Introduction
China (a Wikipedia link) is a country in east Asia with a population of over 1,400 million. It is bordered to the north by Kazakhstan and Mongolia and Russian, to the east by North Korea, to the south by Vietnam and Laos and Myanmar and Bhutan and India and Nepal, and to the west by Pakistan and Afghanistan and Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. A total of 14 countries (which is a tie for the most borders – with Russia)!
China is one of only two countries in the world that are officially atheist states (the other being North Korea).
The country is a one-party state under which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wields absolute political power over every branch of government, the military, and the judiciary.
History
Ancient and early dynasties
- Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE): The start of the Chinese dynasties, known for bronze casting and early writing systems.
- Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE): The longest-serving dynasty, during which philosophies like Confucianism and Daoism emerged. This era collapsed into the unstable Warring States period.
Imperial China
- Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE): Qin Shi Huang united rival kingdoms to create the first centralized Chinese empire. It involved standardizing writing, currency and early sections of the Great Wall.
- Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE): Established a cultural identity for the majority ethnic Han group and opened the Silk Road to global trade.
- Tang and Song Dynasties (618-1279 CE): Regarded as a golden age of art, literature, and technological inventions such as woodblock printing and gunpowder.
- Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 CE): Founded by Mongol conquerors. It was led by Kublai Khan after the Song were defeated.
- Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE): Han rule undertook large maritime expeditions led by Zheng He. The iconic modern stone version of the Great Wall was constructed.
- Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 CE): The Manchus were the final imperial dynasty and expanded China’s borders to their greatest extent. They eventually faced internal rebellions and defeats by the West in the 19th century.
Modern era
- Republic of China (1912-1949): Thousands of years of imperial rule was ended by the 1911 Revolution. The new republic faced many problems, including the warlord era, the Second Sino-Japanese war, and a bitter civil war.
- People’s Republic of China (PRC) (1949-present): Following the victory of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong proclaimed the PRC on 1 October 1949. This caused the nationalist government to retreat to Taiwan. After early difficult decades (which included the Cultural Revolution), China initiated sweeping economic reforms in 1978 that transformed it into a modern superpower.
Current day
Religion in China (a Wikipedia link) is as follows (as of 2023):
- No religion: 93.0%
- Buddhism: 3.7%
- Folk beliefs: 0.2%
- Christianity: 1.4%
- Islam: 1.3%
- Other religion: 0.3%
Freedom of religion is very restricted in China. The ruling party officially promotes state atheism and conducts anti-religious campaigns. The government officially recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity (with Catholicism and Protestantism recognized separately), and Islam. Every religious institution is required to uphold the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
Issues
There aren’t really secular issues in China because the country is officially atheist.
There are human rights issues to do with suppression of dissent, including strong surveillance, detention and imprisonment.
If you have no intention of practicing religion and you don’t have a need to criticize the government, China is an okay place.
Secular and atheist groups
It isn’t possible to legally register an independent secularist, humanist or atheist non-government organisation in China.
Hong Kong and Taiwan operate under different legal systems, so secular and humanist groups can associate freely there: