A wide variety of religions have been practiced in China since the beginning of its history. Temples of many different religions dot the landscape of China.
The study of religion in China is complicated by several issues. Because many Chinese belief systems have concepts of a sacred and sometimes spiritual world yet do not invoke a concept of God, classifying a Chinese belief system as either a religion or a philosophy can be problematic. Thus, some regard Confucianism and Taoism as religions, while others regard them as solely philosophies of life.
Secondly, unlike Abrahamic religion, Chinese belief systems allow for syncretism and it is common to profess a belief in multiple belief systems. It is possible for someone to claim to be a Buddhist while living life according to Taoist principles and participating in ancestor worship rituals. A Buddhist would have no trouble viewing Jesus Christ as a Bodhisattva and incorporating Christian concepts into Buddhism while the reverse is not necessarily the case.
Historically, the emperor was regarded as the Son of Heaven, and he typically led the imperial court in performing elaborate annual rituals. He was not believed to be a deity, but rather someone who mediated between the forces of heaven and earth. A central idea of the dynastic cycle was that an unjust imperial dynasty that had lapsed into corruption could lose the Mandate of Heaven and be overthrown by a rebellion.
Buddhism was introduced from India during the Han dynasty and has been very popular among Chinese of all walks of life, admired by commoners, and sponsored by emperors.
Taoism is a Chinese indigenous religion. Its primary written work, the Dao De Jing is attributed to Lao Zi, who may or may not have been a real person. The philosophy is centered on 'the way', an understanding of which can be likened to recognising the true nature of the universe.
Christianity was spread by European or Middle-Eastern travellers who came to China in AD 635, as documented by the Nestorian Stone in Xi'an.
In 1289, Franciscan friars initiated mission work in China. This mission collapsed in 1368, as the Ming Dynasty abolished Christianity in China.
The first Jesuit attempt to reach China was made in 1552 by Francis Xavier, but he died the same year on the Chinese island of Shangchuan, without having reached the mainland. In 1582, Jesuits once again initiated mission work in China, introducing Western science, mathematics, and astronomy. One of these missionaries was Matteo Ricci.
During the 1840s, foreign missionaries spread Christianity rapidly through the foreign occupied coastal cities; the Taiping Rebellion was an indirect result. British and American churches (such as the British Methodist Church) continued to send missionaries until they were prevented from doing so following the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Protestant missionaries played an extremely important role in introducing China to the United States and the United States to China. The book The Small Woman and film Inn of the Sixth Happiness tell the story of one such missionary, Gladys Aylward.
Since loosening of restrictions on religion after the 1970's, Christianity has become increasing popular within the People's Republic. It is still however controlled somewhat tightly by government authorities. The Three-Self Patriotic Movement and China Christian Council have affiliations with government and must follow the regulations imposed upon them. Many Christians choose however to meet independently of these organisations, typically in house churches. These fellowships are not officially registered and are seen as illegal entities and are often prosecuted heavily. For this reason some meetings take place underground, coining the term "underground church". These Christians have been persecuted throughout the 20th century, especially during the Cultural Revolution, and there remains some official harrassment in the form of arrests and interrogations of Chinese Christians. At the same time, there has been increasing tolerance of house churches since the late 1970's.
Chinese Christian Brother Yun's book "The Heavenly Man" achieved Christian Book of the Year in 2003. The book describes the life of Brother Yun from his call to preach the gospel across China and the enlargement of the house church movement.
The People's Republic of China was established in 1949 and for much of its early history maintained a hostile attitude toward religion which was seen as emblematic of feudalism and foreign colonialism. Houses of worship, including temples, mosques, and churches, were converted into non-religious buildings for secular use. In the early years of the People's Republic, religious belief or practice was often discouraged because it was regarded by the government as backwards and superstitious and because some Communist leaders, ranging from Vladimir Lenin to Mao Zedong, had been critical of religious institutions. During the Cultural Revolution, religion was condemned as feudalistic and thousands of religious buildings were looted and destroyed.
This attitude, however, relaxed considerably in the late 1970s, with the end of the Cultural Revoluion. The 1978Constitution of the People's Republic of China guarantees freedom of religion with a number of restrictions. In practice, the Communist Party of China will react harshly against groups such as Falun Gong which it perceives as challenging its authority while in general ignoring groups that are not seen as challenging the state. Since the mid-1990s there has been a massive program to rebuild Buddhist temples that were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.
Many Chinese actually continue to practice a wide variety of religions. One source gives about 100 million religious worshippers (less than 10% of the population) in China:
Buddhists 72%
Muslims 11%
Protestant Christians 10%
Catholic Christians 5.10%
Taoists 1.5%
However, this estimate of only 100 million worshippers possibly vastly undercounts the actual extent of religious practice in China because some may be afraid, for various reasons, to admit religious belief.
