Essay Sample on China's Religion: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and Christianity

China has many religions which have been used to shape the culture of the people. The Chinese value their religion so much. The constitution protects religious activities in China, and people have freedom of belief (Overmyer, 2003). Moreover, religion and philosophy are interrelated in china. The four major aspects of religion in China are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and Christianity.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Buddhism is the religion based on the spiritual teachings of The Buddha. Buddhism spread into China from India. Buddhism takes the most significant portion of religious communities in China (Overmyer, 2003). Majority of the Buddhists are the Han followed by those in Tibet. The Han Buddhists practice a cultural Buddhism instead of daily practice. In addition, Chinese Buddhism differs from other Buddhists in several ways. This includes: Chinese Buddhists pray to Buddha and Taoist gods. They believe in the combination. Second, they differ with other Buddhists who depict the Buddha as skinny and under a tree. Others Buddhists depict Buddha as strong and healthy. The Chinese Buddhists depict him as a laughing or smiling and fat as it appears in ‘laughing Buddha’ which is the most popular depiction of the Buddha to the Chinese.

Taoism is another religious aspect of the Chinese. Taoism is also termed as Daoism.it is an innate religion. Taoism is a religion founded on the teachings from the texts of the founder Lao Tzu about the Tao, also known as the way (Wang and Stringer, 2000). Taoism religion is founded on Compassion, Frugality and humility: the ‘three treasures’. Modern Taoism differs from the ancient one. The ancient one is based on wisdom philosophy, whereas the modern one is about the Taoist groups. The Tao is not a god but can be a lifestyle. However, modern Daoism is practised in temples where deities are worshipped and not the Tao itself. Taoism is not judgmental or doctrinal, therefore making it able to level up with other religions.

The third major aspect of religion in china is Islam. Islamic religion originated from Arabic countries. Chinese Muslims are mainly found on the northwestern side of china. Chinese Muslims do not consume meat from mules, dogs, horses, donkeys and pigs (Miller, 2006). Chinese Muslims are born with faith, unlike other religions that people embrace after changing their faith. Lastly, the fourth aspect of the Chinese religion is Christianity. Christianity originated from the west. Christianity has been outlawed severally in china. Fortunately, it is now growing. In China, many people become Christians by changing their faith and not by birth, like those who embrace the Muslim religion.

Moreover, Christianity is the minority religion in a very antagonistic society (Miller, 2006). Christians believe in the son of God, who was born thousands of years ago. This is very strange to the Chinese culture, and that is why Christianity is so opposed. Chinese Christianity differs from westerners Christianity in some ways (Miller, 2006). This includes: women are usually the majority, and they take the leadership positions, Christianity takes a Pentecostal perspective, and the Chinese take deep concerns of global issues and are service-oriented.

Conclusion

To sum up, religion in China is very crucial and shapes up the life and culture of the people.it is clear that religion is diverse throughout China. The diversification of religion has created a platform for people to choose the religion that best suits them. In addition, support by the government has led to the establishment and growth of the different religions in China.

References

Miller, J. (Ed.). (2006). Chinese religions in contemporary societies. ABC-CLIO. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=S4vg8BQrqA4C&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=Miller,+J.+(Ed.).+(2006).+Chinese+religions+in+contemporary+societies.+ABC-CLIO.&ots=D25B317_7K&sig=q62v7okYSOofUzU-HeZM2aVP45s

Overmyer, D. L. (2003). Religion in China today: introduction. The China Quarterly, 307-316. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20058995

Wang, J., & Stringer, L. A. (2000). The impact of Taoism on Chinese leisure. World Leisure Journal, 42(3), 33-41. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/04419057.2000.9674194