The ancient Chinese religion offers a fascinating area of study for modern scholars. Unlike the contemporary world where religion is institutionalized, the old religion incorporated various sets of beliefs within society. Some doctrines received the support of Chinese rulers of the Qing dynasty and thrived between certain periods. Nonetheless, the authorities used the teachings of religion to reinforce the morality of their actions within a specific state. Furthermore, the foreign dictates of certain religions such as Buddhism slowly gained a foothold within the ancient Chinese society. However, the traditional dictates of faith such as worship of the ancestors and elaborate rituals of mourning and veneration of the dead were still prevalent. This paper will draw from various sources to provide insights into the significant aspects of the Chinese religion during the extended 16^th century. Central dictates of the faith during this time was religious pluralism among the subjects, while the administrators used the main facets of the state religion to entrench their rule.

Religion in China from 1640 to 1820

The historical development of the Chinese religion during the period of the extended 18^th century involved a combination of several facets. Buddhism, the main religion in the Chinese mainland, was initially imported from India. It became interlined with the local traditions of the Chinese people as the faith continued to gain acceptance in the country. Even before the period of Qing rule which began after 1644, elements of the religion had already combined to diffuse the religion (Cohen 2). Consequently, what developed as a coherent set of practices for the individual, the family, and the community was a combination of tradition with a Chinese origin and the fundamentals of Buddhism. The popular religion in China shaped most of the societal life in the country (Cohen 3). The traditional religion during the extended period of the 18^th century provided great ritual emphasis on the critical elements of state ideology and the fundamental political doctrines of the state. However, the society in ancient China fostered several religions to thrive at the same time.

China was a secular society during the extended 18^th century years. The traditional idea of cosmos encompassed all kinds of beliefs and religious practices. Originally, Buddhism brought with it an institution of celibate priesthood (Cohen 3). The religion also introduced a set of ideas which were initially very complex and foreign for the Chinese people at the time. More religions emerged domestically or were imported with time. The society was friendly to various religions, and the multiple doctrines existed peacefully and harmoniously. The government was also secular without any particular policy on religion. Therefore, the actions to influence belief at the time exhibited inconsistencies. State control alternated from patronage through oversight and regulation, to prohibition (Kuan 157). When the emperor became a sympathizer of a particular religion, the state regulations naturally became relaxed. When religion became a form a threat to the existence of a nation, the authorities quickly outlawed it. The Chinese society at the time condoned various types of religious practices as long as they aligned their beliefs to law and order within the state.

Religious tolerance in Chinese society from the 1620s to 1840s was largely friendly to pluralism, although the state exercised an element of control. The state imposed a part of control over the various religions in the country by restricting its practices in terms of religious sites and target audiences. The administration was open to receiving kickbacks in return for being friendly to a particular religion. For example, the Kangxi emperor of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) was tolerant of Catholicism influence in his territory by the Jesuit missionaries. In return, the ministers offered to help ancient China with its ambitions on astronomy, machinery for gun manufacture, and diplomacy (Kuan 157). However, the Church soon outlawed some of the Chinese traditional rites in 1715 through Pope Clement XI. Accordingly, the authorities responded by quashing the Edict of 1692 which fundamentally anchored the policy of hospitality religions such as Christianity (Kuan 157). The Kangxi emperor returned with a decree to ban the Catholic missionaries in the country. As such religious policy in ancient China was a pragmatic approach. The monarch exercised a form of tutelage or control over the cultural and spiritual matter in society.

The ancient religion of the Chinese people was devoid of any form of dogma, faith, or mystery. The people were content to follow the principles of religion dictated to them by their superiors. Moreover, their rulers aimed to study the order of nature and rule their people according to the values harmonious with the universe (Harper 23). The emperor was therefore regarded the Son of Heaven, with the responsibility to rule over human society. The anciently established Chinese ideology held that the emperor was not divine but was divinely appointed (Cohen 3). Furthermore, his duty was to ensure that the society expressed its moral order. Also, the Chinese emperors worshipped their ancestors in an expression of the Confucian doctrine of filial loyalty (Cohen 3). The official state cult in ancient China emphasized the critical elements of state ideology and the political organization of the country.

The arrangement below the emperor in ancient China coordinated in the same way as the state administrative system. The functions of the government ran at the same establishment with the religious places of worship. Several religious establishments were close to the headquarters such as the magistrate’s establishment. Among the most important of them was the Confucius or local temple, the military temple, and the City God temple (Cohen 3).  The religious rights of these temples were only held for and by the government officials. In the Confucius tradition, there was a natural order linking human nature. Moreover, the law of nature operated in complete totality with the moral principle. Although the ancient Chinese religion based on the socioeconomic context of the people, it was also an independent system of thought (Goossaert 309). The old Chinese people believed that all people had a good virtue in them and that passions and selfish desires put them in conflict with the natural order.

The use of rituals was an essential aspect of the Chinese religious order. Confucius taught that the ceremonies were a means to infuse the values of ethical and social importance for the living.  Crucially, the rituals were used to encourage the adherence of the human race to the natural order rather than dependence of the powers of the supernatural (Cohen 4). Additionally, the arrangement of the state rituals was contingent with the Confucius dictates. The focus of sacrifices was on natural forces inscribed on the stones rather than personified by images. Conversely, these spiritual beliefs contrasted with the views held by the majority of the masses and some officials regarding the power and influence of the supernatural forces. The system of ideas during the extended 18^th century are pluralistic. Main characteristics comprised rituals and theological continuities as well as distinctions between different groups based on locality, social class, and other particular identities (Goossaert 310). The state religion in the ancient Chinese allowed the imperial government a chance to legitimize its activities.

The view of the ancient religion among the Chinese differed between the Confucius scholars and the average person. However, the government at the time did make substantial effort to try and control its influence in the country. The Emperor’s government actively manipulated its pantheon of deities and incorporated more popular gods into the state faith (Cohen 4). The ancient Chinese religion was a traditional idea of the cosmos, which encompassed all kinds of religions and beliefs (Kuan 156). The most critical link between the state and the religion was the City God. Accordingly, his temple was in every administrative unit of ancient China. Additionally, he was considered a divine counterpart of the local magistrate. Both the City God and magistrate of a specific administrative area were in charge of the same area. However, their roles differed with the magistrate in charge of world affairs and the City God of matters of the supernatural (Cohen 4). The magistrate in the ancient Chinese religion appealed to the City God for supernatural intervention in issues of calamity such as drought, famine, and floods. The doctrine was used by the imperial government to manipulate the running of the state, conveniently allocating the worldly functions to each unit of power.

The state encouraged a belief among its Chinese subjects that the pantheon of deities assisted the administrative officials in performing their daily duties. The imperial government advanced the notion that the City God occupied a vital position organized in the hierarchy of supernatural beings (Cohen 4). Accordingly, the state inoculated a belief that the administrative hierarchy mirrored the arrangement of the pantheon of gods worshipped in the society. The divine authority comprised three important divisions of heaven, earth, and the underworld (Cohen 4). It embodied gods and spirits represented in the temples and at shrines by carved images or woodblock prints (Cohen 4). Fundamentally, the imperial government conceded that the gods, although having supernatural powers, had feelings and desires similar to those of the state administrators. Each household was kept in check by its Stove God Zao jun on earth (Cohen 4). The organization of each territorial cult reflected the social structure of a typical Chinese village (Goossaert 318). The local arrangement of the ancient Chinese communities had a religious dimension propagated by the imperial government.

The Chinese religion of the extended 18^th century incorporated a dimension of reverence to the underworld of the dead. Each family was under the jurisdiction of the Earth God. The surviving members reported the death of a person to their local deity. The Earth God, in turn, arranged the dead person’s arrival to the underworld. The domain of ten judges or magistrates formed the perception of the resting place of the dead. Surprisingly, the ancient Chinese believed that the soul of the deceased each passed through the judges, helping them deliver judgment. The concept of the underworld had long been assimilated to the hierarchical framework for popular religion although it came from Buddhism. Prayers, rites, and mourning for the souls of the dead loomed large during the funeral ritual, a practice which was popularized by Confucius (Harper 56). Those who lived perfect lives could obtain an early or consummate release in life. The ancient Chinese found a way of incorporating the spirits of the dead into their day to day lives.

Similarly, the Chinese religion from 1620 to 1840 popularized the notion of a supreme ruler of the supernatural forces present in the hierarchy of beings. The heavenly court of the Jade Emperor was a major division of the religion’s popular cosmos. The Jade Emperor was the parallel equivalent of the living emperor but conceived abstractly in a Heaven of State cult (Cohen 5). Similarly, his subjects in the royal court were the many gods, some spirits of historical figures who led exemplary lives, and others representing the gods of nature. Additionally, some of the other gods adopted from Buddhism also served in the Jade Emperor’s court. The local god at each of the temples of the Chinese residents of the extended 18^th century was considered a member of Jade Emperor’s court. The religion, therefore, encompassed a form of ancestral worship based on a territorial temple cult (Goossaert 318). Thus, the dictates of the Chinese religion from 1620-1840 emphasized on a hierarchical system of both deities and humans.

Conclusion

The state religion reinforced the administrative powers of the ancient Chinese authorities, although the society encompassed the pluralist perspective of religious doctrines. The culture in China adopted the various dictates of imported faiths such as Buddhism but still maintained traditional beliefs. The hierarchical arrangement of the phantom of deities mirrored the administrative hierarchy. Also, the ancient Chinese religion encouraged a reverence to the underworld of the dead. Moreover, the state administration helped a belief among its subjects that the administrators ruled with the spirit of the deities worshipped in the society.