The Relationship Between Confucianism And Daoism

China has been known by the international community for a long time as a major human rights abusers. From the treatment of the Tibetan people to the persecution of New Religious

Movements such as the Falun Gong, the past century has shown us countless examples of

China’s alleged violations. Religious groups have made up of a large percentage of the groups targeted by the government. While one might think that these actions are largely due to the atheistic nature of communism, this is not necessarily true. Many religious groups are not persecuted in China, and many even get state support. Additionally, government control over religion in China goes back centuries. China, unlike the West in recent times, sees religion as something that is inherently

To understand how these decisions are made, we must first understand two large currents of thought that are major parts of traditional Chinese culture: Confucianism and

Daoism. Confucianism is an ethical and political philosophy that can also function as a religion with its own metaphysical elements (this is true of many eastern philosophies). According to

Xinzhong Yao in his book An Intoduction to Confucianism: “The main concern of Confucius was with humans and with the fundamental principles of humanity. Confucius believed that these principles were the root of social relationships, the foundation of the stability, peace and

Weiqi Zhang: why don't you include Buddhism?

Weiqi Zhang:

Eastern

prosperity of the state, the family and individuals. He developed his ethics around two central theses; that goodness can be taught and learned, and that society can only be in harmony and at peace under the guidance of wisdom. He further developed a system of concepts to

Some officials told us we were going to be taken to “study law.” They ordered us to move very fast, and if we didn't, they’d hit us. Several hundred monks were taken away.

They took us to Nyethang [Ch. Nietang] township south-west of Lhasa for the re-education. – Human Rights Watch, 40

Accordingly, we can see that the typical pattern is occurring again.

To conclude, there is a specific way that we see Chinese regulation of religion occurring.

First, you choose certain nonthreatening sects for government sponsorship. Second, you restrict the number of people and organizations allowed to espouse the ideology of those nonthreatening religions. Third, you use that sponsorship to institutionalize the ideology so that other offshoots of that are seen as threatening the status quo or even heretical. We see that this is enabled by the Chinese cultural value that says religion and government are inseparable. We see that Falun Gong and Tibetan Buddhism are two sides of the same phenomenon. So where do we go from here? More research is certainly needed on this topic in regards to specific mechanisms that arise within these religions to cope with the regulations, as well as their

government