A brief overview of law and religion in the People's Republic of China

Brigham Young University Law Review, 2003 by Huanzhong, Chen

I. CURRENT RELIGIOUS POLICY IN CHINA

The current state of religious freedom in China can be compared to the proverbial half glass of water; while some people see the glass as half full, others view it as half empty. How one views the situation largely depends on the position and political orientation of the viewer. Most would likely agree that given the almost complete absence of religious freedom twenty years ago in China, to have the glass half full today demonstrates remarkable progress. Perhaps more importantly, the water continues to rise.

Throughout its long history, China has had an interesting and sometimes tumultuous relationship with organized religions, both domestic and foreign. Because this conflict has appeared throughout Chinese history and across many different governments, it may appear to some to be an inherent feature of Chinese culture. Indeed, unlike most Western societies, China was primarily and officially dominated for more than two thousand years by the semi-religious influence of Confucian philosophy.

The principal religions currently registered in China are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism. Currently citizens of China are free to express their religious beliefs and may choose a religious affiliation within these five major religions. According to official statistics, China has over one hundred million followers of various religious faiths. There are more than eighty-five thousand sites for religious activities, most of which were built prior to 1949, when the Communists took over China.1

Buddhism has a two thousand year history in China. China currently has approximately sixteen thousand Buddhist temples and about 320,000 Buddhist monks and nuns.2

Taoism was founded in China more than seventeen hundred years ago. China now has over one thousand Taoist temples and more than ten thousand Taoist priests and nuns.3

Islam was introduced in China in the seventh century. China currently has ten national minorities, including the Hui and Uygur, with a total population of twenty million adherents to Islam.4

Catholicism was introduced in China intermittently in the seventh century, but it did not spread widely until after the Opium War in 1840. At present, China has five million Catholics, five thousand clergy members, and more than five thousand Catholic churches and meeting houses.5

Protestantism was first brought to China in the early nineteenth century, and it also spread widely after the Opium War. There are now about fifteen million Protestants, more than twenty thousand Protestant clergy members, more than twelve thousand churches, and roughly twenty-five thousand Protestant meeting places throughout China.6

Recent archeological discoveries in eastern China suggest that Christianity may have been introduced to China hundreds of years earlier than historians have traditionally believed. Early Christian relics have been found that date back to the time of China's East-Han Dynasty, which was in power during the second century A.D., or about the same time as the Roman Empire.7

II. THE HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS POLICY IN CHINA

Today's religious policy in China largely reflects and extends a historical pattern inherited from previous regimes and dynasties, which has remained relatively unchanged. However, for several reasons, changes in China's religious policies now occur faster than ever before. We are fortunately living at a great time of two revolutions: the information revolution, which is peaked by the massive application of internet, as well as the great globalization of economy that is reshaping and relocating wealth, ideas, jobs, and people. The most unexpected byproduct of these two revolutions is the social and cultural revolution, or evolution, that is taking place with those developing countries and is evident in a growing group of intellectuals and white-collared professionals. With China topping the list of these developing nations, massive changes are flooding every corner of this vast land, ranging from the outlook of the cities to the personal ideologies of the people, from the terms of laws to the languages of traffic signs. Such a revolutionary change will inevitably involve China's religion sectors, sooner or later, willingly or unwillingly.

Unlike rulers in the West, for more than two thousand years, most Chinese rulers were pantheist or atheist, particularly those of the Han ethnic group, which consistently accounted for nearly ninety percent of the Chinese population throughout that time period. These leaders laid the foundation for China's modern policies and attitudes toward religion. Consequently, superstitious beliefs and the Confucian philosophy, rather than religion, dominated China for thousands of years.

Throughout most of China's history, government policies towards foreign religions have been inconsistent. Sometimes the state has been more restrictive and at other times more open, but the dominating theme has been restrictive. The major reason for this alternating policy is that during the long history of China, most major uprisings against the government involved religion, semi-religion, or superstition. Some of those religions or semi-religions were entirely indigenous to China; examples include the Yellow Flag Uprising during the time of the East-Han Dynasty and the White Lotus Uprising during the Qing Dynasty.8 Uprisings in the mid-nineteenth century, such as the Tai Ping Heaven, were incited by hybrid religious groups that merged indigenous superstition with Christianity.9