The statistics above shows nearly 656.8 million people do not believe in religion or God in China. This represents about 9.4% of the world's population of 7 billion.
Add another 392 million who believe in Shenism ( not a religion) , the total is more than 1 billion people who are Atheists in China.
Is this true?
Before you perceive most Chinese as Godless, the data above is taken from a YouTube clip, for China only (an unofficial source.)
Communism versus Religion.
The PRC ( People's Republic of China) is a Communist state. Similarly North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, Laos are also Communist states. They do not endorse any religion, but that doesn't mean there are no believers. Only difference is that they are not allowed to operate as an official State religion.
Politics and religion do not mix. The Communist ideology clash with religion.
Karl Marx, the founder of Communism called religion - 'the opium of the people.' He said it is a tool used by the ruling class to keep the working class content with their suffering promising a reward in the Afterlife.
Communism is guided by science and loyalty to the State, whereas religion asks for loyalty to a higher power.
The CPC ( Communist Party of China) is their Guardian Angel.
The Communist Party members of China must be atheist, but the people are allowed freedom of beliefs. The CPC regulates and all religions must be align with the Party and state laws.
They may be officially atheist, but not all Chinese in the world. Like all human beings on Earth, we are spiritual. So, there are those who believe in God and those who don't.
The Chinese God.
According to ancient history the Chinese were one of the earliest believers in God - their God - Shangdi. 上帝 . ( Heavenly God)
They also worship their ancestors, Confucianism and Taoism. ( 4-6th century BCE.) These are not religions.
Chinese do believe in God.
The Overseas Chinese and migrants outside China are more fortunate. They can freely believe in any religions.
Every CNY eve these Chinese still practice traditions like praying to the Heavenly God.
In Malaysia, the Chinese pray to many other gods.
They call ‘Datuks,’ or Tua Pek Kong, (God of Prosperity) Other gods like - Monkey God, Goddess of Mercy , Tua Pek Kong, etc, also make the list. These may be deities but worship nonetheless. Whatever God/God's that can bless them with prosperity, good health and longetivity will be worship.
Temples, altars are built everywhere in factories, roadside, jungles, to honour the various Gods.
Source: Screenshot from website above.
So the Chinese are actually animalistic and polytheistic.
If the Gods don't reward them, they may sometimes change gods.
Do humans still believe in God/Gods?
In this age of high technology and AI, where almost everything has an answer and science has unravelled most humanity's myths and mystery - do we still need a Supernatural Being for guidance? The answer is in the population of atheist in the world.
Is Faith still valid.
There is a rise in atheism among the young( under 40) in the US, Japan, and Europe. These are mostly developed and advanced countries.
In the undeveloped/ developing countries there is a rise in religion, but, this is mainly due to population growth.
Development versus religion.
Since the CPC took over China in the '70s, and abolished religion it has lifted 700 million of it's people out of poverty through the government's policies and people's hard work.
The concept of hard work, good governance and pragmatism that will reward those who work for it. God rewards the Afterlife.
Origin of Religion.
In Western mythology, everything in your life depends on God - your fate, destiny.
In Chinese mythology, you have to fight for survival. Whatever god/gods, you, as a human, must give priority to your own self first before God.
Recognizing the fact that life is full of adversities one must prepare oneself to face it. They cultivate a culture of self reliance or national spirit of ‘ fight’ against all odds.
( Ai Piah Cai Eh Eai ) Hokkien song on this spirit of ‘fight to win’
Priority in life is placed on survival and self-independence, not rely 100% on God.
It is well known that if you put the Chinaman anywhere in the world, they can survive. Not only that, they may even thrive and prosper.
Whatever obstacles like oppressive, discriminative, or racist government, they can turn around adversity and maneuver their way around and beat the odds.
Chinese in other religions.
There are also millions of Chinese who are believers of Islam, Christianity , Buddhism and other beliefs. Those who married inter- racial or religious, may embrace their spouse's religion. No problem.
In China today you can still see mosques, temples, churches, and people worshipping. But no religion is allowed to be the official State religion, unlike Saudi Arabia- Islam, or, US- Christianity.
Conclusion.
“Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. By- Roman philosopher Seneca.
God help those who help themselves.
Jack Ung (jack.uct1953@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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