Abstract
All religions in China are closely linked to the traditional religion based on the patriarchal clan system. This bedrock faith of the Chinese, as it interacts with native religions and foreign religions, has fundamentally influenced the religious psychology of all Chinese people. Following a brief introduction to China’s religions, this article discusses folk religions as the main expression of traditional patriarchal religion, as well as their function and impact in contemporary society. The article then outlines relations between the multiple religions and cultures of ethnic groups in pluralist China to help the reader better understand the interaction between religious and cultural traditions of the Chinese people.
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Notes
‘Qubbah’ refers to the tombs of Islamic holy sages or ancestors, while ‘Mazār’ refers to the tombs or memory constructs of Islamic holy men. Broadly, this means the place of worship. These are popular in Xijiang, Central Asia, and Persian areas.
The Rituals Debate occurred between the missionaries and Chinese Intellectuals in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when Roman Catholicism started to spread in China. The issues of the debate included traditional Chinese culture, the worship of Confucius and ancestors, the worship of the Heaven, the name and teachings of Catholicism, etc.
Jiao-She systems generally mean the ritual systems of the worship of Heaven and Earth. JAO was the ritual of worshipping Heaven and SHE was the ritual of worshipping the Earth.
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He, Q. Religious Traditions in Local Communities of China. Pastoral Psychol 61, 823–839 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-012-0438-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-012-0438-z