“Citizens of the People’s Republic of China shall enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organ, social organization or individual shall coerce citizens to believe in or not to believe in any religion, nor shall they discriminate against citizens who believe in or do not believe in any religion. The state shall protect normal [but, apparently, only “normal”] religious activities.”
In communist China, Chairman Mao persecuted both the Confucian and Taoist religions. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China pays lip service to “freedom of religious belief.” But, in practice, freedom of religion is actually quite limited there. This may be why it’s hard to come up with reliable statistics for the relative size of the country’s religions. In fairness, persecution of both the Confucian and Taoist faiths in China predates the communist revolution there. But this persecution went into high gear, when Mao took over the mainland of China in 1949. The government of the older “Republic of China” then retreated to the nearby island of Taiwan. Taiwan is a much freer country today. Thus, it’s easier to see the influence of the “Chinese folk religions” there, as they are now called, in the country’s demographics.
But this audiobook shies away from discussing the politics surrounding this persecution. They even shy away from offering any estimates about the numbers of each religion in China, or in the larger world more generally. Again, this may be because reliable statistics for this sort of thing are somewhat harder to obtain, as mentioned earlier. Rather, this audiobook instead gives an examination of the birth, the history, and the major scriptures of both Confucianism and Taoism. The first half of this audiobook therefore focuses on Confucianism. They start with Confucius himself, and then go forward to a number of his later disciples. In the West, Confucius may be the most admired of all of the Eastern philosophers. The latter half of this audiobook then focuses on Taoism – or “Daoism,” as they pronounce it here. They start with Lao Tzu (although they Anglicize his name somewhat differently), and then go forward to a number of his later disciples. The audiobook’s narrator is the actor Ben Kingsley. Mr. Kingsley does his best to pronounce these names authentically. He even makes an effort to pronounces the tones, since Chinese (famously) is a tonal language. This helps to give a sample of the language, and the language barrier that (for Westerners) surrounds these two great religions.
Temple of Confucius of Jiangyin, Wuxi, Jiangsu
The audiobook’s two segments, on Confucianism and Taoism respectively, each emphasize parallels to Western religions – including Christianity. It might surprise many Westerners to hear this, but Christianity is probably more similar to Confucianism and Taoism than it is to the Hinduism of India. Given that our language is far more closely related to certain languages of India (such as Hindi and Sanskrit), this might surprise us. Nonetheless, Westerners commonly find the Confucian and Taoist religions to be a bit more “accessible” than Hinduism. This was my reaction, when I first took a comparative religions class in college. It was again my reaction, when I later listened to this series’ coverage of these Eastern religions respectively. Confucianism, in particular, has some noticeable parallels with the works of Plato and Aristotle. And Taoism has some noticeable parallels with Catholicism, like having an organized priesthood with houses of worship. They also have more emphasis on beliefs in heaven and Deity. These further reinforce the parallels with Western religions like Christianity.
Chinese dragon at Guan Di Taoist Temple, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
I felt like I understood these religions somewhat better, after listening to this audiobook. In my opinion, Mao’s tendency to persecute these two religions is among communism’s greatest crimes – and that’s saying something! This audiobook definitely mentions the communist persecution of Taoism, although it seems to omit the communist persecution of Confucianism. Nonetheless, I would still recommend this audiobook to people who want to understand religion in China. This also discusses China’s Legalist philosophy, and the interaction of these various religions with Buddhism. But the emphasis of the audiobook is on the “Chinese folk religions,” as they are now called. Thus, it definitely helps you to better understand both Confucianism and Taoism. They are often grouped together, and for good reason. And it may even help you to understand Chinese culture more generally.
“No one shall use religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the state’s education system. Religious groups and religious affairs shall not be subject to control by foreign forces.”
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Part of an audiobook series
Religions, Scriptures, and Spirituality
Others to be covered later
See also the audiobook series
The World of Philosophy
Socrates
Stoics and Epicureans
Avicenna and Medieval Muslim Philosophy
Voltaire and Rousseau
Others to be covered later
Stoics and Epicureans
Avicenna and Medieval Muslim Philosophy
Voltaire and Rousseau
Others to be covered later
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