DOI: 10.22281/2413-9912-2024-08-01-66-76

Miazin N.A.

FEATURES OF THE SPREAD OF PROTESTANTISM IN CHINA

IN THE XX — XXI CENTURIES.

Several religious traditions coexisted in China. The elite practiced Neo-Confucianism, the majority of the population adhered to the folk religion, and Buddhism was regarded by the authorities as a foreign religion. Christianity penetrated China several times but was later expelled. Catholic missionaries managed to gain a foothold only at the end of the 16th century. After the Opium Wars, Christian missionaries were officially allowed to work in China, and Protestantism began to spread alongside Catholicism. The spread of Christianity was hindered by anti-Western sentiments in society; Protestantism was particularly hindered by ancestor worship, which had a religious component. In the 1940s, Christians comprised less than 1% of the population, most of whom were Catholics. During the Cultural Revolution, all religious organizations were banned. Deng Xiaoping allowed religious activity again, and now the proportion of Protestants in the population exceeded 2%. The government was more favorable to Protestant churches, because they had control centers on the territory of the country The development of Protestantism was facilitated by the fact that their main rival — the people’s religion suffered significant damage in the era of Mao Zedong. Protestantism became more widespread in the Chinese diaspora of many other countries.

Keywords: China, Protestantism, Pentecostalism, Catholicism, folk religion, missionaryism, Communist Party.

The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (Russia).

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