page_title: Hinduism in China
hierarchical_section_title: Hinduism in China
context_page_description: Hinduism is currently practiced by a minority of residents of China. The religion itself has a very limited presence in modern mainland China, but archaeological evidence suggests a significant presence of Hinduism in different provinces of medieval China. Hindu influences were also absorbed in the country through the spread of Buddhism over its history. Practices originating in the Vedic tradition of ancient India such as yoga and meditation are also popular in China. Some indigenous people in China, pray to Hindu gods such as Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesha and Kali.
  Hindu communities, particularly through Tamil merchant guilds of Ayyavole and Manigramam once thrived in medieval south China. Evidence of Tamil siva motifs and temples, such as in the Kaiyuan temple, continue to be discovered in Quanzhou, Fujian, a province of southeast China. A small community of Tamil immigrant workers currently exists in Hong Kong.
context_section_description: Hinduism (specifically the sect of Shaivism) is currently practiced by a minority of residents of China. The religion itself has a very limited presence in modern mainland China, but archaeological evidence suggests a significant presence of Hinduism in different provinces of medieval China. Hindu influences were also absorbed in the country through the spread of Buddhism over its history. Practices originating in the Vedic tradition of ancient India such as yoga and meditation are also popular in China. Some indigenous people in China, pray to Hindu gods such as Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesha and Kali.
  Hindu communities, particularly through Tamil merchant guilds of Ayyavole and Manigramam once thrived in medieval south China. Evidence of Tamil siva motifs and temples, such as in the Kaiyuan temple, continue to be discovered in Quanzhou, Fujian, a province of southeast China. A small community of Tamil immigrant workers currently exists in Hong Kong.
caption: Hindu relief, Quanzhou Museum. The image depicts Narasimha legend for the festival of Holika and Holi.
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJIFILM", "Image Model": "FinePix JZ305", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Digital Camera FinePix JZ305 Ver1.03", "Image DateTime": "2012:02:21 14:51:36", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "290", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1476", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "10066", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/15", "EXIF FNumber": "51/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1600", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:02:21 14:51:36", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:02:21 14:51:36", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "409/100", "EXIF ApertureValue": "47/10", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "97/100", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "17/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "119/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1600", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1200", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1328", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "2580", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2580", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}