Lü Jianfu: The Status and Role of Chinese Traditional Religion in Chinese Traditional Culture
Editor's Note: To implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech at the Symposium on Cultural Inheritance and Development, and to explore how fine traditional Chinese culture functions within the process of the Sinicization of religion in China, the China Association of Atheism, the CASS Center for Science and Atheism, and the editorial department of Science and Atheism (科学与无神论) held a thematic seminar in Beijing on April 21 titled "Traditional Chinese Religion and Traditional Chinese Culture." Excerpts from the key remarks of some experts and scholars are recorded below.
I. The Overall Status of the Development of Traditional Chinese Religion The status and role of traditional Chinese religion within traditional Chinese culture have varied across different historical eras. Broadly speaking, primitive religions were the earliest to flourish, characterized by nature worship, the "establishment of teachings through the way of the gods" [1], the intermingling of humans and spirits, and the prevalence of shamanic arts. These were integrated with the primitive social system and dominated primitive culture; this is the legendary era of the "Three Sovereigns." Subsequently, entering class society—equivalent to the legendary era of the "Five Emperors"—Zhuanxu [2] enacted religious reforms "severing the communication between Heaven and Earth" (juedi tiantong). This separated the governance of humans and spirits, causing the "Way of the Gods" to lean toward the "Way of Man" and emphasizing the authority of the monarch.
By the time of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, the relationship between humans and spirits further diverged. Historical records state: the people of Xia honored the Mandate [of Heaven] but prioritized loyalty; the people of Yin (Shang) honored the spirits and served ghosts; and the people of Zhou honored rites and remained close to the human realm [3]. This ultimately led to a massive social-cultural transformation during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, where the traditional system of religious culture shifted toward an emerging humanistic system.
Around the transition from the Qin to the Han, with the establishment of the unified imperial system, Confucian doctrine became the state ideology, and the "Six Arts" humanism became the national cultural system. The traditional religion of "revering Heaven and honoring ancestors" became a part of Confucian ritual studies, while the shamanic arts of divination regarding calamities and anomalies were relegated to appendages of the I Ching (Book of Changes) studies. Between the Han and Wei dynasties, indigenous Taoism arose and foreign Buddhism was introduced. Later, a pattern of "Three Teachings" (Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism) coexisting emerged—sometimes debating for supremacy, sometimes absorbing one another, and even reaching the phenomenon of "the unity of the three teachings."
In modern times, following the introduction of Western culture, people have often stood on the cultural ground of Western religion, assuming that traditional Chinese culture since the Han and Wei consisted of the "Three Teachings," even viewing Confucianism as a religion. However, this view only pertains to the relationship between religious belief and philosophical thought; it is by no means an assessment from the perspective of national culture or the totality of traditional culture. In reality, traditional Chinese culture since the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods has centered on: the philosophy of the Commentaries on the I Ching, the literature of the Book of Odes, the political science of the Book of Documents, the ritual-law and ethics of the Book of Rites, the music and dance of the Classic of Music, and the historiography of the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Confucian "Five Constants" (benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness) served as the state's ruling ideology, while the "Five Relations" (Heaven, Earth, Sovereign, Parents, and Teacher) [4] served as the objects of spiritual faith.
Confucianism has always been the mainstay of traditional Chinese culture; Buddhism, Taoism, and various folk religious beliefs were adjuncts. Their function was restricted to the sphere of religious belief and limited to the "transcendental" (fangwai) spiritual realm—hence the tradition of "leaving the family" or "renouncing the world" in Buddhism and Taoism. Religion was not permitted to interfere in politics, the economy, institutions, culture, or daily life; even less could it interfere with the traditional cultural faith of revering Heaven and honoring ancestors. Violating this led to events such as the "Three Wu Persecutions of Buddhism" [5] or the suppression of secret societies and sects. Thus, generally speaking, traditional Chinese religion occupied a fundamentally subordinate position within traditional Chinese culture, its role confined to the spiritual domains of religious belief and philosophical thought.
II. The History of Constructing the Relationship Between the Three Teachings and Traditional Chinese Culture Regarding the status and role of traditional religions formed since the Qin and Han within traditional Chinese culture, "traditional religion" refers primarily to the "Three Teachings" of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Here, "Confucianism as religion" refers to the traditional religious elements of revering Heaven and honoring ancestors within the school; it does not mean that Confucianism in its entirety is a religion. Confucianism represents traditional culture relative to Buddhism and Taoism, but it constitutes only a part of the whole.
The intellectual and cultural landscape of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods is commonly described as the "Three Teachings and Nine Schools." Here, "Three Teachings" referred to the three cultural traditions of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou. Confucius summarized this: The Way of the Xia honored the Mandate; the people of Zhou honored rites and valued generosity—both served ghosts and spirits but kept them at a distance, remaining close to the people and emphasizing loyalty. The people of Yin (Shang) honored spirits, leading the people to serve them; they prioritized ghosts over rites and punishment over reward, being reverent but not intimate (Record of Rites: Biaoji). This points to the cultural traditions of the Xia and Zhou emphasizing humanism, while the Yin Shang emphasized religion.
By the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Shang shamanism declined daily, while Huaxia [6] humanism flourished. This cultural prosperity and the proliferation of schools are known historically as the "Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought." By the Qin and Han, these schools settled into the "Nine Schools." Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian lists the six most influential: Yin-Yang, Confucian, Mohist, Legalist, School of Names, and Taoist (Daode). Emperor Wu of the Han "exalted only Confucianism," making the "Six Arts" the law and forming a new type of traditional culture with Confucianism as the body. However, the Grand Historian clearly stated: "These are all concerned with governance; they simply speak of different paths, some being more perceptive than others." This refers to academic sects of statecraft. Even with the Six Arts as law, they were not the whole of culture. The Book of Han: Treatise on Literature records that beyond the Six Arts, there were its subsections on the various masters, poetry, military strategy, numerology, and medicine. Excluding certain categories, these were synthesized as the "Ten Schools and Nine Streams." This indicates that traditional culture encompassed broad content and was not merely the "Confucian religion," although Confucianism held the status of state ideology and mainstream culture.
As for Buddhism and Taoism: Buddhism was introduced from abroad, while Taoism formed locally. There were other foreign religions such as Nestorianism and Manichaeism in the Tang, or Erke'un (Christianity) and Dashiman (Islam) in the Yuan, but they did not form "traditional religions." There were also many folk religions and beliefs, such as the Maitreya teachings of the Northern and Southern Dynasties or the White Lotus Sect of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing, but these did not form a religious tradition and are thus not discussed here.
Summarizing traditional Chinese culture via the "Three Teachings" is a perspective that became popular in the modern era. There are three reasons for this: First, since the Wei and Jin dynasties, there have been historical facts of comparison and debate among the Three Teachings in the realm of ideology and faith, leading to them being mentioned together. Second, after the introduction of Christianity, "religion" was often used as a reference system to distinguish and judge national cultures—Westerners believe in Christianity, Arabs in Islam, Indians in Hinduism, and thus Chinese believe in the Three Teachings, with Confucianism as the primary one. Third, following the collapse of traditional culture after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese people developed a psychology of using traditional culture to counter Western culture, believing that Chinese had their own religious faiths and did not need to accept "foreign religions." Elite Chinese intellectuals constructed "New Confucianism," incorporating Buddhism and Taoism, identifying the Three Teachings as collectively representing traditional culture.
Scholars of Chinese philosophy, believing it impossible to write a history of Chinese philosophy without Buddhist philosophy, included the Buddhist exegesis of the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the sectarian philosophies of the Sui and Tang into the scope of Chinese philosophy. They viewed Sui-Tang Buddhist philosophy as the peak of Chinese philosophical development and believed that Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism was formed by absorbing Chan (Zen) Buddhism, thus placing the Three Teachings at the core of traditional Chinese culture. Furthermore, with the development of religious studies and the popularity of "religious-cultural theory," traditional culture was studied from religious perspectives, treating Confucianism as a religion or a "Chinese-path religion," which further reinforced the concept that the Three Teachings constitute traditional Chinese culture. The greatest problem with this view is that it overemphasizes the status of religion, interpreting the secularity of Chinese culture through the lens of the religiosity of Western culture, thereby blurring the boundaries between religious and secular culture, as well as the distinction between traditional religion and traditional culture.
From the perspective of traditional Chinese culture, the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods converted the religious system of traditional culture into a humanistic system. Even the Mohists, who advocated theism among the Hundred Schools, belonged to a humanistic school and possessed the most scientific and technological elements. According to the definition in the Commentaries on the I Ching, "the intersection of the firm and the yielding forms wen (culture/pattern); this is the astronomy of the heavens." During the Qin-Han transition, the "exaltation of Confucianism" and the adoption of the "Six Arts as law" institutionalized humanistic education, forming the basic characteristics of Chinese culture. Exalting Confucianism established the state ideology, using the Five Constants as ruling thoughts and the "Five Relations" as objects of faith. Setting the Six Arts as law constructed the national cultural system. The "Six Arts" refers to the classics and their commentaries: the I Ching is philosophy, the Odes is poetry/literature, the Documents is political science, the Rites is ritual-law and ethics, the Music is music and dance, and the Spring and Autumn Annals is history. These provided the main disciplines of philosophy, humanities, and social sciences, forming a stable, substantive, and complete cultural system for the Chinese nation.
The traditional religion of revering Heaven and honoring ancestors, along with the Confucian "Five Relations" faiths, played a core role in traditional culture by sustaining the psychology of the Chinese nation, maintaining the consciousness of national unity, and upholding the order of feudal society.
Once the Chinese national cultural system with Confucianism as the body was institutionalized, Taoism appeared locally and Buddhism was introduced from abroad. Starting from the Eastern Han and developing through the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, they gradually gained independent identities and were named alongside Confucianism as the "Three Teachings." They engaged in mutual debate—known in the Tang as the "Deliberation of the Three Teachings" or the "Deliberation of Buddhism and Taoism." However, these deliberations did not mean the three were equal in power. Rather, Confucianism, as the symbol of state ideology and the national cultural system, always occupied the subjective position and played the leading role. Buddhism and Taoism were merely "outer teachings" or "heterodox streams" of religious belief and philosophy; in the process of the Sinicization of religion, they always occupied a subordinate position and played a supplementary role.
III. Differences Between the Three Teachings The greatest difference among the Three Teachings, in addition to Confucianism serving as the body of the state ideology and national cultural system, is that the nature of Confucianism is humanistic, while Buddhism and Taoism are religious. However, Confucianism also has religious components or a "religiosity"—namely, the secular faith of revering Heaven and honoring ancestors. At the religious level, the Three Teachings share some commonalities. It is just that the religiosity of Confucianism belongs to ancient nature and ancestor worship, carrying certain shamanic characteristics. In contrast, Buddhism and Taoism are "religious professionals." Buddhism is a world religion and Taoism is a national religion; their doctrines are more sophisticated than those of Confucian religion.
Therefore, Buddhism and Taoism were competitive in the sphere of religious belief, prominently shown in their efforts to win over the personal faith of the Emperor and the royal family. Aside from fulfilling his religious duty of revering Heaven and honoring ancestors, the Emperor was often attracted by Buddhism or Taoism and frequently made a choice between them. Throughout the dynasties, some emperors or royals believed in Buddhism while others believed in Taoism; the Emperor’s personal faith directly influenced the formulation of state religious policy. Buddhism and Taoism also actively recruited Confucian officials and literati and held influence over the common believers.
Furthermore, as a school of thought, Confucianism had a strong academic interest and held a proactive, open attitude toward scholarly issues. The translation and introduction of Buddhist sutras were mostly handled by Confucian officials, and translation centers were largely organized and implemented by the state. Buddhism and Taoism also possessed a strong academic character. Taoism was supported by Taoist [philosophical] theory; during the Qin-Han transition, "Huang-Lao" (Yellow Emperor and Laozi) techniques served as the ruling ideology for a time, and its adherents were very familiar with traditional culture and Confucian thought.
Buddhism originated from the various peoples of the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family on the southern slopes of the Himalayas. Because Shakyamuni [the Buddha] arose in opposition to [Brahmanical] religion, he advocated humanism. The theme of his teachings was a philosophy of life belonging to epistemology, similar to the "Hundred Schools" of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Later sectarian splits were also caused by academic differences, and the Sangha (monastic organization) implemented a democratic system. During its spread to Northwest Central Asia, it was influenced by the culture of Greek immigrants, which led to the formation of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy and art. Therefore, as Buddhism spread from India to Central Asia and then to China, it contained cutting-edge information in various fields like philosophy and art, which was a primary reason for China’s acceptance of this foreign religion.
The evaluation and influence of Buddhism and Daoism on Chinese philosophy and culture differ respectively. Regarding the evaluation of Buddhism’s impact on Chinese philosophy and culture, the most positive assessment argues that Buddhism elevated the quality of Chinese culture (as stated by Yu Dunkang). In practice, this refers to the elevation of the level of theoretical thinking in Chinese philosophy by Buddhist philosophy. This was primarily manifested during the Wei-Jin [7] and Sui-Tang periods, where Buddhist dialectical thinking enhanced traditional Chinese dialectics. It is generally believed that Wei-Jin "Learning of the Profound" (Hexuanue) was influenced by Prajna [8] studies, and the Treatises of Sengzhao (Zhaolun) represent a high level of dialectical thought. However, according to research by Chinese scholars, Wei-Jin Learning of the Profound was not influenced by Buddhist philosophy, or only experienced indirect influence or a degree of inspiration; for instance, the level of the "Six Schools and Seven Sects" [9] of Buddhism was actually lower than that of Wei-Jin Learning of the Profound. Even Sengzhao did not truly grasp the dialectics of Buddhist Madhyamaka [10], but was instead influenced by the dialectical thinking of the Learning of the Profound; it was only when Kumarajiva’s translation team translated Madhyamaka doctrines that the highest level of Buddhist Madhyamaka dialectics was expressed. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Buddhist philosophies of the Tiantai, Huayan, and Chan schools reached the peak of Chinese philosophy; Huayan philosophy, in particular, transcended binary models, using multi-dimensional thinking to explain the multiple dialectical relationships existing between phenomena. Additionally, the translation and transmission of Buddhist logic (Hetuvidya) and Yogacara [11] doctrines also enhanced China's capacity for logical thinking.
Buddhist philosophy promoted the development of Chinese philosophy not only in ontology but also in epistemology. However, the idealism of its religious philosophy also exerted a negative influence on Chinese philosophy, primarily manifested in the influence of Chan [12] thought on the Idealist School of Nature and Principle (Song-Ming Lixue) and the Lu-Wang School of Mind (Xinxue). The inherent defects of religious philosophy also led Chinese Buddhist philosophy toward a path of fideism; doctrines such as Buddha-nature, Tathagatagarbha (Buddha-matrix), the Awakening of Faith, and Chan-Pure Land synthesis became the mainstream of Buddhist philosophy after the Tang dynasty, further promoting the development of idealist philosophy. In short, dialectical thinking was already fully expressed in the Commentary on the Book of Changes (Yi Zhuan) of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, as well as in the philosophies of Laozi and Zhuangzi; this constitutes the foundation of Chinese philosophy. During the Wei-Jin period, traditional Chinese speculative philosophy further developed within the Learning of the Profound, encountered Buddhist philosophy, and through mutual collision and influence, traditional philosophy was elevated. The result was the formation of Sui-Tang Buddhist philosophy, which reached a pinnacle of Chinese philosophy. Using Buddhism as a medium, traditional Chinese philosophy, the philosophy of Greek migrants, and Indian philosophy met in China, sparking the flames of Buddhist philosophy and bearing fruit within Chinese culture. When encountering Western culture in the modern era, it was precisely because China possessed this foundation that it easily accepted Marxist philosophy. The combination of traditional dialectical idealism with Marxist dialectical materialism—drawing on each other's strengths to offset weaknesses—has become the theme of the era in contemporary China.
IV. The Influence of the Three Teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism on Traditional Chinese Culture
Since the Tang dynasty, the three teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism have played an important role in the Chinese way of life. A popular saying describes this as "using Confucianism to govern the world, Daoism to govern the body, and Buddhism to govern the mind." This can be seen as a model of division of labor and cooperation among the three schools, which basically reflects their respective characteristics and distinct roles, while also explaining the way of life and conduct of Chinese literati. Generally speaking, the faith of Confucianism possesses universality; it is a lifelong faith for the entire people. In contrast, faith in Buddhism and Daoism is a choice made by only a portion of the population and is often transitional or stage-specific.
Regarding the influence of the three teachings on the religious beliefs of the Chinese people: Confucianism functioned to sustain the psychology of the Chinese nation, maintain the consciousness of a unified Chinese state, and uphold the feudal social order. Buddhism enriched and replenished the content and deep psychological structure of Chinese religious belief—for example, through the doctrine of karmic retribution over three lifetimes, Pure Land faith, and "pointing directly to the human mind to perceive one's nature." Its world-transceiving approach provided a life path and spiritual home for those seeking to escape mundane reality and secular affairs; it also represented a mode of separation between church and state where religion did not interfere in politics. Simultaneously, it fostered negative emotions of pessimism and world-weariness, as well as an individualism focused on "cultivating one's own moral purity in isolation." Daoism’s philosophy of life and ideas of longevity and immortality resonated with the religious psychology of the Chinese people, providing a way of life for those living in the secular world while pursuing spiritual transcendence.
As an imported religion, Buddhism also exerted a definite influence on traditional Chinese culture, most visibly in the art of grottoes and temple sculpture. The Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, the Yungang Grottoes, the Luoyang [Longmen] Grottoes, the Maijishan Grottoes, and the Dazu Rock Carvings have all become World Heritage sites. It also had a certain influence on the subject matter and literary styles of Chinese literature, art, and traditional opera.