Chinese Pluralism Creates Space for Religion

By: Alex D'Agostino

October 24, 2011

Hidden in one of the far most northern corners of China, in the small city of Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, I found some of the most diverse religious relics and tangible representations of spiritual memories. When we first arrived and walked along the cobblestoned streets, the first thing we noticed was the architecture; it is haphazard and stunning.

On one side you’d see a traditional Chinese wet market, on the other a Jewish temple, on the other an ornate Victorian styled apartment building, and then an Orthodox Russian Church down the street. I was shocked to see St. Sophia’s Cathedral in the middle of the busy Chinese square, and the Star of David woven into the stained glass windows of a forgotten synagogue. These are sights unfamiliar and striking in the traditional Chinese street scenery. The buildings themselves remain a testimony to the history of the region.

Although Shanghai and Tianjin are widely recognized for their strong historical Jewish settlements, a little known fact is that Harbin, in the first half of the last century, was home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the Far East. Around the early 1900s, Harbin began to flourish with foreigners. Among them were many Russian Jews who were escaping persecution and civil wars by coming to help build the Trans-Siberian Railway. In Harbin, the Jews gradually re-established the life and culture they had left behind, building synagogues, libraries, and community centers, contributing to the city’s distinctive Jewish flavor.

Although there is no longer a large presence of Jews in Harbin, the relationship between this Chinese city and its religious history is very harmonious. Ya'acov Liberman, a Jew who was from China, wrote: "We lived for some three generations within the vastness called China, neither integrating nor assimilating with the people of the land. If that sounds like ghetto life, be assured it wasn't. We, the Jews of China, were allowed—rather than forced—by our tolerant host to live a life of our own creation."

Stories like these are not uncommon in China, which besides the Cultural Revolution, clings to a distinctive brand of pluralism. Although China is known as one of the most atheistic modern cultures with only about 14 percent to 18 percent of the adult population religiously affiliated, this does not account for the spiritual beliefs that exist as a substantial undercurrent in Chinese thought and society.

The reemergence of religion in Chinese society today illuminates the pervasiveness of spirituality in Chinese culture. Despite the Cultural Revolution—a bloody political movement during the 1960s during which temples, monasteries, and mosques were demolished in an attempt to eradicated religion—religious sentiment was never completely destroyed. The aggressively anti-traditional movement was only able to destroy physical evidence of religion and not religious practice itself. Therefore religion in society today should be understood as cultural sentiment coming out of hiding rather than a resurrection.

To understand the resurrection of religion, one must understand the Chinese philosophy. Unlike the physical representations prominently visible in Harbin, the Chinese spiritual philosophy isn’t governed by religious denominations. They do not have or identify with a unified system of beliefs and practices; rather their philosophy is dialectic. It is a complex interaction of multiple trains of thoughts and philosophies.

Dialectic thinking corresponds closely with the three most prominent traditions in China: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. A good example of this is the concept of ying and yang, a Daoist belief. Ying and yang don’t necessarily just demonstrate the balance of black and white, good and evil, right and wrong, but rather the contradiction, mixing, and ambiguity that exist from the harmony of the opposing forces. The ying penetrates the yang, and vice versa.

The West, in contrast, exhibits the overuse of Aristotelian law, which is defined by linear, analytical thinking. Aristotelian thought consists of three major laws; the law of identity, the law of non-contradiction, and the law of the excluded middle, which develop into a simple understanding of causality based on hard facts and logic. A is definitively A and not B. Provided that A is not B, A cannot at the same time also be classified as B. That would be a contradiction.

In dialectical thought, however, things are always changing, forces are mixed, relationships are emphasized, and contradictions accepted. The Confucius stress ethical, moral, and social values, while the Daoist focus on health, wu wei (non-action), and the Buddhist emphasize the cyclical connectedness of the universe. All of these define the dialectical philosophy and find a place in the cultural and spiritual fabric of Chinese society.


A further example of the differences between Western thought and Chinese philosophy was presented to me during my very first week here in Shanghai. In an introduction to A Seminar on Living and Learning in China, we were shown two clips of modern marketing campaigns. The first was Apples’ "Think Differently" advertisement. The second was a China Central TV advertisement created by Niko Tziopanos. Both in black and white, both describe the foundations that espouse the cultural identity of the respective cultures.

The first dramatically montages video clips of inspirational people (Einstein, MLK, Hitchcock, Gandhi, Picasso) and overlays the images with a prophetic voiceover. "Here's to the crazy ones." It reads. "The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo … because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." It emphasizes the individual accomplishment: the American desire to push the boundaries, challenge authority, and develop unique ambitions.

The Chinese advertisement, in contrast, tells the story of Chinese history with an ink drop that symbolizes the beginning of time. Composed with background music, the ink gradually and gracefully transforms into mountains, the great wall, a crane, and a dragon with a remarkable sensitivity to Chinese symbolism and their classical belief system. It coalesces finally into images of modernity; the Beijing Olympic Stadium, the bullet train. However, everything is slightly hazy, forms are mixed, and nothing is emphasized over something else. The Chinese calligraphy scrawled beside the images reads "From intangible to tangible, from having border to border-less."

This is the Chinese way—no voice is emphasized over others; the society is continual, holistic, and everything is connected. This is the harmonious and holistic approach, which guides Chinese approach to each other and to the rest of the world. This is evident from Hu Jintao’s ideological vision and goal of China as a harmonious society.

Although this vision is primarily related to domestic socioeconomic development, it also defines China’s vision of itself in the world stage. The Chinese perceive the world as a byzantine maze of relationships, consequential reactions, and interrelated and balanced societies. This contrasts the Western perspective which is dominated by realism, individuality, and logical and scientific thinking which we believe lead us to unique and solid solutions.

When I asked my Chinese roommate whether or not she practiced a religion, she said no, she has never even been inside a church. After some persuasion she shared with me her perceptions of religion within Chinese society today. According to her, although there are a fair amount of Buddhists and Christians in Shanghai, most people in China don’t often practice a religion or identify with a specific faith. However, they still will burn incense for good luck at a Buddhist temple, believe in the Daoist feng shui, and observe traditional Chinese superstitious beliefs. The belief systems to coexist and are entwined with each other and the Chinese cultural identity.

Because of the emphasis on harmony and balance, Chinese society is one of tolerance, leaning toward acceptance. The transformed synagogue-hostel and church-museum, which we saw in Harbin, are not just timepieces. Rather, as religion reemerges, these remnants of the pre-Cultural Revolution era are a solid reminder of the potential China has toward embracing faith and religion. Today, however, religious affiliation by numbers deceives the general public to the profound persistence and pervasiveness of spiritual thinking that is an integral part of Chinese culture.

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