Religion in China is a complicated matter. The Chinese Communist Party - the ruling party in China - for a long time discouraged the practice of religion, officially because it was atheist but in reality because it believed religion was a dangerous alternative credo to communism. Despite this, people in China continued to practise their religious beliefs - often at great personal risk. During the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, large-scale religious persecutions were carried out and thousands of temples and churches destroyed.

With the gradual liberalisation that developed with Deng Xiaoping's open door reforms, religion was no longer proscribed. In 1982, the constitution was amended to allow Chinese people considerable freedom of religion.

The three main traditional Chinese religions are Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. Islam and Christianity have also been present in smaller numbers in China for centuries. The government is still anti-'cult'. This stems from the large numbers of cults which helped to bring down past Chinese governments - the Boxers, Yellow Hats and so on. The communists are suspicious of any group that could claim people's loyalty. The Falun Gong remains banned.

Confucianism
Confucianism is often characterised as a system of social and ethical philosophy more than a religion as such. It is based on the teaching of Confucius (Kong Fu Zi), a philosopher, moralist, statesman and educationalist who lived from 551-479 BC. Confucianism lays great emphasis on the importance of specific social relationships such as those between husband and wife, parent and child, ruler and ruled, and the mutual obligations that these relationships entail. It has enormously influenced Chinese attitudes towards life, patterns of living and standards of social value. Confucius is honoured as a great teacher and sage, although not worshipped as a god.

Daoism
Daoism dates back to approximately the 6th century BC and the writing of the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) by Lao Zi. The central concept of Dao is an indefinable, unifying force at the centre of the universe. In the original, complex philosophy of Daoism, everything is really one. Good and evil, life and death, are all aspects of a single reality. Each personxs life comes out of the oneness and in the end goes back to it. Nowadays, Daoism has evolved from a strain of philosophical thought in to forms of communal and folk religion, with an array of gods and spirits to be worshiped, consulted and appeased.

Buddhism
Buddhism arrived in China from India during the first century BC, although it did not really catch on until late in the 3rd century. It flourished in particular during the early- and mid-Tang (618-907AD) dynasty, but from then on it began to decline. The majority of Chinese Buddhists practise Mahayana Buddhism, the same school of Buddhism that is practised in Japan, Korea and Vietnam. However, Hinayana Buddhism, the kind which is practised in Burma and Thailand, can be found among some ethnic minorities in the southwest. Tibetan Buddhism, or Lamaism, which is more mystical than other forms of Buddhism, is practised not only in Tibet but also in Inner Mongolia.

Islam
Islam was introduced to China in the mid-7th century. Many Chinese Muslims are descended from Persian and Central Asian merchants who travelled to China between the 7th and 13th centuries. According to Chinese government figures, there are currently 20 million Muslims in China today, divided among 10 ethnic groups. Large Muslim communities can be found in Xinjiang province and in Ningxia Huizu 'autonomous region', as well as in most of the cities along the ancient Silk Road, and the southeast sea coast. China still has some mosques which date as far back as the Tang Dynasty, and which remain active in cities as far apart as Xi'an, Hohhot, Guangzhou, Quanzhou in Fujian, Hangzhou, and Beijing.

Christianity
China was visited by Nestorian Christians as early as the 7th century. The Jesuits found their way there in the 1670s, and the first protestant missionary arrived in 1807. Today, there are an estimated 4 million Catholics and 10 million Protestants in China. Because the Chinese government will not tolerate allegiance to the foreign authority of the Pope, Chinese Catholics worship through the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association rather than the Roman Catholic Church.

These restrictions do not apply to churches for foreigners, of which there are several in all the cities with a large foreign population