China
is a country with great diversity of religions, with over 100 million
followers of the various faiths. The main religions are Buddhism,
Islam, Christianity, China’s indigenous Taoism, along with Shamanism,
Eastern Orthodox Christianity and the Naxi people’s Dongba religion.
The Hui, Uygur, Kazak, Kirgiz, Tatar, Ozbek, Tajik, Dongxiang, Salar
and Bonan peoples adhere to Islam; the Tibetan, Mongolian, Lhoba,
Moinba, Tu and Yugur, to Tibetan Buddhism, and the Dai, Blang and
Deang to Theravada Buddhism. Quite a few Miao, Yao and Yi are Christians.
Religious Han Chinese tend to practice Buddhism, Christianity or Taoism.
Buddhism was introduced to China from India approximately in the first
century A.D., becoming increasingly popular after the fourth century.
Tibetan Buddhism, or Lamaism as it is sometimes called, is found primarily
in Tibet and Inner Mongolia. Now China has more than 13,000 Buddhist
temples, with about 200,000 monks and nuns.
Islam
probably first reached China in the mid-seventh century. During the
Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties, Arab and Persian merchants
of the Islamic faith came overland through Central Asia to northwest
China and by sea to the coastal cities in southeastern China, bringing
with them the Islamic faith. The Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) witnessed
the zenith of prosperity of Islam. Now China has more than 30,000 mosques
and more than 40,000 imams and ahungs.
Christianity
reached China several times after the seventh century, and was introduced
to the country on a large scale after the Opium War of 1840. Now there
are about four million Catholic believers, 4,000 clergy and more than
4,600 churches and meeting places in China.
Protestantism
was introduced to China in the early 19th century, and spread widely
after the Opium War. Now China has about 10 million Protestant believers,
18,000 clergy, and more than 12,000 churches and 25,000 other centers
of worship.
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