China
POPULATION 1,284,303,705
CHINESE POPULAR RELIGIONIST 29.2 percent
BUDDHIST 8 percent
ATHEIST 8.1 percent
CHRISTIAN 6.5 percent
TRIBAL RELIGIONIST 4.3 percent
MUSLIM 1.7 percent
NONRELIGIONIST 42.1 percent
OTHER less than 0.1 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
China is the world's most populous country and the fourth largest in area. About four-fifths of its population are peasants; one-fifth works in industry and trade in urban centers. The Han Chinese are the dominant ethnic group (92 percent), but there are more than 50 ethnic minorities (over 100 million people) in China, most of whom live in regions bordering other countries.
The country's largest faith is Chinese popular religion, a syncretic belief system that originated in the second millennium B.C.E. and that later borrowed elements of both religious (not philosophical) Taoism (Daoism) and Confucianism. Taoism, a Chinese religion founded in the second century C.E., incorporated Buddhist deities into its pantheon, and many Taoist gods and ritual practices were then amalgamated into popular religion. Today Taoism and Chinese popular religion overlap symbiotically. Taoist priests (and sometimes Buddhist monks and nuns or even Confucian ritual specialists) are hired to perform popular religious rituals.
Confucianism originated in China during the late sixth and early fifth centuries B.C.E. with the "Sage Master" philosopher Confucius.
This is a free page. This page contains 201 words. This
article contains 11,079 words (approx. 37 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Article with our China Access Pass.
