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CHINA
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visitors that China had freedom of
religion.
The People's Republic of China is
officially atheist. "The one and only
true philosophy," in the view of Chi–
nese Communists, is the dialectical
materialism ofMarx and Lenin.
Though Communist policies have
definitely weaken,ed the hold of reli–
gion in China over the past three
decades, there has not been an all–
out government a ttempt to stamp
out religious belief. Long before he
brought the Communist Party to
power, Mao Tse-tung realized that
longst anding beliefs cannot be erad–
icated simply by government de–
cree. "Gods were set up by the
peasants," he wrote, "and in time
they will pull them down with their
own hands; there is no need for
anybody else prematurely to pull
down the gods for them."
Accordingly, in a 1950 speech,
Premier Chou En-la i promised reli–
gious freedom to the Chinese
people. Moreover, China's constitu–
tion of 1954 provided that "citizens
of the Chinese .People's Republ ic
have freedom of religious belief."
Article 46 of China's 1978 constitu–
tion guarantees "freedom to believe
in religion and freedom not to
be1ieve in religion."
These provisions, of course, do
not preclude the government from
engaging in antireligious propagan–
da. (The Chinese constitution also
guarantees " freedom to propagate
atheism.") The traditional Chinese
observances have thus been greatly
reduced over the years. Neverthe–
less, many Chinese still continue to
hold, to one degree or another, to
many of the ancient beliefs a nd
practices.
Communlst "Reeducatlon"
Among other changes under the
Communist regime there has been a
shift in emphasis from the old Con–
fucian ideal of family loyalty to
loyalty to the People's Republic.
The "proverbs of Confucius" have
been displaced by the thoughts of
the late Chai rman Mao Tse-tung.
28
The Communist Party is attempting
to create a " new man" through
massive Communist reeducat ion.
With varying degrees of intensi–
ty, the Chinese government has con–
demned the teachings of Confucius
during the past three decades as
part of its campaign to remove
traditional influences from Chinese
life. Few Confucian temples bave
been permitted to remain open for
worship. Buddhist monastery lands
were a lso seized after 1949 and
redistributed among landless peas–
ants. Sorne Buddhist temples were
converted into recreation centers,
hotels and restaurants. Buddhist
monks and nuns were made to leave
their monasteries and engage in
" useful work."
In 1949, there were nearly four
mill iori Roman Catholics and Prot–
estants in China, along with sorne
13,000 Christian missiona ries. With
the Communist takeover of that
year , the foreign missionaries were
co'mpelled to leave the country, and
Christianity carne under heavy at–
tack as a " Western" religion. Sorne
Christians, along with members of
other rel igions, were punished as
"spies" and "counter-revolutionar–
ies." Nevertheless, the government
stopped short of completely eradi–
cating Christianity.
During the pol itical turmoil of
the "Cultural Revolution" of 1966-
69, however, even the limited Chris–
tian activity which had been toler–
ated by the government all but
ceased. Catholic and Protestant
churches we re closed and many
burned by young " Red Guards."
Bibles were burned in the streets.
Many priests, nuns, and ministers
were killed with their congrega–
tions. Sorne of the surviving clergy–
men fled to Hong Kong; others went
underground in China to worship
with their flocks in secret. Even the
Christians wbo had cooperated with
the government--despite their long
record of glowing praise of Mao
Tse-tung and the Communist Par–
ty-suffered beatings a nd imprison–
ment during the Cultural Revolu–
tion.
There a re no accurate statistics
available today on the number of
professing Christians remaining in
China. Guesses range from one to
three million.
Recent Developments
According to Peking's official Xin–
hua (Hsinhua) News Agency, Chi–
na's Fifth Nat ional People's Con–
gress passed a bill in June 1979
protecting fre.edom of religion. It
provides punishment of up to two
years in prison for any official "who
unlawfully deprives a citizen of his
legitimate freedom of religious be–
lief or violates the customs or folk–
ways of a minority nationa lity to a
serious degree."
This move has been interpreted as
being, at the least, a reaffirmation of
the pol icy of religious toleration that
had been in force befare the Cultural
Revolution. Any further ramifications
have yet to beseen.
Secondly, the Chinese govern–
ment approved in August 1979 pub–
lication of the first Chinese- lan–
guage edition of the Bible to be
printed since 1949. To include both
the Old and New Testaments, the
new translation is sla.ted for comple–
tion ear ly in 1980.
It
will be printed
by a government-controlled firm,
reportedly with an initial run of
100,000 copies.
These two developments do not
mean, of course, that the Chinese
Communist government is about to
change its tra ditional atheistic
stance. Peking does not intend to
alter significantly its hard line
about religion.
In the fina l analysis, Communist
atheistic idea ls and Christian ideals
are irreconcilable. The relaxat ion of
restrictions on religion in China is
still limited- and ·partially inspired
by political considerations.
The Chinese government st ill
sharply restricts the practice of
Christiani ty- as it does China's
other religions- permitting it to
fu nction only under the strict super–
vision of the state. Moreover, the
government has stipulated that Chi–
na 'sChristian churches must be free of
foreign direction and financing- fully
independent and manned solely by
"home-grown" Chinese clergy. (No
relations are permitted, for example,
between China's "Patriotic Catholic
Association" and the Vatican.)
o
The
PLAIN TRUTH