MODERN DAY RELIGION IN CHINA

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• There is three main modern day religions in China.
• These include: Taoism, Confucianism and then Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.

TAOISM

• Taoism is also known as Daoism.
• The primary belief is learning and practicing "The Way" (Dao)
• Taoism traces its roots back to the 6th century BC when a Chinese philosopher Laozi wrote the iconic book Dao De Jing on the tenets of the religion.
• The Dao is the basis of all living things as it governs nature.

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• Taoists don't believe in extremes and focus on the interdependence of things.
• They believe there is no total total good or evil and the Yin-Yang symbol exemplifies this view.
• The Yin is black and is associated with weakness and passivity.
• The Yang is white and is associated with strength and activity.

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• The symbol shows that within the Yang there exists the Yin and vice versa and they believe that all nature is balance that between the two.
• In history they also used elixirs to help them achieve immortality which they believed was the highest achievement. While looking for elixirs they created gunpowder and laid the groundwork for ancient Chinese chemistry.
• Today there are around 20,000,000 followers of Taoism in China.

CONFUCIANISM

• The definition is a system of philosophical and ethical teachings founded by Confucius and developed by Mencius.
• The Confucius teachings and principles were founded around 500 BC, in China. The teachings and principles play a major role in the Chinese culture today.
• Relationships among different groups of people, is key in Confucianism.

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• The five cardinal relations include: Ruler and subject, Father and son, Husband and wife, Elder and younger brother and Friend to friend.
• These bonds are categorised in ways that show respect and obedience from one group to the next. It is greatly emphasised that family is the centre of everything and comes before the individual person.

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• There are five virtues taught in Confucianism.
• The first virtue is Ren which is humaneness. Three of the key concepts of Ren are love, mercy and humanity.
• The second virtue is Yi. Yi means honesty and righteousness.
• The third virtue is Li, which means propriety and correct behaviour.
• The fourth virtue is Zhi, which stands for wisdom or knowledge.
• The fifth virtue is Xin, which stands for fidelity and sincerity.
• They believe these five teaches show the basic ideas about how a person should behave.

CHRISTIANITY

• Christianity has been in China since the 17th century during the Tang dynsasty. There are mainly Catholics and Protestants in China with a small number of Orthodox.
• The number of Christians in China are in the tens of millions.
• Many Christians practice their religion in secret as in many parts of China, the practice of religion is controlled by government officials.

ISLAM

• Islam in China has existed through 1400 years of continuous interaction with Chinese society. Currently there are Muslims living in every region of China.
• Various sources estimate different numbers do adherents with some sources indicating that 2% of the total population in China are Muslims.
• Of China's 55 officially recognised minority people's, 10 groups are predominantly Sunni Muslim.

BUDDHISM

• Buddhism is China's oldest religion. It merged with native Daoism and folk religion. Modern Chinese Buddhists are generally also Taoists. Ancient Hindu Buddism taught by Buddha involved reaching Enlightenment through meditation.
• How to go about this and what it means is open to interpretation. When early Buddhist scriptures were translated into Chinese, Taoist terminology based on native religion was often used. People interpreted the scripture in their own ways.

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