PICTURE CHINA

Religion

November 17th, 2006 | Category: Topic Focus, Tibet, Western China

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Religion has always been an important part of Chinese life. China’s native religions of Confucianism and Taoism have been practiced for thousands of years and Buddhism was introduced from India during the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD). Christianity and Islam were brought to China via the Silk Road and today there is a significant Muslim minority of ten million people residing mostly in China’s northwest provinces.

During the Cultural Revolution, religion was portrayed as feudal superstition and was ferociously attacked by the Chinese government. In the decade from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies, the Red Guard destroyed most evidence of the religious history of the country. Hundreds of thousands of temples and monasteries were ruined and religious and philosophical texts were burned. No area of China was more severely impacted by the religious backlash of the Cultural Revolution than Tibet. In 1959 Tibet had a thriving community of 2700 Buddhist monasteries and temples; after the destruction, only eight monasteries remained with fewer than one thousand monks and nuns.

With Mao’s death in 1976 and the liberalizations of the 1980’s, religion began to slowly reenter Chinese life. Despite remaining restrictions, nowhere in China is religion a more integral part of daily life than in Tibet. Monasteries are being rebuilt and, though at much lower numbers, monks and nuns are beginning to refill them. Pilgrims flock to Tibet’s religious sites and the most holy places are constantly awash with the devout who come to pray and prostrate.

8 Comments so far

  1. PICTURE CHINA » Picture China February 6th, 2007 2:14 am

    […] The project is in the form of a photoblog and is easily navigated by using the archives section to view individual posts. You may also use the categories to focus in on a particular city (Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, etc.), theme (minority groups, rural china, architecture, etc.), focus (religion, urban poverty, pollution, tourism, etc.) or region (north, south, east, west). For a quick overview of the project the “best of” section is particularly useful. To view the entire project, click here. […]

  2. Eduardo rocha April 3rd, 2007 3:04 pm

    The big questions remains:
    Witch % is agnostic? is budhist? is taoim? is Islamic ? is Confucionism
    Thanks for your atention,
    Eduardo

  3. Jennifer April 13th, 2007 5:00 pm

    I am doing a project on religions for a class of mine and am very into china and i was wondering if i could get someonformation on the religions in china.

  4. bob May 30th, 2007 1:17 pm

    there are tens of millions of Christians in china. Most of them are in the underground

  5. yong November 14th, 2007 7:21 am

    buhhadist is teaching to all memmber for learn same as him and not religion like other to pray . what i mension here and hope other to learn form other good part and believe it can make a difference, then you go throught all religion and learn see with one is best ? but need to equer to all and make free of you heart.
    be kind , be good , be smart to all not yourself , then the ansew will come out.
    bye bye…

  6. dani November 21st, 2007 1:52 am

    Show pictures of the makers of the religion.ALSO MAKE THE PICTURES SMALLER

  7. dani November 21st, 2007 1:53 am

    Put more photos about makers of the religion and make the photos smaller.

    Thanks!

  8. dani November 21st, 2007 1:54 am

    i like your website

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