Religion in China

The main religions in China are Buddhism, Chinese folklore, Taoism and Confucianism among many others

Abrahamic religions are also practised. There is a Kaifeng Jewish community living in China. Also, Islam has been historically popular, introduced since the Tang Dynasty. The Hui people and Uyghur people are Muslims.

Buddhism
There are three main existing branches of buddhism: Han Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, and Theravada. The first two are in China. They come from the Mahayana.they also practise other religions and also fall under the Hindu religion

Folk Religion

Chinese folk religion is a religion that has been practised in China for thousands of years. There are at least 800,000,000 followers of Chinese folk religion worldwide (estimate). Most if not all of these followers are also followers of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, as these three philosophy-religions are major influences of China's folk religion. The influence from and to these three philosophy-religions goes to the extent that some mythical figures from folk culture have merged into those philosophy-religions and vice versa.

Chinese folk religion is made up of a combination of religious practices, including Confucianism, ancestor veneration, Buddhism and Taoism. Folk religion also retains traces of some of its ancestral neolithic belief systems which include the veneration of the Sun, Moon, Earth, Heaven and various stars,  as well as communication with animals. It has been practised alongside Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism by Chinese people throughout the world for thousands of years.

Taoism in China

Daoism, or Taoism, is a philosophy-religion that is at least 2,500 years old. It originated from China and is now widely practised in Korea.

道 Dao, also Romanized as Tao, is the "Force" that Taoists believe makes everything in the world. It is very mysterious, and instead of spending a lot of time trying to explain what the Tao is, Taoists focus on living a simple and balanced life in harmony with nature. This is one of the most important principles in Taoism. Taoists also believe that conflict is not good and that if you have a problem with something, it is better to find a way around it.

Some important Taoists are:
 老子 Lao Zi.  Some say he wrote Dào Dé Jīng.
 庄子 Zhuangzi. He wrote a book with stories that talk about Taoism.
 黄帝 Huang Di the Yellow Emperor. People say he was one of the first Taoists, but it is disputed whether he even existed or not.


Category:Religions