Addressed by Mr. Ye Xiaowen at
Chung Chi College of Chinese University of Hong Kong
19 February 2001
Many of you are interested in the evolution of China?s
religious policies in the past 50 years. There is indeed
an evolution in this respect. But two key policies remain
constant -- that of respect for freedom of religious
belief and that of independent running of religious
affairs. Some friends here may ask: does the ruling
Communist Party, a party that advocates atheism, really
respects the freedom of religious belief? Is it still
necessary for China to continue to run its religious
affairs independently when the whole country is embracing
ever-increasing openness to the outside world? In order
to answer these questions, we cannot but spend some
time talking about the 50 years that had preceded the
past 50 years, which may have served as a historical
background or a preparatory stage for the latter. Similarly,
we cannot but study how religions in China (not including
those in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) have traversed
their century-long journey amid the Chinese nation?s
sufferings and humiliation, resistance and liberation,
reform and development, and the ongoing rejuvenation,
and how they have completed their respective transformation
under new social conditions. An assessment of the merits
or demerits of China?s religious policies against
such a backdrop may prove to be fairer and more objective.
Two Distinctive Features
There were certainly more than two features with regard
to China?s religions over the past millennium.
Let me give you a few examples. Among the four major
world ancient civilizations (Egyptian, Babylonian, Chinese
and Indian), Chinese civilization is the only one which
has never been interrupted by any alien culture. China?s
religions took pride in being patriotic. Throughout
Chinese history, there was never a theocratic national
regime and all Chinese religions were accustomed to
putting the country?s interest first. Given the
Chinese nation?s multi-ethnic nature, all Chinese
religions naturally took harmony and peace as their
cherished values. China was well known for its rites
and etiquettes, and most religions in China stressed
ethical cultivation.
But if you look at the past 100 years when China was
once reduced to a semi-feudal and semi-colonial society,
you would find two striking features of Chinese religions
-- the ?patriarchal? nature deriving from
its semi-feudal status and the ?foreign?
nature deriving from its being a semi-colony of many
foreign powers.
Traditional Chinese religions at the threshold of the
20th century had a patriarchal-feudal character.
China?s patriarchal clan system, based on blood
lineage in both political and social realms, had a long
past. In feudal China, patriarchal-feudalism became
the dominant ideology and political mainstay. At the
political and institutional level, it helped secure
the ?divine power? of feudal rule. And at
the ethical and cultural level, it helped preserve the
rites and customs in social relations. John King Fairbank
believed that such an institutional and cultural continuity
might have generated a powerful inertia that adhered
to the established rules. Max Weber described China
as a ?nation based on patriarchal clans?,
Confucianism a ?sober religion? and the
Chinese a ?people not yet intoxicated?.
He saw Chinese religions as basically present-world
oriented. Liang Shumin was of the view that in China,
?society was organized along patriarchal lines
and ethics took the place of religion?. It was
in such a powerful inertia that the Confucianism-centered
Chinese culture emerged, and that Chinese religions
-- Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism influencing one
another -- all adopted the teachings of honoring the
heaven, the ancestor and the country, stressing the
preservation of the present world and adapting to it
rationally. The Chinese culture based on patriarchal-feudalism
proved capable of assimilating many alien cultures.
Religions coming from elsewhere must respect and adapt
to such Chinese character before they could gain a foothold
in China.
When Buddhism was first introduced into China, it continued
to pursue its proud tradition of shunning the rich and
powerful. Before long, it found it could not get anywhere
if worship of the sovereign and of the ancestors was
not practiced. Later, Buddhist followers were encouraged
to be loyal to the emperor and practice filial piety.
Christianity had been a long-standing factor in the
shaping of Western society and culture, but it had a
rough time adjusting in China. During the reign of Emperor
Kangxi of Qing Dynasty, a ?controversy of rites?
erupted. The Pope?s forbidding Chinese Catholics
to venerate Confucius and ancestors led to a ?century
of ban? for the religion in China.
Why is it that, being both foreign religions, Christianity
could not take root in China but Buddhism could? In
the words of Professor Pan Guangdan, ?This is
all because of the agreement with the soil; the plant
can grow and prosper naturally if it can benefit from
the soil. This is not to suggest that Christianity is
in itself a curse. This is merely to say that a seed,
a good seed at that, can still bear ominous fruits if
it fails to suit the soil it is sown in.?
Patriarchal-feudalism was culturally significant in
that it compelled religions to get involved in the world,
stress secular values and practice ethical cultivation.
But it also made religions the guardian of feudalism,
and in that sense, it was not all positive. In Tibet,
there was for a long time a brutal theocratic system
that combined Tibetan Buddhism with a feudal serfdom.
In Northwest China, there was once a hereditary Menhuan
system that combined the Islamic faith with the landlord
system, resulting in the emergence of a number of ?imams?
who held absolute power over the life and property of
the believers.
With
China becoming a semi-feudal and semi-colonial society,
some religions in China began to assume a character
of ?foreignness?. China entered
the 20th century with a deep sense of national humiliation.
In face of unprecedented challenges, all the Chinese
wondered where they could find a way to save their country.
At this time of national disaster and intensified clashes
between indigenous and Western cultures and as the traditional
Chinese religions struggled for survival, Protestantism
and Catholicism made large-scale inroads into China.
A religion that was supposed to spread the words of
the Gospel had become the tool of the aggressors. In
the words of Jiang Menglin, Lord Buddha came to China
riding on the back of a white elephant whereas Jesus
Christ flew in on cannon shells.? Under the protection
of extraterritoriality, this religion, that had taught
one to love others as oneself, turned to its opposite.
In the words of Baud White, all missionaries benefited
from the Opium War and the treaties signed by China
after its defeat. Indeed, some missionaries went so
far as to participate in opium trade, loot land property
and perpetrate serious misconduct. Some Chinese converts
took advantage of their status to openly prey on the
weak and vulnerable. When the injured parties brought
the case to the officials, they were told that foreigners
were beyond the jurisdiction of the Chinese court (according
to Gang Hengyi). As the missionary always protected
the believers and the consul always protected the missionary
under any circumstances, believers always won and non-believers
always lost. With believers acting more arrogantly and
out of control, people?s anger and frustration
mounted and eventually led to revolts (according to
Zeng Guofan). As a popular rhyme at the time goes, ?There
is no rain and the paddy is dry, because the church
shut out the sky.? When the abuse became unbearable,
instances of ?religious cases? increased.
There were more than 600 such cases in modern time.
By the 1920s, Chinese resistance to foreign churches,
notably among Chinese intellectuals, took on a more
organized and more rational approach, in the form of
the Non-Christian Movement, the Anti-imperialist Alliance
and the movement for the recovery of education right,
etc.
In old China, religions with the above-mentioned two
features were often put to negative use by the ruling
classes. The feudal landlord class, the estate-holding
class, the reactionary warlords and bureaucrat-capitalist
class controlled the leadership of Buddhism, Taoism
and Islam, while forces of foreign colonialism and imperialism
controlled the leadership of the Protestant and Catholic
churches.
Attempts at Changing the Status quo
Challenges
against patriarchal-feudalism came from progressive
intellectuals in the wake of the Reform Movement of
1898. The political and institutional
aspects of the patriarchal-feudalism became the first
and foremost target. In order to refute what was propped
up as the ?divine right of kings,? they
introduced natural sciences and humanities from the
West, including enlightened religious teachings, to
analyze China?s feudal system, its traditional
culture and traditional religions and initiated ?new
studies? of one kind and another. They realized
that to save China from national demise, it was essential
to reform; and to remove feudal monarchy, one must first
remove feudal religious authority. Cai Yuanpei, a forerunner
of the May 4th Movement, called for replacing autocratic
monarchy with humanism and religious authority with
science and knowledge. But his zeal went largely ignored.
Still, cries for national independence and rejuvenation
never died down. Buddhist Master Hongyi?s admonition
of never forgetting national salvation, Taoist Priest
Maoshan?s preaching of repulsing the aggressors,
and the heroic deeds of the Anti-Japanese Muslim Brigade
were reflections of Chinese resistance and patriotism.
Challenges
to the ?foreignness? of Chinese religions
came from enlightened personages of Chinese Catholic
and Protestant churches. During the May
4th Movement, patriotic clergymen, believers and students
of missionary schools in Tianjin, Shanghai and other
cities called for changes to the colonial structure
of the Chinese Catholic Church. Ma Xiangbo and others
proposed that Chinese bishops be allowed to preside
over diocese affairs and tendencies to despise Chinese
culture in seminary education be rejected. Later the
Vatican was forced to approve some sinicization measures
in the Chinese Church.
The Protestant Church launched the localization movement,
calling upon Chinese believers to shoulder their responsibility
on the one hand and carry forward the inherent oriental
culture on the other so as to rid the church of the
tag of being a ?foreign one? (Cheng Jingyi).
Also raised at the time was the slogan of ?self-administration,
self-support and self-propagation? (Wu Yaozong).
In 1903, Yu Guozhen, a Protestant clergyman in Shanghai,
proposed that believers of noble aspirations should
seek self-standing, self-support and self-propagation
and not subject themselves to the control of foreign
churches. He set up an independent Christian Association
of China in 1906. Response from Protestant believers
across the country was enthusiastic. ?We want
esteem -- for the country, for the Church and for fellow
Christians.? (Life, issue no.
9, Volume V, 1925) Even ordinary believers expressed
the strong feeling that at a time of national crisis,
anyone with a sense of patriotism should seek independence
from foreign control (Chinese Protestant Church Yearbook
1928).
The sinicization of the Catholic Church and localization
of the Protestant Church were, from a cultural point
of view, all aimed at seeking a meeting point with China?s
traditional Confucianism so as to remove their ?Western
taint? in a quest for ?Confucianized Christianity.?
These innovative attempts, however, made little difference
to the overall situation. The times would not allow
such movements to succeed even in a token way (Wu Yaozong),
the Chinese people?s hatred for the ?foreign?
religions, which they saw as colonialist appendages,
remained deep-seated.
It would take a stupendous, earth-shaking transformation
of the entire society for the Chinese religions to turn
over a new leaf.
A Rebirth
In 1949, the People?s Republic of China was proclaimed,
putting an end to the period of semi-feudalism and semi-colonialism.
The long-awaited self-renewal of Chinese religions took
place in a changed country and changed society.
China?s
Protestant and Catholic Churches embarked on the road
of independent administration. After Luoyang
in Henan Province was liberated, local believers were
so excited that they quickly demanded for the establishment
of an independent church. (Tianfeng, issue
no. 242,1950) Shortly after Shanghai was liberated,
believers wrote to newspapers demanding expulsion of
?religious peddlers? who, under the cloak
of preaching religions, were committing aggression against
China. They urged Chinese believers to organize their
own independent churches by democratic ways (Shanghai
Ta Kung Pao, 17 June 1949).
In the spring of 1950, Wu Yaozong and others, after
visiting churches around the country, together with
some clergymen from Beijing and Tianjin, went to see
Premier Zhou Enlai. They had three long conversations.
When Wu told Premier Zhou about the ideal of self-administration,
self-support and self-propagation, the premier was very
supportive, saying that Chinese Christian churches must
eliminate from the remnants and influence of imperialism,
restore religion to its original color and attain a
healthy development. Only by doing so, said the premier,
could the Christian faith present a new image to the
Chinese people. The Chinese Protestant Church seized
the historical opportunity and made a correct choice.
In July 1950, an open letter entitled The Way
for Chinese Christians in Building New China
was issued. It made it clear that self-administration,
self-support and self-propagation, an ideal that Chinese
Christians had always cherished but failed to realize,
would be carried forward. In the following four years,
400,000 or two-thirds of China?s Protestants signed
the open letter. The ?Three-Self? Patriotic
Christian Movement unfolded throughout the country,
which was described by Wu Yaozong as a rebirth of Chinese
Christianity.
The clergy and members of the Chinese Catholic Church
were not to be left behind. In November 1950, Father
Wang Liangzuo of Sichuan Province issued the ?Three-Self
Patriotic Reform Declaration?, the first of its
kind. In January 1951, Catholic believers in Tianjin
were the first to set up the Preparatory Committee for
the Promotion of Catholic Reform Movement. In February
1957, the Chinese Catholic Church held a Conference
of Fellow Believers for more than 40 days, which laid
down the principal guideline for self-administration
of church affairs.
Democratic
reforms of the religious systems of Islam and Tibetan
Buddhism were carried out. Such reforms
called for the abolition of all feudal prerogatives
enjoyed by religions, such as monastery-run tribunals,
prisons and punishment, interference with civil litigations,
appointment of tribal chieftains and clergymen, unlawful
possession of weapons, interference with marriage freedom,
oppression and discrimination against women and meddling
in education. The ownership of means of production by
monasteries and mosques was abolished, so were the practices
of usury, corvee and other exploitative systems. The
feudal way of running the monasteries, and the Islamic
?Menhuan? system characterized by the monopoly
of power in issuing religious instructions, appointing
clergy and practicing hereditary succession of religious
chiefs, were also abolished. These reforms were, on
the whole, conducted in a peaceful and cautious manner.
The Government made a clear distinction between ethnicity
and religion and went about the changes in a step-by-step
way so as to stop confusing the two. Also, the Government
made a clear distinction between religious belief and
religious system, pointing out that the former is in
the realm of thought while the latter is a matter of
social system whose feudalist nature should and could
be gradually reformed. In the case of Tibet, reform
took a particularly cautious approach. In the beginning,
the policy stressed peacefulness and six years of absence
of any reform. It was only until 1959 when the reactionary
upper clique of the Tibetan local government launched
an all-out armed rebellion that the policy was modified
to carry out reforms while quelling the rebellion. Still,
those who had not been involved in the rebellion would
not be subject to immediate reform. On the basis of
reform and consultation, monasteries in Tibet set up
their democratic management committees and formulated
a tentative Charter for Democratic Administration of
Monasteries.
Reform
of the Han-Chinese Buddhism and Taoism was also carried
out. Elements of patriarchal-feudalism
in their creed, system and property were removed. Old
rules and habits that put the lower clergy?s physical
and mental health in jeopardy were abolished and harmful
phenomena of feudal superstition widely practiced in
temples and shrines were eliminated.
In eliminating the nature of patriarchal-feudalism
in the democratic reform of China?s religious
system, the key was to do away with the stamp of the
feudalism in the system, namely, prerogatives of oppression
and exploitation by the feudal rulers and the mental
bondage they imposed on the people. On the cultural
level, however, the reform followed an approach of confirming
the system?s emphasis on ethics and discarding
dross of the feudal morals. As to Confucianism, its
traditional emphasis on virtues, including the importance
given to one?s responsibility towards one?s
country and family and self-cultivation was not to be
negated offhandedly. Just as Ding Guangxun said, ?China
has a long-history civilization and is well known for
its morals and rituals. The Chinese intellectuals, in
particular, are more interested in listening to messages
on ethics than stories about paradise and hell, and
they want to know if religion has got something to tell
them.?
Thanks to the democratic reform and their new independence
in church administration, Chinese religions stopped
being an appendage of imperialism or tools in the hands
of the former ruling class. Instead, they were restored
to their original color -- following their fundamental
beliefs, keeping to their distinctive institutions and
rituals and having the capacity to independently carry
out normal religious activities. They became genuine
embodiment of godly love and carriers of cultural traditions.
- The Protestant and Catholic Churches, having removed
their ?foreignness? tag, became genuine
Chinese institutions. China declared for the first time
that its religious organizations and religious affairs
would henceforward be subject to no foreign domination
and control.
- Having abolished patriarchal-feudalism and eliminated
feudal superstitions from its traditional religions,
China declared that no one should use religion to carry
out activities that undermine public order, impair the
health of citizens and hamper the education system of
the state.
These two statements, together with the principle of
freedom of religious belief, were written into China?s
Constitution (Article 36).
In his speech to the National Conference on United
Front Work in 1993, President Jiang Zemin said, ?The
reforms we carried out to the country?s religious
system -- removing imperialist manipulation and control
in the Catholic and Protestant Churches and starting
independent administration of church affairs, and removing
feudal oppression and exploitation in Buddhist and Islamic
establishments -- were entirely necessary and justified.
They enabled China?s religions to take an important
step towards adapting to the socialist society.?
Policies and Concepts
Just as the realization of the rights to subsistence
and development is a prerequisite to the full enjoyment
of human rights, restoring religion to its original
color and making them sound and healthy is crucial to
the genuine enjoyment of the right and freedom of religious
belief. These rights were first defined by the bourgeoisie
and are now widely recognized as fundamental human rights.
The question on a lot of people?s mind is this:
can New China, whose ruling Communist Party does not
believe in any religion, and can the new society it
has created, whose mainstream ideology cannot possibly
be any religion, accommodate religion and treat it well?
With misgivings and misunderstanding, some religious
personages left for overseas in the early years after
liberation. Some of these people, I must say, were of
outstanding quality and integrity, and they have made
important contributions to the development of religion
and culture overseas. Yet the majority preferred to
stay on their homeland. Master Yuan Ying, for example,
had received air tickets with advice for a quick departure
on the eve of liberation. He said, ?Though I have
no idea whether the Communists would abolish religion
or not, I am clear about one thing -- I am a Chinese
monk and I love my country.? He decided to wait
and see.
As a matter of fact, the Communists also took a ?wait
and see? stance. It kept reminding itself of Lenin?s
teaching that religion in a socialist society is a question
that calls for ?special care, exceptional prudence
and thoughtful consideration?.
Indeed, there have been mistakes and profound lessons
in our experience. Our conviction to principles have
become more steadfast and our understanding of the question
more lucid because of these setbacks. With 50 years
of thinking and practice and through positive and negative
experience, we now have a deeper, clearer and more resolute
grasp of the issue.
First,
there is no conflict between our respect for freedom
of religious belief and our advocacy of dialectical
materialism.
According to dialectical materialism, matter is primary,
and in that sense, it runs counter to the idealism advocated
by religion. Yet, by matter being primary, we mean that
existence and objectivity is primary. This implies that
the existence, development and changes of all objective
matters follow their inherent laws, and any outside
interference with their objective existence and inherent
laws or any handling of complicated questions in a simplistic
way, is therefore harmful. Religion is an objective
social phenomenon and develops according to objective
law. To respect freedom of religious belief is to respect
objective existence, objective process and objective
law. In this sense, our advocacy of dialectical materialism
does not run counter to our respect for freedom of religious
belief.
The question, then, is whether or not we should recognize
religion as a long-term objective existence in the socialist
society. This question looks simple in appearance, but
it determines our basic policy orientation. It is a
question that we have given a lot of thought and constant
review.
- In 1952, a report entitled Summary of the
Main Experience of Party Work among Ethnic Minorities
in the Past Few Years was issued by the Central
Government which said, ?Some comrades in certain
areas have committed impetuosity and rash advance because
of their failure to appreciate the long-term, ethnic
and international nature of religions in ethnic minority
areas.?
- In 1957, while speaking at a meeting at the National
People?s Congress, Premier Zhou Enlai said that
religion would exist for a long time. ?What we
should worry about is not whether religion will continue
to exist, but whether our ethnic minorities will prosper.?
- In 1982, the CPC Central Committee document entitled
Basic Views and Policies on Religion in Socialist
China, pointed out, ?To think that religion
would quickly wither away because of the establishment
of the socialist system and the progress in our economic
and cultural development is unrealistic.?
- In 1998, the report of the National Conference of
Bureau Chiefs of Religious Affairs said, ?During
the primary stage of socialism, not only will religion
continue to exist, it is quite possible that it might
develop to some extent and in some aspects.?
- In December 2000 at the National United Front Work
Conference, President Jiang Zemin pointed out, ?As
a social phenomenon, religion has a long history and
will continue to exist for a long time under socialism.
The ultimate withering away of religion, to be certain,
will be a long historical process, perhaps longer than
that of the class and state.?
- The point cannot be clearer. In the view of historical
materialism, by the time the class and state wither
away, political parties themselves will have no need
to exist. But religion may still be around. Given the
limitation of life and limitless horizon of knowledge,
is there any reason for the Communists not to live peacefully
with religion and treat it amicably?
Second,
respecting the freedom of religious belief and keeping
to our basic purposes are entirely compatible.
The Communist Party is dedicated to realizing and protecting
the fundamental rights of the broad masses. These rights
cover many aspects and certainly include the right to
freely choose one?s own religious belief. The
difference between theism and atheism should not lead
to antagonism between theists and atheists. To unduly
highlight such a difference even to the point of making
it a question of top priority, to discriminate against
the religious believers and to overlook their identity
with the non-believers in fundamental political and
economic interests can only lead to bitter estrangement
between the two groups. Their difference over whether
there is a heaven in afterlife should not keep them
from working hand in hand to make this life a good and
worthwhile one. Respecting citizens? freedom of
religious belief will help rally more people around
the cause of national rejuvenation and serve the grand
goal of building a better world.
Third,
respecting the freedom of religious belief has a deep
root in our cultural heritage.
It is in China?s cultural tradition to value
peace and harmony. Imperial buildings were named after
harmony. Commoners also saw harmony as an ideal state
for their families, businesses and friendships, and
they wish each other that way. Throughout China?s
history one sees few if any massive conflicts between
religious believers and non-believers, or between believers
of different religions, let alone prolonged, repetitious
and brutal religious wars such as the crusades during
the Middle Ages and those between the Protestants and
Catholics during the Christian Reformation in the West.
If anything, ancient China was more akin to what John
Locke hoped for in his thesis On Religious
Tolerance -- understanding and tolerance of
all Christian sects and other religions. China?s
dynastic rulers, thanks to their Confucian belief, treated
all religions evenhandedly and pursued a relaxed religious
policy.
It is also in China?s cultural tradition to seek
common ground while reserving differences and draw on
different ideas and cultures around the world. Religion
here was taken as a form of culture. The late Zhao Puchu
often talked about an anecdote involving Mao Zedong
during his Yan?an years. One day, Mao passed by
a temple and wanted to enter. ?What is it good
for?, said a companion. ?After all, it is
just superstition.? ?No,? Mao disagreed.
?It is culture.? Religion is a form of culture
-- this is an obvious yet profound concept, a concept
that has a long tradition and immediate significance.
For those in the government, such an understanding will
prevent a simplistic handling of religion as if it is
an alien ideology and help them realize that its positive
and meaningful contents could play a constructive role
in real life. For scholars of religions, such an understanding
embodies greater emancipation of the mind, conceptual
renewal, broader vision and a more vigorous academia.
For religious believers, such an understanding means
greater stress on the cultural aspects of religion and
greater demand for culture-conscious believers. And
for the society as a whole, such an understanding means
respect for culture as well as respect for freedom of
religious belief.
Fourth,
respecting the freedom of religious belief enjoys the
protection of the Constitution and laws.
China?s Constitution stipulates, ?Citizens
of the People?s Republic of China enjoy freedom
of religious belief. No state organ, public organization
or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or
not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate
against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in,
any religion. The state protects normal religious activities.?
China?s Criminal Law, Civil Procedure Law, Regional
National Autonomy Law, Compulsive Education Law, Electoral
Law of the People?s Congresses, Organic Law of
Villagers Committees and others all contain specific
provisions on the protection of citizens? freedom
of religious belief. In China, the state treats all
religions equally and the law protects the equal rights
of all religions. While stressing the protection of
the freedom to believe in religions, the law also provides
for protection of the freedom not to believe in religions.
All are equal before the law. Citizens enjoy the right
to religious freedom. On the other hand, they must assume
corresponding responsibilities. Violation of such a
right entails legal responsibility. Anyone, believer
or non-believer will be held accountable if he is found
to have broken the law. Protection by law ensures the
continuity and stability of the policy of religious
freedom. It will not be altered by such human factors
as a change of mind by the leaders. Thus, the rights
of citizens to religious freedom will be firmly guaranteed.
The above understanding and practice show that our
respect for the freedom of religious belief is sincere,
profound, firm and consistent. For it is determined
by our basic views and fundamental interest, it has
both immediate cause and historical basis, it represents
both a rational choice and a subject of protection by
law. What is happening here -- an atheist political
party, a government that practices separation of politics
from religion, a country where the overwhelming majority
of population do not believe in religion -- is a very
special contribution China offers to the world in the
area of protecting human and religious rights.
The above understanding and practice are also derived
from some negative experience of ours. We do not deny
that after 1957, the Chinese Communist Party made ?Left?
mistakes. Take the translation of the ?two ruptures?
in the ?Communist Manifesto? -- the Communist
revolution is the most radical rupture with traditional
relations; no wonder that its development involved the
most radical rupture with traditional ideas. Both the
translation and understanding of the word are mistaken.
The ?ueberliefertern? as was in the original
text was just a modifier for the specific object, referring
to the criticism of Communism at the time, whereas its
translation ?traditional? conveys a much
broader reference to everything heretofore. An extra
step from truth, thus, lands us in absurdity. That single
word later gave rise to both cultural radicalism and
cultural nihilism. The ?cultural revolution?
of the 1960s was turned into a ?movement against
culture,? which included campaigns to end all
religions. It was a profound, costly lesson. Since the
country embarked on reform and opening up, thanks to
efforts to redress the wrongs, tens of thousands of
temples, mosques, churches and monasteries have been
rebuilt. If the absurdity of ?wiping out the religions?
is unprecedented, the effort to return to our religious
policy is also soul-stirring. With all these ups and
downs and between all these sorrows and joys, the Chinese
people as a whole have heightened their awareness of
the right to religious freedom, their respect for the
right ever more steadfast and profound.
Of course, this understanding and practice merely reflects
our rational knowledge and the overall situation. We
have no intention to hide the fact that prejudices and
misunderstandings still linger and need to be redressed.
In fact, the Communist Party has constantly educated
its members to enhance their understanding of religion
and relevant policies. Modern religious studies in China
have already displayed a renewed prosperity with diversity
in theories and research methods. Given the country?s
sheer size, it is almost inevitable that problems occur
here and there. Government departments of religious
affairs are charged with the responsibility to administer
and supervise the implementation of the country?s
religion-related laws, decrees and policies in accordance
with law.
There are people in the West who, for the purpose of
?demonizing? China, cooked up lies and played
up certain individual problems to make them appear systematic
and widespread. They even cited China?s ban of
the Falun Gong cult as evidence of ?religious
persecution.? Prejudice is farther from truth
than ignorance. Geographical distance, however great,
is nothing compared to prejudice when it comes to blocking
the understanding and exchanges between peoples.
The Facts
What is important, as some friends may say, is not
so much talking about respect for freedom of religious
belief but looking at the hard facts.
Let us look at the facts. Right now, China has over
100 million believers of various kinds of religions.
The number of Protestants, now standing at over 10 million,
has grown more than a dozen times in the past half century
than in all the previous century and half. The number
of Catholics has grown to 4 million, up by 1 million
from 1949. The population of the 10 ethnic minorities
believing in Islam totals 18 million. According to statistics,
by 1996, there were 85,000 Buddhist, Taoist, Islamic,
Protestant and Catholic religious sites in the country,
over 300,000 clergymen, 3,000-plus religious organizations
and 74 religious seminaries and schools. Chinese religious
circles maintain contacts and exchange programs with
religious organizations in over 70 countries and regions
across the world. Religious personages participate extensively
in China?s political life, and 17,000 of them
have served as deputies to the People?s Congresses
and members of the Chinese People?s Political
Consultative Conference at various levels.
Let me give you some examples.
- On Beijing?s busiest Wangfujing Street, people
can find the Oriental Plaza and the New Dong?an
Market, investment projects of Hong Kong tycoons Li
Ka-shing and Kwok Ping-sheung. It is a highly prized
real estate zone in the city?s commercial center.
Yet, next to the market is a Catholic church, first
built in 1655 and burnt down twice in the past. The
Beijing Municipal Government, braving tremendous pressure
from developers, insisted on refurbishing the church
and expanding the square in front of it.
- The White Cloud Taoist Temple in Beijing had been
in a state of disrepair since the end of the Qing Dynasty
until China?s Taoist Association had it thoroughly
renovated a couple of times after liberation. Thanks
to repeated negotiations to implement the religious
policy, a piece of its land in the vicinity, which was
once occupied by a factory, has been returned to the
temple.
- The Amity Printing Company in Nanjing attached to
the Chinese Protestant Church has printed to date 25
million copies of the Holy Bible.
- The number of Chinese Muslims able to make a pilgrimage
to Mecca was extremely small before New China was established.
In the past decade and more, thanks to flights chartered
by the Chinese Islamic Association, over 50,000 Chinese
Muslims have smoothly and safely completed their Hajj.
- The changes to the Jokhang Monastery in Tibet after
renovation are there for all to see and judge.
- The Great Buddha at the Temple of Heaven in Hong
Kong is a great attraction. Quite a few similar sites
have been built on the mainland, including the Lingshan
Buddha in Wuxi. In Sanya, the southernmost city of China,
a massive, elegant Buddhist temple has been erected.
On a nearby man-made island, a statue of Southern Mountain
Avalokitesvara, 108 meters tall, will be built. It will
be able to rival the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
- Last August, seven national leaders of China?s
five major religions attended the Millennium Summit
of World Religious and Spiritual Leaders at the United
Nations. Priest Min Zhiting, Chairman of the Chinese
Taoist Association, chanted prayers at the opening ceremony
for the well-being of all mankind. In his speech, Bishop
Fu Tieshan, head of the Chinese religious delegation,
put forward the proposals of China?s religious
circles for the preservation of world peace.
People from China?s religious circles often speak
of the ?golden period? in referring to the
religious freedom they fully enjoy today under the protection
of the Constitution and relevant laws.
Harmony without Sameness
As we reflect on China?s past experience regarding
religious affairs and look ahead into the new century,
I can not but emphatically mention two key policies:
respect the freedom of religious belief and persevere
in running religious affairs independently.
- Respect for the freedom of religious belief is based
on our sincere respect for the choice made by large
numbers of religious believers and the objective law
of religion?s existence and development.
- Perseverance in running religious affairs independently
is based, too, on our sincere respect for the expressed
will of the Chinese people and the historical facts
of China?s prolonged suffering under imperialist
aggression and exploitation.
The will and choice of the people cannot be changed,
nor can objective law and historical facts. These two
policies are made not randomly, but after careful consideration.
They are not shallow and simplistic, but thorough and
profound. They are not for show but will be conscientiously
implemented. They are not subject to willful alteration,
but will enjoy a prolonged stability and continuity.
Absence of any of the two will threaten the very existence
of China?s religions, and overlooking any of the
two will cause confusion and unnecessary losses. Practice
shows that these two principles, once adhered to properly,
will effectively protect the human rights of the believers,
maintain state sovereignty and help the religions to
adapt to the socialist society.
To run religious affairs independently does not mean
running it in isolation or seclusion. With continued
economic globalization and WTO membership, China will
open wider to the outside world, and so will its religions.
We are ready to join the international community in
safeguarding the religion-related human rights. Bearing
in mind the basic principles on religious freedom in
the World Human Rights Declaration and our own experience
in maintaining freedom of religious belief, we wish
to submit a five-point proposition as follows:
- In response to the distortion of and trampling on
religious freedom, we call for more effective legislative,
judicial and administrative measures for the realization
and guarantee of freedom of religious belief.
- In response to the rising threat of religious extremism,
carried out in the name of religion, we call for concerted
international efforts to combat it in defense of world
peace.
- In response to the bullying of and intervention in
other countries by hegemonism and power politics, which
uses religious issues as pretexts, we call for dialogue
in lieu of confrontation and full respect for the sovereignty
of all countries and their practice of protecting religious
freedom.
- In response to the local conflicts and crises caused
by ethnic and religious factors in the post-Cold War
era, we call for mutual respect and tolerance on the
part of all religions and religious sects.
- In response to the interaction and convergence of
the world?s diverse civilizations, we call for
enhanced understanding and exchange on the basis of
seeking common ground while setting aside differences
so as to promote common development of the human civilizations.
Countries in the world differ in history and tradition,
cultural background, and social system, and certainly
in value systems. Their religious situations are as
different as they can be. This is the result of many
factors, past and present, at work, and no one can judge
which is better or worse than the other, which is right
or wrong. Our world, after all, is a diverse and colorful
place. Understanding of religious freedom may vary from
one social system to another. This is why we need to
be culturally conscious, striving for harmony but not
sameness (Fei Xiaotong). To be culturally conscious
means that we should realize the limitations of our
own culture and be prepared to accommodate other cultures,
thus attaining the state of ?harmony without sameness.?
?Every nation treasures its own merits and respects
those of others. When merits and merits are shared,
there will be great harmony in the world.? All
that is true, good and beautiful are on the same wavelength,
be they religious or secular in form and be they measured
with the values of the East or the West. A narrow-minded
soul would view any difference as opposition and diversity
as adversary. But to a broad-minded one, difference
means richness in colors and postures, and diversity
embodies unity and harmony.
(China.org.cn October 11, 2002)
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