Dongba followers believe in a celestial shaman called Shi-lo-mi-wu, with little doubt the same as the Tibetan Shenrab Miwo. See what else we have about Buddhism in China. [222], The mutual support of elders and youth is needed for the continuity of the ancestral tradition, that is communicated from generation to generation. Benzhuism (本主教 Běnzhǔjiào, "religion of the patrons") is the indigenous religion of the Bai people, an ethnic group of Yunnan. Worship of Mithra was indeed performed at the court of Emperor Wu of Han (157-87 BCE). Le bouddhisme eut une grande influence sur la vision de l'au-delà de tous les courants religieux. The population had lost faith in the official tradition, which was no longer perceived as an effective way to communicate with Heaven. And so one of the ways that I think this is really demonstrated is that Xi Jinping actually eliminated term limits for himself so that he could stay in power. Data from the Chinese Spiritual Life Survey (CSLS) 2010 for Chinese ancestorists, and from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) 2009 for Christians. Han philosophers conceived the immanent virtue of Tian as working through earth and humanity to complete the 宇宙 yǔzhòu ("space-time"). [366] Demographic analyses usually find an average 2–3% of the population of China declaring a Christian affiliation. [389]:153, The third phase started in the 18th century when Parsi merchants sailed from Mumbai to Macau, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. It began to grow to become a significant influence in China proper only after the fall of the Han dynasty, in the period of political division. L'empereur Tang Gaozong avait alors autorisé les musulmans à répandre leur religion et à construire une mosquée à Chang'an. The research and advocacy group Freedom House estimated in 2017 that there are more than 350 million religious believers in China, primarily made up of Chinese Buddhists, followed by Protestants, Muslims, Falun Gong practitioners, Catholics, and Tibetan Buddhists. According to the results of an official census provided in 1995 by the Information Office of the State Council of China, at that time the Chinese traditional religions were already popular among nearly 1 billion people. The state recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam, and Protestantism. [313] Today, this school of Buddhism is popular among the Dai people, and also the Palaung, Blang, Achang, and Jingpo ethnic groups. [247] In mid-2015 the government of Zhejiang began the registration of the province's tens of thousands of folk religious temples.[248]. [278] Confucianism conciliates both the inner and outer polarities of spiritual cultivation, that is to say self-cultivation and world redemption, synthesised in the ideal of "sageliness within and kingliness without". The study analysed the proportion of believers that were at the same time members of the local section of the Communist Party of China, finding that it was exceptionally high among the Taoists, while the lowest proportion was found among the Protestants. Tibetans are believed to account for nearly 90 percent of the autonomous region’s population, though large numbers of Han Chinese have migrated to Tibet as part of a broader campaign by China to modernize its western regions. And you’re just an amazing resource. [84] During the anti-foreign and anti-Christian Boxer Uprising of 1900, thousands of Chinese Christians and foreign missionaries were killed, but in the aftermath of the retaliatory invasion, numbers of reform-minded Chinese turned to Christianity. Exactly. [262] All these movements were banned in the early Republic of China (1912–49) and later People's Republic. [390], The government of the People's Republic of China officially espouses state atheism,[3] and has conducted antireligious campaigns to this end. En 1601 Matteo Ricci et ses compagnons furent admis à Pékin, mais la mission catholique fut presque aussitôt troublée intérieurement par la Querelle des Rites qui amena l'empereur à interdire les conversions en 1724. While many think of China as a homogenous culture, it may surprise you to learn that the religious scene in China is quite diverse. Several religious and spiritual groups, dubbed “heterodox cults” by Beijing, are subject to regular government crackdowns. [90] Sun Yat-sen, the first president of the Republic of China, and his successor Chiang Kai-shek, were both Christians. [1][10] Though Hui Muslims are the most numerous group,[11] the greatest concentration of Muslims is in Xinjiang, with a significant Uyghur population. Buddhist monks within Tibet have also participated in largely peaceful anti-government demonstrations, though some have included riots and self-immolations. But we see pastors being thrown into prison. Immigration increased during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), when hundreds of thousands of Muslims were relocated throughout China for their administrative skills. [219] With an understanding of religion as teaching and education, the Chinese have a staunch confidence in the human capacity of transformation and perfection, enlightenment or immortality. The Vatican has not had diplomatic ties with China, home to some ten to twelve million Catholics, since 1951. Officials have said that party membership and religious beliefs are incompatible, and they discourage families of CCP members from publicly participating in religious ceremonies. They are not shamans (wu), with the exception of the order of Mount Lu in Jiangxi. [180], This reliance on group memory is the foundation of the Chinese practice of ancestor worship (拜祖 bàizǔ or 敬祖 jìngzǔ) which dates back to prehistory, and is the focal aspect of Chinese religion. Des communautés juives arrivées essentiellement d'Asie centrale ont existé, attestées par des documents chinois ou les récits de voyageurs arabes. [126]:17–18 Furthermore, Buddhists were generally wealthy, while Christians most often belonged to the poorest parts of the population. [386] Manichaeism is thought to have exerted a strong influence on some of the currents of popular sects, such as that which gave rise to Xiantiandao. An additional 0.85% of the population responded that they were "Taoists". [346] Yao folk religion was described by a Chinese scholar of the half of the 20th century as an example of deep "Taoisation" (道教化 Dàojiàohuà). And even more have been involved because the church continues to run quietly in response to COVID-19 and trying to alleviate suffering there. [367], A significant number of members of churches unregistered with the government, and of their pastors, belong to the Koreans of China. Le célibat monastique, inconnu jusque-là, fut souvent critiqué par les confucéens comme gaspillage de ressources humaines. The Tibetans contributed with the translation into Chinese of the Pāṇinisūtra and the Rāmāyaṇa. Le bouddhisme influença de manière importante l'art. Nées dans le fonds religieux chinois, elles s'en nourrissent et y réinjectent des pratiques, des concepts et des divinités. [130] Los atentados son los siguientes: 3 policías asesinados el 12 de agosto; un policía asesinado, dos heridos y 10 asaltantes yihadistas muertos el 10 de agosto en el marco de un atentado suicida perpetrado con una moto contra una instalación policial en la ciudad de Kuqa y al que siguieron diversas escaramuzas; y 16 policías muertos el día 4 del mismo mes en un puesto aduanero de Kashgar, dentro de la provincia musulmana de Xinjiang, atestiguan este incremento en la visibilidad del terrorismo yihadista en China. China is one of the most ancient civilizations on earth, and Chinese religion is one of the oldest forms of religion. [392] As such, China has the most atheists in the world. Considérés comme une ethnie sur la seule base de leur confession, les Hui seraient un groupe composite issu de l’intermariage de Han et de musulmans : marchands installés dans les ports du Sud-Est pour une minorité ; populations d’Asie centrale, parfois nestoriens ou juifs convertis, fixées dans l’Ouest pour la majorité. [383] Small Manichaean communities are still active in modern China. [50] Qin Shihuang personally held sacrifices to Di at Mount Tai, a site dedicated to the worship of the supreme God since pre-Xia times, and in the suburbs of the capital Xianyang. [131], Yu Tao's survey of the year 2008 provided a detailed analysis of the social characteristics of the religious communities. Already in Shang theology, the multiplicity of gods of nature and ancestors were viewed as parts of Di, and the four 方 fāng ("directions" or "sides") and their 風 fēng ("winds") as his cosmic will. Lingbao incorporated from Buddhism the ideas of "universal salvation" and ranked "heavens", and focused on communal rituals. The ancient kings or emperors of the Chinese civilisation were shamans or priests, that is to say mediators of the divine rule. nécessaire], ou Classique des Mutations. Because this common religion is embedded in Chinese social relations, it historically has never had an objectifying name. Some of the basic Confucian ethical and practical concepts include rén, yì, lǐ, and zhì. These practitioners, along with members of underground house churches and banned religious groups, account for many of the country’s unregistered believers. [280] The most enthusiast New Confucians proclaim the uniqueness and superiority of Confucian Chinese culture, and have generated some popular sentiment against Western cultural influences in China. "The belief in Tian (Heaven) as the great ancestral spirit differed from the Judeo-Christian, and later Islamic belief in a creator God". A very similar religion, also called by the same name, is that of the Buyei people, who are kindred to the Zhuang. [374], Muslims, mainly Arabs, travelled to China to trade. Like the wu, the fashi identify with their deity, but while the wu embody wild forces, vernacular ritual masters represent order like the Taoists. [382] Manichaeans in China held that their religion was first brought to China by Mōzak under Emperor Gaozong of Tang (650–83). [4] Many churches, temples and mosques were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, which also criminalized the possession of religious texts. À partir du XIXe siècle, de nombreux mouvements syncrétistes sont nés. [307] Chan Buddhism in particular was shaped by Taoism, developing distrust of scriptures and even language, as well as typical Taoist views emphasising "this life", the "moment", and dedicated practices. Some have been subject to torture. Une recherche de l'Académie des sciences sociales sur le taoïsme dans le Fujian a mis en évidence des restes d'influence manichéiste. A 2017 Freedom House report analyzes China’s religious revival, repression, and resistance across eight major religious groups. [178], While Confucian theology emphasises the need to realise the starry order of the Heaven in human society, Taoist theology emphasises the Tao 道 ("Way"), which in one word denotes both the source and its spontaneous arising in nature. of negative theology). p. 34 of Wenzel-Teuber (2011): "The CSLS questioned people on popular religious beliefs and practices as well, and came to the following estimates (excluding those who identified themselves with an institutional religion).". [179] A worthy Chinese is expected to remember a vast amount of information from the past, and to draw on this past to form his moral reasoning. This religion was introduced to areas of present-day China during the 7 th century. Reported in, Data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2012. Le bouddhisme chinois appartient en majorité au courant mahâyâna. The State Council, the government’s administrative authority, passed regulations on religious affairs, which took effect in February 2018, to allow state-registered religious organizations to possess property, publish literature, train and approve clergy, and collect donations. La pratique religieuse de la majorité de la population (avant 1949 pour la Chine continentale) consiste en fait en un mélange de taoïsme, confucianisme, bouddhisme et traditions locales, souvent appelé religion populaire. [292] According to the scholar Stephan Feuchtwang, the concept of Tao is equivalent to the ancient Greek concept of physis, "nature", that is the vision of the process of generation and regeneration of things and of the moral order. A partir de 1949, año en el que triunfaba la Revolución China liderada por Mao Zedong, Xinjiang pasaría a estar incorporada al territorio de la República Popular y bajo gobierno comunista quedando restringida la práctica del Islam. Aspects of ritual and beliefs about the afterlife exist independently of the philosophies to create religious aspects to some of China's oldest philosophical beliefs. For media inquiries on this topic, please reach out to, China’s Repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang. During a military mission in Hanning (modern southwest Shaanxi), Xiu either died in battle or was killed by Lu himself, who incorporated Xiu's followers and seized the city, which he renamed Hanzhong. Accurate statistics on China's Muslim population are hard to find; various surveys found that they constitute 1–2% of the population of China, or between 10 and 20 million people. Hong Kong was a democratic country. Originally seen as a kind of "foreign Taoism", Buddhism's scriptures were translated into Chinese using the Taoist vocabulary. The majority of Buddhist believers are Han Chinese while Buddhist believers in Tibet also make up a sizable portion. CFPS 2014 found that 5.94% of the population declared that they belonged to "other" religious categories besides the five state-sanctioned religions. L’un des musulmans chinois les plus célèbres est le navigateur Zheng He. Sin embargo, una gran mayoría de la población no se identifica con ninguna religión. No religion has ever assumed a dominant position in China. C'est à partir des missionnaires jésuites, tout d'abord portugais, que des contacts réguliers ont été entretenus entre les mondes chinois et occidental, la Chine restant relativement imperméable aux velléités expansionnistes chrétiennes. It is a pantheistic system, believing in a universal God called Apka Enduri ("God of Heaven") that is the omnipotent and omnipresent source of all life and creation. [339]:60–61, Various gods (dab or neeb, the latter defining those who work with shamans) enliven the world. In the culmination of a series of atheistic and anti-religious campaigns already underway since the late 19th century, the Cultural Revolution against old habits, ideas, customs and culture, lasting from 1966 to 1976, destroyed or forced them underground. Three surveys conducted respectively in 2005, 2006 and 2007 by the Horizon Research Consultancy Group on a disproportionately urban and suburban sample, found that Buddhists constituted between 11% and 16% of the total population, Christians were between 2% and 4%, and Muslims approximately 1%. A glaring example is the god Hanuman, who gave rise to the Chinese god Hóuwáng (猴王 "Monkey King"), known as Sun Wukong in the Journey to the West. The late Tang dynasty saw the spread of the cult of the City Gods in direct bond to the development of the cities as centres of commerce and the rise in influence of merchant classes. Check out our other sources on Taoism in China. What’s been the treatment of Christians? [304] Shamanism is viewed by many scholars as the foundation for the emergence of civilisation, and the shaman as "teacher and spirit" of peoples. Old Martial Art Strengthens Social Cohesion in Chinese Rural Areas", "Heaven, Earth, Sovereign, Ancestors, Masters: Some Remarks on the Politico-Religious in China Today", "Cultural Dynamics in China: Today and in 2020", "Antagonistic Discourses on Shamanic Folklore in Modern China", "Shamanistic Studies in China: A Preliminary Survey of the Last Decade", "The growth of a Taiwanese Buddhist association in China: Soft power and institutional learning", "Research Review of Bai Esoteric Buddhist Azhali Religion Since the 20th Century", "Even as International Pressure Mounts, China Ramps up Religious Persecution", "China cracks down on religion, crosses burned at Christian churches, Xi Jinping photos installed - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)", "Hong Kong Christians Draw New Scrutiny From Mainland", "Lord Krishna's popularity rising in Communist China", "Manichaean and (Nestorian) Christian Remains in Zayton (Quanzhou, South China)", "Map: These are the world's least religious countries", 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195188356.001.0001, "Carrying the Confucian Torch to the Masses: The Challenge of Structuring the Confucian Revival in the People's Republic of China", "Understanding Di and Tian: Deity and Heaven from Shang to Tang Dynasties", "Conceptualizations of "Popular Religion" in Recent Research in the People's Republic of China", "Confucius and the Mediums: Is There a "Popular Confucianism"? [6] Confucian philosophy and religious practice began their long evolution during the later Zhou; Taoist institutionalized religions developed by the Han dynasty; Chinese Buddhism became widely popular by the Tang dynasty, and in response Confucian thinkers developed Neo-Confucian philosophies; and popular movements of salvation and local cults thrived. [314], The first Buddhist temple in Yunnan province, the Wabajie Temple in Xishuangbanna, was erected in 615. In the late 20th century there was a reactivation of the state cults devoted to the Yellow Emperor and the Red Emperor. Muslims are found in every province of China, but they constitute a majority only in Xinjiang, and a large amount of the population in Ningxia and Qinghai. The Zhuang religion is intertwined with Taoism. The revival of Chinese Buddhism in the 21st century has also seen the development of the Humanistic Buddhist movement, reintroduced from Taiwan and Chinese overseas communities, with organisations such as the Cíjì (慈济), which has been working in mainland China since 1991[311] and has opened its mainland headquarters in the 2010s in Suzhou. [375] However, many Muslims like Ma Zhan'ao, Ma Anliang, Dong Fuxiang, Ma Qianling and Ma Julung, defected to the Qing dynasty side and helped the Qing general Zuo Zongtang to exterminate the rebels. Later philosophers such as Xun Zi, Fan Zhen, Han Fei, Zhang Zai, and Wang Fuzhi also criticised religious practices prevalent during their times. Les premiers textes traduits par An Shi Gao appartenaient au courant theravada, mais c'est le mahâyâna qui s'épanouit en Chine, avec la naissance d'écoles très influentes qui portèrent le bouddhisme jusqu'au Japon et en Corée. [102] New deities have emerged, including Chēshén (车神), the god protecting motor vehicles, and modern Chinese political leaders have been deified into the common Chinese pantheon. Although these regulations are not always strictly enforced, the party periodically takes steps to draw a clearer line on religion. Les compagnons de Zheng He seraient les premiers musulmans chinois à participer au hajj. Overall, “religious groups have been swept up in a broader tightening of CCP control over civil society [PDF] and an increasingly anti-Western ideological bent under [Chinese President] Xi Jinping,” writes Freedom House. The Buddha's teaching seemed alien and amoral to conservative Confucian sensibilities. [319] This society has engaged in missionary efforts in China partially aided by the good relationship it has interlaced with the Chinese government. A few years later, an Islamic army called the Kansu Braves, led by the general Dong Fuxiang, fought for the Qing dynasty against the foreigners during the Boxer Rebellion. [67], Between 184 and 205 CE, the Way of the Supreme Peace (太平道 Tàipíngdào) in the Central Plains, the earliest attested popular Taoist religious-military movement led by members of the Zhang lineage—prominently Zhang Jue and Zhang Liu, among leaders from other families—, organised the so-called Yellow Turban Rebellion against the Han dynasty. They are shamans who acquire their position through years of training with a teacher. Chinese folk religious temples and kinship ancestral shrines may, on peculiar occasions, choose Confucian liturgy (called 儒 rú or 正统 zhèngtǒng, "orthoprax") led by Confucian ritual masters (礼生 lǐshēng) to worship the gods, instead of Taoist or popular ritual. They also opposed the opium trade[359] and brought treatment to many who were addicted. El Budismo chino se puede clasificar de acuerdo a las lenguas en tres comunidades: mandarín, tibetano y Bali. Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and Christianity, No religion has ever assumed a dominant position in China. Ils doivent se convertir pour être acceptés en Israël. licensed Taoists) were involved in local religion in the central and northern provinces of China, and discusses various types of folk ritual specialists including: the, Chinese ancestral or lineage religion is the worship of kin's ancestor-gods in the system of, The map represents the geographic diffusion of the tradition of folk religious movements of salvation, Confucian churches and. [17] The Flemish philosopher Ulrich Libbrecht traces the origins of some features of Taoism to what Jan Jakob Maria de Groot called "Wuism",[18] that is Chinese shamanism. They originated as masters of the Tibetan Bon religion ("Ba" in Nakhi language), many of whom, in times of persecution when Buddhism became the dominant religion in Tibet, were expelled and dispersed to the eastern marches settling among Nakhi and other eastern peoples. In this effort, the libraries of the Buddhist monasteries were destroyed, almost completely in the Yangtze River Delta. [293] Women shamans played an important role in this tradition, which was particularly strong in the state of Chu. Certaines écoles bénéficièrent de la faveur croissante des élites, en même temps que le bouddhisme avec lequel s'instaura une concurrence et des échanges mutuels. [153], Folk religious movements of salvation have historically been more successful in the central plains and in the northeastern provinces than in southern China, and central-northern popular religion shares characteristics of some of the sects, such as the great importance given to mother goddess worship and shamanism,[154] as well as their scriptural transmission. The government of China protects and valorises the indigenous religions of minority ethnicities as the foundations of their culture and identity.[322]. El gobierno brinda cierto apoyo al budismo, como por ejemplo, el patrocinio del Foro Mundial Budista. Les maîtres taoïstes (daoshi 道士) prennent en charge tous les rituels spécialisés de la religion chinoise, assistés ou remplacés par les moines bouddhistes pour les rites funéraires. Choose one of our award-winning tours or create a custom trip that highlights the religious sites you want to see the most. [181] Rites, symbols, objects and ideas construct and transmit group and individual identities. Yin and yang are the invisible and the visible, the receptive and the active, the unshaped and the shaped; they characterise the yearly cycle (winter and summer), the landscape (shady and bright), the sexes (female and male), and even sociopolitical history (disorder and order). “Buddhism, Daoism, and other folk religions are seen as the most authentically Chinese religions and there is much more tolerance of these traditional religions than of Islam or Christianity,” says journalist Barbara Demick, former Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times. Southern provinces have experienced the most evident revival of Chinese folk religion,[146][94] although it is present all over China in a great variety of forms, intertwined with Taoism, fashi orders, Confucianism, Nuo rituals, shamanism and other religious currents. And then subsequently, and I think really relevant to our audience here is just that he instituted new regulations on religious affairs back I believe it was in 2018, and that made it so that all religion needed to basically manifest at characteristics that were in line with the vision of the Chinese communist party. Algunos recuentos calculan que el taoísmo tiene unos 400 millones de seguidores,[5]​ aunque el dato nunca ha sido exacto. 2008: a survey conducted in that year by Yu Tao of the, 2010: the Chinese Spiritual Life Survey directed by the, Four surveys conducted respectively in the years 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011 as part of the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) of the, 2012-2014: analyses published in a study by Fenggang Yang and Anning Hu found that 55.5% of the adult population (15+) of China, or 578 million people in absolute numbers, believed and practised folk religions, including a 20% who practised ancestor veneration or communal worship of deities, and the rest who practised what Yang and Hu define "individual" folk religions like devotion to specific gods such as. The universal religion of the Han, which became connected at an early time with the proto-Taoist Huang–Lao movement, was focused on the idea of the incarnation of God as the Yellow Emperor, the central one of the "Five Forms of the Highest Deity" (五方上帝 Wǔfāng Shàngdì). Le nom chinois du taoïsme est « Enseignement de la Voie » (chinois : 道教 ; pinyin : dàojiào). The four major religions in China (Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and Christianity) each have a long history of influence. Although a lower 215 million, or 16% said they "believed in the existence" of ancestral spirits. [242] Ling (numen or sacred) coincides with the middle way between the two states, that is the inchoate order of creation. Le mouvement Falun gong, révélé publiquement en 1992 en République populaire de Chine, est également un courant syncrétiste. [341]:402–404 In worship, communities of lay believers are led by shamans (called böge if males, iduγan if females), who are intermediaries of the divine. By "folk religion" (民間宗教 mínjiān zōngjiào) or "folk beliefs" (民間信仰 mínjiān xìnyǎng) Chinese scholars have usually meant folk religious organisations and salvationist movements (folk religious sects). Worshippers generally offer prayers through a jingxiang rite, with offerings of food, light incense and candles, and burning joss paper. The people living in Yunnan where Theravada Buddhism is widespread follow norms similar to those of Thai Buddhists, and their Buddhism is often blended with local folk beliefs. Christian missionaries and their schools, under the protection of the Western powers, went on to play a major role in the Westernisation of China in the 19th and 20th centuries. En términos generales, la mayoría de los chinos practican simultáneamente el budismo, el taoísmo, el confucianismo y la religión tradicional china, aunque también existen muchos que siguen el budismo exclusivamente, siendo ésta la religión “organizada” más grande de China y una de las pocas que goza de patrocinio estatal. The U.S. State Department’s 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom provides an overview of the limitations to freedom of religion in China. [235] Taoist traditions emphasise living in harmony with the Tao (also romanised as Dao). [275] The scholar Joseph Adler concludes that Confucianism is not so much a religion in the Western sense, but rather "a non-theistic, diffused religious tradition", and that Tian is not so much a personal God but rather "an impersonal absolute, like dao and Brahman". [304] However, shamanic traditions continued uninterrupted within the folk religion and found precise and functional forms within Taoism. The historian Arthur Waldron explains that "communism was, in effect, a religion for its early Chinese converts: more than a sociological analysis, it was a revelation and a prophecy that engaged their entire beings and was expounded in sacred texts, many imported from Moscow and often printed in English". CFPS 2014 surveyed a sample of 13,857 families and 31,665 individuals. [350] "Moism" refers to the dimension led by mógōng (摩公), who are vernacular ritual specialists able to transcribe and read texts written in Zhuang characters and lead the worship of Buluotuo and of the goddess Muliujia. Certaines divinités, comme Nuwa, son frère et époux Fuxi pourraient même être d'origine tokharienne. Small communities following the Theravada exist among minority ethnic groups who live in the southwestern provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi, bordering Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, but also some among the Li people of Hainan follow such tradition. Taoism also has a strong presence in Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia. Here’s how officials can prepare. Cette page contient des caractères spéciaux ou non latins. [254], Many redemptive religions of the 20th and 21st century aspire to embody and reform Chinese tradition in the face of Western modernism and materialism. [318]:28, Starting in the 1990s there has been a revival of Shin Buddhism among the Chinese, which has taken a formal nature with the foundation of the Hong Kong Fǎléi Niànfóhuì (香港法雷念佛会) in 2000,[318]:37 followed by the Fuzhou Fǎléi Niànfóhuì (福州法雷念佛会) founded in 2006 and the Shaanxi Fǎléi Niànfóhuì (陕西法雷念佛会) founded in 2010. In the decades following the Second World War, however, many Chinese intellectuals and academic scholars in the West, among whom Tu Weiming, reversed this assessment. [130] According to the surveys by Phil Zuckerman published on Adherents.com, 59% of the Chinese population was not religious in 1993, and in 2005 between 8% and 14% was atheist (from over 100 to 180 million). Global food insecurity has surged amid the coronavirus pandemic, threatening to worsen humanitarian crises and spur further mass migration. [193]{{refn|group=note|The characters yu 玉 (jade), huang 皇 ("emperor, sovereign, august"), wang 王 ("king"), as well as others pertaining to the same semantic field, have a common denominator in the concepts of gong 工 ("work, art, craft, artisan, bladed weapon, square and compass; gnomon, interpreter") and wu 巫 ("shaman, medium")[194] in its archaic form ☩, with the same meaning of wan wikt:卍 (swastika, ten thousand things, all being, universe). Shen, as defined by the scholar Stephen Teiser, is a term that needs to be translated into English in at least three different ways, according to the context: "spirit", "spirits", and "spiritual".