China

:This article is about Chinese civilization. For the modern-day state commonly referred to as "China", see People's Republic of China. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation).

Culture

Main article: Culture of China

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Religion

Main articles: Religion in China

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The major religions of China are:

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• Taoism - exact numbers unknown
• Buddhism - exact numbers unknown
• Christianity - 2 to 4% (this is a Western number, the Chinese official number is much smaller than 1%)
• Islam - 1% to 2%

While the People's Republic of China is officially atheist it does allow religion under strict supervision. Historically, Taoism and Buddhism has been the dominant religion of Chinese societies, and continues to be so in Chinese societies outside of direct PRC control.

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In recent years, Falun Gong, a spiritual practice drawing upon Buddhism and Taoism, has attracted great controversy after the government of the People's Republic of China labeled it an evil cult and began an attempt to eradicate it. The Falun Gong itself denies that it is a cult or a religion. The Falun Gong says that it has approximately 70-100 million followers, which is a bit higher than estimates by outside groups, though exact numbers are unknown. They regularly protest against their suppression, both domestically and internationally.

Related Topics:
Falun Gong - Buddhism - Taoism - Cult

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See also:

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• Confucianism-Chinese way of thinking
• Catholicism in China
• Protestantism in China
• Chinese folk religion
• Way of former Heaven Sects

Arts, scholarship, and literature

Chinese literature has a long and prolific continuous history, in part because of the development of printmaking during the Song dynasty. Before that, manuscripts of the Classics and religious texts (mainly Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist) were manually written by ink brush (previously scratching shells) and distributed. Academies of scholars sponsored by the empire were formed to comment on these works in both printed and written form. Members of royalty frequently participated in these discussions. Tens of thousands of ancient written documents are still extant and more, from oracle bones to Qing edicts, are discovered each day, which had been formally ground up for use in Chinese medicine.

Related Topics:
Chinese literature - Printmaking - Song dynasty - Confucian - Taoist - Buddhist - Ink brush - Oracle bones

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For centuries, opportunity for economic and social advancement in China could be provided by high performance on the imperial examinations. This led to a meritocracy, though in practice this was possible only among those who were not female or too poor to afford test preparation, as doing well still required tutorship. Nevertheless it was a system distinct from the European system of blood nobility. Imperial examinations required applicants to write essays and demonstrate mastery of the Confucian classics. Those who passed the highest level of the exam became elite scholar-officials known as jinshi, a highly esteemed socio-economic position.

Related Topics:
Imperial examination - Meritocracy

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Chinese philosophers, writers, and poets have been, for the most part, highly respected, and played a key role in preserving and promoting the culture of the empire. Some classical scholars, however, were noted for their daring depictions of lives of the common people, often to the displeasure of authorities. (See List of Chinese authors, and List of Chinese language poets).

Related Topics:
List of Chinese authors - List of Chinese language poets

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Chinese culture valued filiality, humility, generosity, and charity, but today values have changed greatly. Chinese are still concerned with face, but the one-child policy leads to unfiliality.

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The Chinese have created numerous musical instruments, such as the zheng, xiao, and erhu, that have spread throughout East and Southeast Asia, and especially areas under its influence. The sheng is the basis for several Western free-reed instruments.

Related Topics:
Musical instrument - Zheng - Xiao - Erhu - East - Southeast Asia - Sheng - Free-reed instrument

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Chinese characters have had many variants and styles throughout the Chinese history, and were "simplified" in the mid-20th century on mainland China. Calligraphy is a major art-form in China, above that of painting and music. Because of its association with elite scholar-official bosses, it later on became commercialized, where works by famous artists became prized possessions.

Related Topics:
Chinese character - Simplified - 20th century - Calligraphy - Painting - Music - Possessions

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The great variation and beauty in the Chinese landscape is often the inspiration for great works of Chinese art. See Chinese landscape painting for more details.

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Calligraphy, sushi, and bonsai are all millennia-old art that spread to Japan and Korea.

Related Topics:
Calligraphy - Sushi - Bonsai - Japan - Korea

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