Abstract
Since the mid-1950s, the Chinese state has exerted tight ideological and administrative control over the religious activities of its citizens. And yet, as Daniel Overmyer has observed, wherever and whenever local conditions allow it, religious practices come to the surface. Lay Buddhist movements, Confucian revivalists, evangelical Christians, and members of body cultivation movements, among others, have been active outside the officially sanctioned institutions. A politically and ideologically engineered secularization and carefully micro-managed “religious pluralism”—to be understood here merely in the sense that there exist five officially sanctioned religions—create the context in which Chinese practitioners negotiate their existence vis-à-vis the state and each other. In recent years, the state, on its part, has helped promote religious sites, Buddhist ones in particular, as tourist destinations. These facts raise a number of important and as yet little explored questions. In particular, what can a Chinese practitioner or group of practitioners lawfully do? More specifically, what do the terms “religion” (zongjiao 宗 教), “superstition” (mixin 迷信 ) and “freedom of religious belief” (xinjiao ziyou 信教自由) mean in the rapidly evolving context of contemporary China? What is the relationship between religious pluralism, secularization, proselytizing and the Chinese Communist Party’s quest for a “harmonious society” (hexie shehui 和谐社会)?
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Notes
- 1.
The notion of “harmonious society” was “placed on the top of the agenda” by the Chinese President Hu Jintao during the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2007. According to an article in the official newspaper People’s Daily, “All people should co-exist harmoniously, love and help each other, encourage each other and make an effort to contribute to the building of a harmonious society.” See: The 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, “Harmonious Society,” September 29, 2008. Cf. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90002/92169/92211/6274603.html. Accessed July 7, 2011.
- 2.
Cf. “Wang Lixiong: The 23 Behaviours of Illegal Religious Activity” available online at http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2009/07/wang-lixiong-the-23-behaviors-of-illegal-religious-activity/. Accessed August 11, 2011. There are numerous examples of exchanges on these and similar issues on the portal Sina and on other Internet discussion boards; for a small example cf. http://iask.sina.com.cn/b/12878043.html (accessed August 11, 2011).
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
See especially the chapters in the second volume of Lagerway (2004).
- 6.
- 7.
Cf. Robson (2011).
- 8.
- 9.
See Kuhn (1990). In the Confucian tradition the combination of right thought and right action is called zheng, meaning, “correct, legitimate.” This is contrasted with the “heterodox principles” (yiduan) of non-Confucian religious systems, notably Buddhism and Taoism, and, even more strongly, with sectarian cults and rituals that are regarded as potentially subverting the moral order, and therefore are considered “heretical” (xie) or “licentious” (yin).
- 10.
For the first full-fledged state campaigns against popular religion in modern China see Duara (1991).
- 11.
- 12.
Cf. Nedostup (2001).
- 13.
Cf. Goossaert (2008).
- 14.
See Hu Shi (1937).
- 15.
- 16.
- 17.
For what follows, cf. the sources underlying Tarocco (2007), especially Part Two.
- 18.
Cf. Goldfuss (2001).
- 19.
See for example Lai Pan-chiu (2009).
- 20.
- 21.
See for example Macinnis (1991). Control was extended from central government level right down to county level through CCP-controlled Trade Unions, Women’s Federations, Communist Youth Leagues, and other organizations. The five “official” religions were given strictly limited toleration: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism were encouraged to set up “patriotic” organizations. All foreign missionaries were expelled by 1952.
- 22.
See for example the web page of the local government of the designated tourist area and world heritage site Mount Lu, a site historically connected with Buddhism. Cf. http://www.china-lushan.com/lushanzhuanti/nulituijindangjianshidagongcheng/2011-05-09/2258.html. Accessed August 12, 2011. There is a conspicuous literature on Falungong, cf. for example Cheris Shun-ching Chan (2004).
- 23.
Cf. Suqian City Religious Affairs Bureau (1982).
- 24.
Ibid.
- 25.
- 26.
See the appendixes in Britsch (1995).
- 27.
Ibid.
- 28.
- 29.
Ibid.
- 30.
- 31.
- 32.
- 33.
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Tarocco, F. (2014). Pluralism and its Discontents: Buddhism and Proselytizing in Modern China. In: Finucane, J., Feener, R. (eds) Proselytizing and the Limits of Religious Pluralism in Contemporary Asia. ARI - Springer Asia Series, vol 4. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-18-5_12
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