The number of religious worshippers in China is estimated at well over 100 million, most of whom follow Buddhism. Other major religions are Taoism, Islam and Christianity in both its Catholic and Protestant forms.

Daoism

Daoism is the indigenous religion of China. It was born out of the religion of ancient China, after a long period of historical development and following its own inner logic.

The ancestors of the Chinese worshipped nature and spirits; Magical Skills for divination and for communicating between people and spirits were very popular. This form of primitive religion gradually evolved into the worship of `Heaven,`God' and ancestors prevalent in the Yin and Zhou eras. By the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, the archaic religion had undergone a clear process of rationalization and differentiation in relation to cultural knowledge. The Hundred Schools emerged and contended with each other: among them, the Daoists, Confucianists, Mohists, Yin-Yang Naturalists and Immortalists had an especially strong influence on China' cultural history.

By the Han dynasty, a strong religious yearning had developed in society; Confucianism took on religious characteristics; while Buddhism began its penetration into China. Under these circumstances, the Huang-Lao tradition of thought, which was very popular at the time, combined the different philosophies and gradually merged with traditional Spirit worship, Immortalist faith, Yin-Yang Divinatory Calculations, etc. Hence, the ideological soil of China became ready for the Daoist `root' of Chinese culture to begin to grow.

By the Shundi era of the Eastern Han dynasty, the Book of Supreme Peace had already become an early Daoist scripture. During the An period of the Han dynasty (AD 142), Zhang Ling revealed the Magical Writ of the Orthodox Oneness and the Secret Registers of the Mighty Commonwealth of Orthodox Oneness; he then entered the Shu kingdom (present-day Sichuan) to preach the Orthodox Oneness Tradition(also called the `Five Pecks of Rice Tradition'. He founded twenty-four `Dioceses', took numerous disciples and laid out religious commandments, forming the first organized sect of Daoism. The official foundation of Daoism can thus be dated to this time. During the Guanghe years (AD 178-184), Zhang Jiao preached the Supreme Peace Tradition in Eastern China and founded the Daoist organization of the 'Thirty-Six Districts'.

 Temple of Taoism

Temple of Buddism

Church of Christianity