religion

• Religion overview- When the CCP took power in 1949, Mao guaranteed religious freedom in the Common Program. However, the program and 1954 Constitution wouldn't limit Mao's actions. They often attacked religion to ensure dedication to communism and different religions were wiped out to different extents.
• Religion in 1949- Religion was the centre of many people's lives. Ceremonies honoured Confucius and New Year festivals were common where families tended to the graves of their ancestors and gave offerings to the gods. Christianity was widespread due to missionaries sent from Western nations and there were 3 million Catholics in China before 1949. Xinjiang was characterised by Islam which controlled culture, schools and attitudes to women. Muslim leaders held great power there.
• Communist attitudes to religion- The CCP denounced religion as feudal superstitions that weren't compatible with New China. Confucianism was seen as upholding imperial hierachies and inequalities. Festivals and honouring dead ancestors were seen as old thoughts to be removed. Belief in God was labelled a myth as Christianity's links to Western missionaries left it denounced as capitalist and Western. Islam and Buddhism threatened communism. Religion had no place in Mao's China.
• Confucianism- Confucius was a philosopher whose writings had become Holy Scripture. Ceremonies, temples and shrines honoured him. The communists marked Confucian ethical code as old culture and cermonies honouring him were ended in 1949. At first, temples and shrines dedicated too Confucian weren't destroyed, they became museum pieces but the CR attacked him. The temple at Confucius' birthplace was attacked as the Gang of Four critcised Deng and Liu's support of Confucian thought.
• Ancestor worship- The traditional belief represented old thoughts. Examples include the New Year Festival where families would burn joss sticks for ancestors and make offerings to the Kitchen God to receive his blessing. The communists discouraged and then condemned these traditions, encouraging new practices instead. Workers journeying home to pay respect to their ancestors were advised not to take suspicious articles like joss sticks or red envelopes. They couldn't honour the Kitchen God because in traditional cermonies, the peasants would make offerings last, creating hierarchy.
• Replacing old traditions- Workers in Shanghai dock suggested a portrait of Mao go up with banners honouring the goverment rather than old traditions. Instead of folktales, children should be told stories about the struggle for liberation and the Long March. The party encouraged people to buy pictures that said 'We and Chairman Mao are of one heart'. Religious shrines in peasant houses were destroyed and replaced with pictures of Mao.
• New National Memorial Day- The old Ch'ing Ming festival was marked by people tending to graves and making offerings to their ancestors like burning 'spirit money'. A new festival was announced to replace it called the Qingming festival. By 1966, the communist festival became a National Memorial Day and celebrated those who had died during liberation. Communist youth and workers marched to the graves of fallen revolutionary heroes to lay wreaths.
• Did the regime destroy all old attitudes?- Many temples and shrines were destroyed, but that didn't account to destroying beliefs. A director of a commune health clinic had an image of the God of Wealth in his home and made offerings to it, embarrassing the party. Some cadres even held holy symbols to ward off ghosts. For all the regime's efforts, the Chinese people didn't completely abandon their beliefs.
• Early religious policy- Initially, the CCP was less militant on the more organised religions because they had the most number of followers and foreign support. Unlike Russia, the CCP first tried to win over leaders of major religions. They wanted to work with leaders like the First National Political Consultative Conference in 1949. The representatives were invited to give their support to the party who then tried to convince them to support the purging of non-communists.
• Christianity overview- Christian groups were targeted because they were believed to be representative of Western, imperial ideas. In 1951, the Religious department of the CCP (RAD) was created to force out Christian missionaries. They also wanted Christians to cut ties with foreign countries and take over Church-run schools who received funding from Western Churches.
• Protestant church- Protestant leaders were pressured into organising a Patriotic Church Movement for protestant churches to support the CCP. The party argued the church should be loyal to the CCP and organised by the Three Self priciple of self-ruling, self-supporting and self-propagating. The Three Selfs meant obedience to the government and cutting all ties with foreign organisations and leaders. Christian schools, unis and hospitals were closed down or taken over by the CCP. Protestant leaders refused foreign aid and missionaries dropped from 3000 to under 100 by 1952.
• Patriotic churches- The Patriotic Church Movement attempted to get churches in line with the CCP. Individual priests were coerced into joining the movement and making their congregations loyal to the party. Churches could remain open if they supported Mao which gave the image of religious toleration. One church in Beijing put red communist flags over the altars saying 'Long Live Chairman Mao'. Portaits of Mao replaced the Virgin Mary. However, congregations at patriotic churches were low but higher in churches with independent priests. Some priests gave services in their homes.
• Catholic church- The party was met with more resistance as the Vatican refused to accept that the Patriotic church was truly Catholic. During the Korean War, the party targeted the clergy and expelled the Chinese Vatican representative. The Sacred Heart Home for Children was described as a Nazi prison camp and that some kids had been sold into slavery. Catholic hospitals were charged with using patients as human guinea pigs to try out new medicines. Catholics were surveilled and forced to attend study meetings and write self-criticism. Rosaries and crucifixes were banned in certain provinces.
• Impact of policies against Catholicism- In 1951, there were 3222 Catholic missionaries in China. By November 1953, there were just 364 left. In 1955, 1500 Catholics were jailed for crimes like imperialism and attempting to spread non-communist ideas to young people.
• Impact on Christianity- After the isolation from the West in the Korean War and campaigns, Christians were targeted. The clergy were converted to physical labourers, churches were closed down and leaders who resisted were sent to laogais. RGs destoyed what was left of chuches during the CR and religious leaders who managed to escape previous purges were imprisoned. Public Christian worship in China was effectively ended.
• Islam- Muslims were targeted as mosques were seized and turned into struggle meeting halls. Muslim schools were converted into barns for livestock. However, Muslims fought back against the party like in one battle where over 1000 people were killed in Gansu. Armed rebellions were common so the regime ordered that cadres were more respectful of Islamic customs. The Islamic Association of China was set up to encourage co-operation between Muslims and the regime to protect Islamic traditions.
• Islam: Xinjiang- Many Uighur people had welcomed the peaceful liberation of the PLA in 1949 as they had been promised full autonomy by Mao. Xinjiang became an Autonomous Region in 1955 with a greater local government. However, this didn't mean independence. Muslim children had to leave mosque schools for government ones and Marxism was the focus rather than the Quran. Islamic leaders, Imans, held authority in their regions and challenged CCP rule.
• Islam: Xinjiang and limitations- The judicial authority of Imans was remoced and they were forced to attend 'thought schools' that indoctrinated them with communist ideas. The religious tithe was abolished and mosque land was redistibuted to the poor. Those who didn't comply were sent to the laogai. During the GLF, activities like worshipping or reading scripture were reduced in favour of agricultural work. The emigration of the Han Chinese to the region diluted religious influence too.
• Islam: The CR in Xinjiang- Muslims were targeted in the CR and attacks on mosques were renewed with many turning into stables or slaughterhouses. Religious leaders were tortured and given jobs like cleaning sewers. They were forced to write self-denunciations and swear loyalty to the CCP. They had to raise and eat pigs, an attempt to make them more like the Han Chinese. Islamic intellectuals were targeted with one writer being tortured with dictionaries dropped on his head. Muslim men were forced to shave their beards and abandoned religious clothes in favour of Mao Suits.
• Impact on Islam- The Muslim identity endured communist rule better than the other religious groups. The regime's attitudes towards Islam were shaped by fears that the Uighur Muslimgs sought independence for Xinjiang. As a border region, Xinjiang also had ties to the USSR and Pakistan that they could ally themselves with. The CCp therefore took a more cautious approach. Mosques remained open and festival celebrations continued in public.
• Buddhism- Buddhism was less organised than Christianity and therefore easier to attack. The regime denounced monks as paracites to the regime and they were sent to work. Some were forcibly enlisted in military academies and others were killed in struggle meetings as counter-revolutionaries. During the Aid Korea campaign, the Buddhist Association moved Buddhists to go through 'thought reform' and abandon their 'feudal ideology'. Ancient temples were converted into barracks, prisons, schools and hospitals for wounded soldiers from Korea.
• Buddhism 2- The Yonghegong Temple in Beijing remained to keep up the pretense of religious tolerance. Buddhist land was redistributed by the 1950 Agrarian Reform Law. The regime organised a Chinese Buddhist Association in 1953 to speak up for Buddhists despite being a form of government control in reality. The Association's objectives were to unite the Buddhists so they would participate with the CCP.
• Buddhism: Tibet- The most important Buddhist community was Tibet. The PLA invaded during the 'reunification' campaign in 1950. The Tibetans resisted so were then targeted during the Anti-Rightist campaign in 1958 when an anti-Buddhist campaign was launched. The GLF renewed attacks on monks who became physical labourers in communes. The Lamas were removed of their traditional sources of income in providing shelter, medical care and organising festivals. Temple land was added to communes and many joined the PLA whilst the Dalai Lama was smuggled to India in 1959.
• Impact of CR on Buddhism- Buddhism was announced as one of the 'Four Olds'. Monasteries were burned, religious relic destroyed and monks sent to laogais for labour reform. By the end of the CR, few temples and shrines remained. The lamas had been forced into labour and religious schools were closed, limiting the spread of Buddhist ideas. An entire generation of monks, nuns and Buddhist followers had been wiped out.
• Concluding religion- Religion symbolised old China and was targeted from the beginning. The record of removing religious belief was mixed. Buddhism was mostly eradicated but Islam in Xinjiang remained due to international concerns and its distance from Beijing. Christian worship was banned but remained in private. Traditional practices like ancestor worship were only partially controlled. The honouring of Zhou Enlai after his death in 1976 was further proof that all of the terror couldn't fully remove the deep-rooted influence of religion.