseeing power of the Tibetan sects within their own country.

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//History of Taoism in China//

Taoism originated as a philosophy based on the writings of its legendary founder, Laozi. It is debatable whether or not Laozi even existed, but nonetheless, the //Daode jing//, whose authorship is attributed to Laozi around the 5th century BC, lies at the heart of Taoism and laid the groundwork for what eventually became one of the officially recognized religions of China. Taoism focuses on the idea of the Tao, or "the way," which is said to be an original oneness of all things in the universe. Taoists strive to achieve harmony with nature and spiritual immortality. They recognize //qi//, the primal energy force which is always in a state of change, and which manifests itself in the yin and yang. The interplay between the dark, subtle, female yin and the bright, overt, male yang are said to have given birth to the material world in all its forms. Below is a timeline of the state of Taoism with regards to the government since its transformation from a humble philosophy to a strong, widespread religion.

Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) – Taoism begins to gradually change from a philosophy of a few sages to a popular, widespread religion

Three Kingdoms Period (220-265) - Various Taoist sects begin to develop which experiment with alchemy and magic in order to prolong life and attain immortality. Wang Bi, of the Xuanxue school of Taoism, attempts to merge Confucian thought with Taoist thought

Six Dynasties (316-589) – Religious Taoism is welcomed by Chinese emperors who wanted a strong popular religion as a check on Buddhism, which quickly became the prominent religion after its introduction from India

Tang Dynasty (618-907) – Taoism becomes official religion of China, although the government still supports Confucianism and Buddhism

Song Dynasty (960-1279) – Taoism is promoted by numerous Song emperors, and the Neo-Confucian school of thought, a fusion of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, is created

Yuan Dynasty (1279-1367) – All copies of the Daozang, a collection of works which attempted to bring all Taoist teachings together, are ordered to be burned. However, by the end of the dynasty, Taoism is still widespread and very popular

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) – In 1406, Emperor Zhu Di orders a new version of Daozang to be compiled, and it is finished in 1447

Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) – Confucian orthodoxy is established and Taoism is completely rejected

Nationalist Period (1912-1949) – Many temples are destroyed, shut down, or occupied by non-religious organizations as a result of modernization and negative sentiments toward Taoism

//Taoism in the Modern Era, The People's Republic of China//

When the Communist Party took over China after the Chinese Civil War, Taoism was banned and its followers re-educated, resulting in a large decrease in the number of Chinese Taoists. After the cultural revolution between 1967 and 1976, when temples continued to be destroyed and monks were sent to labor camps, the PRC began to allow increasing amounts of religious freedom. Temples were repaired and reopened and many Taoists revived the practices that were once an integral part of their daily lives. Throughout China's history, Taoism has fluctuated with favor among the emperors and various political parties, but is now recognized as one of the five official religions of the PRC. The recent devastating [|earthquakes] have caused the grieving people of China to turn to Taoism and religion in general for comfort and hope, something that the government acknowledges and approves. It continues to blend with Buddhism and Confucianism, and, based on past history, will remain an extremely important religion and way of life for Chinese people for years to come.



//Sources:// Aikman, D. (2003). //Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power//. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc. Chao, Jonathan (1999). The Gospel and Culture in Chinese History. In Samuel Ling & Stacey Bieler (Eds.). //Chinese Intellectuals and the Gospel// (pp. 9-24). New Jersey: P&R Publishing. Liang, Zhang (2001). //The Tiananmen Papers//. New York : PublicAffairs. Taylor, H. (2000). //Hudson Taylor: The autobiography of a man who brought the gospel to China//. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers. Creel, H (1982). //What Is Taoism?: And Other Studies in Chinese Cultural History.// Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press Overmyer, D (2003). //Religion in China Today.// Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press http://www.rightreading.com/writing/taoism-and-the-arts-of-china.htm http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,465055,00.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/taoism/