China's 1 billion uncounted Buddhists

(Chinese Life with Judy & Mao) Is China really non-religious? In Beijing's most crowded temple

List of religions by size (Wikipedia)a

What is the third largest religion in the world?

Who can say? One billion or more Buddhists in China go uncounted in official figures because, officially, all Chinese in China are communist atheists with no interest in religion, just a love of business, STEM, and tech.

• Buddhism in China

India, birthplace of Buddhism, unmentioned

Who admits tradition when the census comes a knocking and it's time to make money, pile up profits, and get more stuff? Capitalism rules here.

• China's undercounted religious populations

The exact same thing happens in the United States, and any American can see it at the largest Buddhist temple in the western hemisphere, "Going West" (Hsi Lai) Temple, in Los Angeles, California:

Is this China or California? (Hsi Lai Temple, Hacienda Heights, SGV, LA County)

• Chongsheng Temple: A glimpse of China's architectural beauty

Government and politics in China

Who cares about Buddhist Shaolin Temple of Kung Fu but tourists from around the world?

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Most earthlings live either in India or China

"China" is actually called the People's Republic of China (PRC). Officially, it is a communist state governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Officially, the CCP is guided by socialism with Chinese characteristics, which it describes as Marxism adapted to Chinese circumstances [184].

The 14th Dalai Lama is considered a demon.

The Chinese constitution states that the PRC "is a socialist state governed by a people's democratic dictatorship that is led by the working class and based on an alliance of workers and peasants" and that "the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party" [185].

Enormous modern Buddha statue, Henan, China

The PRC officially characterizes itself as a democracy—more specifically, a whole-process people's democracy—that is organized around the [Russian] Leninist principle of democratic centralism [186].

However, the [empire or] country is commonly described as an authoritarian one-party state and a dictatorship [187, 188] with some of the world's heaviest restrictions in many civil rights areas, most notably AGAINST:

• freedom of the press,
• freedom of assembly,
• free formation of social organizations,
• freedom of religion, and
• freedom of the Internet [189].

"Freedom of religion"? Not for Tibetans, Uyghurs

China has consistently been ranked among the lowest as an "authoritarian regime" by the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, ranking at 145th out of 167 countries in 2024 [190].

But other sources suggest that terming China as "authoritarian" does not sufficiently account for the multiple consultation mechanisms that exist in the Chinese governmental system [191].

Religion in China

China's top Buddhist Goddess

Freedom of religion is guaranteed by China's constitution, although religious organizations [like peaceful Falun Gong] that lack official approval can be subject to state persecution [198].

The government of the country is officially atheist, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) requires its members to be [or at least say they are officially] atheist [479].

Religious affairs and issues in the country are overseen by the National Religious Affairs Administration, under the CCP's United Front Work Department [480].

Guanyin in neighboring Mongolia

The "Three Teachings" of [spiritual] Buddhism, [social] Confucianism, and [philosophical] Taoism have historically shaped Chinese culture [481, 482], enriching a spiritual and philosophical framework of traditional religion that harks back to the early Shang and Zhou Dynasty.

Chinese folk religion, which is framed by the Three Teachings and by other traditions [483], consists in allegiance to the shen [Japanese kami], who can be:

• deities of the surrounding nature or
• ancestral principles of human groups,
• concepts of civility,
• culture heroes and heroines, many of whom feature in Chinese mythology and history [484].

Among the most popular cults of folk religion are those of

• 

  Chinese ritual with incense

  the Yellow Emperor, embodiment of the God of Heaven, and
• one of the two divine patriarchs of the Chinese people [485, 486] of
• Mazu/Matsu (Goddess of the Seas) [485],
• Guan Yu (God of War and Business),
• Caishen (God of Prosperity and Wealth),
• Pangu, and
• many others.

In the early decades of the 21st century, the Chinese government has been engaged in a rehabilitation of folk cults—formally recognizing them as "folk beliefs" as distinguished from doctrinal religions [487] and often reconstructing them into forms of "highly curated" civil religion [488]—as well as in a national and international promotion of Buddhism [489].

A visit to 'evil' atheist China

(Leah's English) CHINA VLOG: An American's daily life in China

Big statues: India, China, USA, Russia, Brazil

China is home to many of the world's tallest religious statues, representing either enlightened Buddhist beings or deities of Chinese folk religion; the tallest of all is the Spring Temple Buddha in Henan. More

European Buddhist nun in Chinese: "Stop comparing, start living"

• Chinese temple praying (rawpixel)
• Chinese Life with Judy & Mao; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit