Chinese salvationist religions

① A church of Yiguandao in Batam, Indonesia.

② The Luanist Rebirth Church (重生堂 Chóngshēngtáng) in Taichung, Taiwan.

Two influential and competing folk sectarian currents: ① Yiguandao focusing on personal salvation through inner work, considers itself the most valid "Way of Heaven" (天道 Tiāndào) and its own a "Way of Former Heaven" (先天道 Xiāntiāndào), that is a cosmological definition of the state of things prior to creation, in unity with God; it regards ② Luanism, a cluster of churches which focus on social morality through refined (儒 rú) Confucian ritual to worship the gods, as the "Way of Later Heaven" (后天道 Hòutiāndào), that is the cosmological state of created things.[4]

"Chinese salvationist religions" (救度宗教 jiùdù zōngjiào) is a contemporary neologism coined as a sociological category[5] and gives prominence to folk religious sects' central pursuit that is the salvation of the individual and the society, in other words the moral fulfillment of individuals in reconstructed communities of sense.[1] Chinese scholars traditionally describe them as "folk religious sects" (民间宗教 mínjiān zōngjiào, 民间教门 mínjiān jiàomén or 民间教派 mínjiān jiàopài) or "folk beliefs" (民间信仰 mínjiān xìnyǎng).[6][7]

They are distinct from the common indigenous religion of the Han Chinese consisting in the worship of gods and ancestors,[8] although in English language there is a terminological confusion between the two. The 20th-century expression of these folk religious movements has been studied under the definition of "redemptive societies" (救世团体 jiùshì tuántǐ), coined by scholar Prasenjit Duara.[9]

A collective name that has been in use possibly since the latter part of the Qing dynasty is huìdàomén (会道门 "churches, ways and gates"), as their names interchangeably use the terms huì (会 "church", "society", "association", "congregation"; when referring to their corporate form), dào (道 "way") or mén (门 "gate[way]", "door").

Their congregations and points of worship are usually called táng (堂 "church", "hall") or tán (坛 "altar"). Western scholars often mistakenly identify them as "Protestant" churches.[10]

The Vietnamese religions of Minh Đạo and Caodaism emerged from the same tradition of Chinese folk religious movements.[11]

Temple of the Founding Father (师祖殿 Shīzǔdiàn) of the principal holy see (圣地 shèngdì) of the Plum Flower sect, related to Baguadao, in Xingtai, Hebei.

Many of these religions are traced to the White Lotus tradition[14] ("Chinese Maternism", as mentioned by Philip Clart[15]) that was already active in the Song dynasty;[16] others claim a Taoist legacy and are based on the recovery of ancient scriptures attributed to important immortals such as Lü Dongbin and Zhang Sanfeng, and have contributed to the popularisation of neidan;[17] other ones are distinctively Confucian and advocate the realisation of a "great commonwealth" (datong 大同) on a world scale, as dreamt of in the Book of Rites.[18] Some scholars even find influences from Manichaeism, Mohism and shamanic traditions.[19][20]

In the Ming and Qing dynasties many folk religious movements were outlawed by the imperial authorities as "evil religions" (邪教 xiéjiào).[21] With the collapse of the Qing state in 1911 the sects enjoyed an unprecedented period of freedom and thrived, and many of them were officially recognised as religious groups by the early republican government.[22]

The founding of the People's Republic in 1949 saw them suppressed once again,[23] although since the 1990s and 2000s the climate was relaxed and some of them have received some form of official recognition.[24] In Taiwan all the still existing restrictions were rescinded in the 1980s.

Folk religious movements began to rapidly revive in mainland China in the 1980s, and now if conceptualised as a single group they are said to have the same number of followers of the five state-sanctioned religions of China taken together.[25] Scholars and government officials have been discussing to systematise and unify this large base of religious organisations; in 2004 the State Administration of Religious Affairs created a department for the management of folk religions.[25] In the late 2015 a step was made at least for those of them with a Confucian identity, with the foundation of the Holy Confucian Church of China which aims to unite in a single body all Confucian religious groups.

Many of the movements of salvation of the 20th and 21st century aspire to become the repository of the entirety of the Chinese tradition in the face of Western modernism and materialism,[26] advocating an "Eastern solution to the problems of the modern world",[27] or even interacting with the modern discourse of an Asian-centered universal civilisation.[27]

Geographic distribution of influence of China's popular religious sects.

The Chinese folk religious movements of salvation are mostly concentrated in northern and northeastern China, although with a significant influence reaching the Yangtze River Delta since the 16th century.[28] The northern provinces have been a fertile ground for the movements of salvation for a number of reasons: ① firstly, popular religious movements were active in the region already in the Han dynasty, and they deeply penetrated local society; ② secondly, northern provinces are characterised by social mobility around the capital and weak traditional social structure, thus folk religious movements of salvation fulfill the demand of individual searching for new forms of community and social network.[28]

According to the Chinese General Social Survey of 2012, approximately 2.2% of the population of China, which is around 30 million people, claim to be members of folk religious sects.[29] The actual number of followers may be higher, about the same as the number of members of the five state-sanctioned religions of China if counted together.[25] In Taiwan, recognised folk religious movements of salvation gather approximately 10% of the population as of the mid-2000s.

• Changshandao[44]
• Church of Maitreya the King of the Universe (宇宙弥勒皇教 Yǔzhòu mílè huáng jiào)
• Dadao Hui (大刀会 "Church of the Big Sword")[45]
• Datong Hui (大同会 "Church of the Great Harmony")[45]
• Dayiism (大易教 Dàyì jiào, "Great Simplicity")
• Dongyue Hui[44]
• Gengshen Hui[44]
• Guixiangdao (跪香道 "Way of the Kneeling to Incense")[41]
• Holy Church of the Middle Flower (中华圣教 Zhōnghuá shèngjiào)
• Hongsanism (红三教 Hóngsān jiào, "Red Three")[41]
• Huangjidao (皇极道 "Way of the Imperial Pole")[41]
• Huangxiandao (黄仙道 "Way of the Yellow Immortal")
• Huazhaidao (华斋道 "Way of Flowers and Fasting")[41]
• Jiugendao (旧根道 "Way of the Old Source")[41]
• Laojundao (老君道 "Way of the Venerable Master")[41]
• Laorendao (老人道 "Way of the Venerable Men")[41]
• Mount Li Maternism (骊山老母教 Líshān Lǎomǔ jiào)[44]
• Puhuamen (普化门 "Gate of the Universal Change")[41]
• Pujidao (普济道 "Way of the Universal Help")[41]
• Puduism (普度教 Pǔdù jiào, "Universal Judgement"), Pududao (普度道 "Way of the Universal Judgment")[41]
• Qixingism[44]
• Qiugongdao[44]
• Renxuehaodao (人学好道 "Way of Men Learning the Goodness")[41]
• Sanfengdao (三峰道 "Way of the Three Peaks")[41]
• Shengxiandao (圣仙道 "Way of the Sages and the Immortals")[41]
• Shenmendao (神门道 "Way of the Godly Gate")[41]
• Sifangdao (四方道 "Way of the Four Manifestations")[41]
• Suibiandao[44]
• Tianguangdao (天光道 "Way of the Heavenly Light")[46]
• Tianhuadao (天花道 "Way of the Heavenly Flower")[46]
• Tianmingdao (天明道 "Way of the Heavenly Bright")[46]
• Tianxianmiaodao (天仙庙道 "Way of the Temple of the Heavenly Immortals")
• Wanquandao (万全道 "Way of the Endless Whole" or "Surefire Way")[46]
• Wugong Hui[44]
• Xiaodao Hui (小刀会 "Church of the Small Sword")[44]
• Xuanmen Zhenzong (玄门真宗, "True School of the Mysterious Gate")
• Yinjiezhi Hui[44]
• Yuanshuai Hui[44]
• Yuxumen (玉虚门 "Gate of the Jade Vacuity")[46]
• Zhongfangdao (中方道 "Way of the Middle Abode")[46]
• Zhongjiao Daoyi Hui[44]
• Zhongyongdao (中庸道 "Way of the Golden Mean")[46]
• Zhongxiao Tianfu (忠孝天府 "Heavenly House of Filial Loyalty")[46]
• Zhutian Hui[44]
• Zishenguo ("Zishen nation")[46]

• Ancestor veneration in China
• Chinese Buddhism
• Chinese folk religion
• Chinese folk religion in Southeast Asia
• Chinese Manichaeism
• Chinese religions of fasting
• Confucianism—Confucian church
• Japanese new religions, some of which are related to Chinese sects
• Maitreya teachings
• Northeast China folk religion
• Taoism—Taoist schools
• White Lotus

In Vietnam

• Caodaism
• Minh Đạo

In Indonesia

• Confucian Religion in Indonesia

In Philippines

• Bell Church