China

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[edit] Location

  • China is the third largest state in the world. China is the most populous country on the planet, 1.2 billion people, 91.3% of them from the Han people group. One in five people in the world live in China. China is a cultural region, ancient civilization, and nation in East Asia. It is one of the world's oldest civilizations, consisting of states and cultures dating back more than six millennia. China ranges from mostly plateaus and mountains in the west to lower lands in the east. Principal rivers flow from west to east, including the Yangtze (central), the Huang He (Yellow river, north-central), and the Amur (northeast), and sometimes toward the south (including the Pearl River, Mekong River, and Brahmaputra), with most Chinese rivers emptying into the Pacific Ocean.

[edit] Life

[edit] Demographics

  • Population: 1.3 billion. China is presently the most populous country in the world, although it will likely be surpassed by India by 2025.

[edit] Culture

[edit] Urbanization

Beijing

[edit] Organization

[edit] Economy

[edit] History

  • This great and ancient nation has regained its place of importance in the world after nearly two centuries of decline and humiliation at the hands of the Western powers and Japan. After the final conquest of mainland China in 1949, the Communist Party remoulded the nation along Marxist lines. The Cultural Revolution (1966-76) was the culmination of Mao's policy. It caused immeasurable suffering and economic chaos. Intellectuals and religious believers were cruelly persecuted. It is estimated that 20 million Chinese lost their lives during that time. The death of Mao Zedong in 1976 and discrediting of radical leftists in 1978 was followed by a more pragmatic leadership under Deng. He initiated a series of economic, political and cultural reforms and developed links with other nations, but all within the limits set by Deng. The crushing of the 1989 student protest in Tienanmen Square in Beijing and also the collapse of Communism in Europe and the USSR left China diplomatically isolated as the oldest surviving Communist regime. The threatened government responded with a reversion to ideological rigidity and repression of all political, ethnic and religious dissent. Economic reform with tight political control has been government policy during the 1990s. In 1997 and 1999 Hong Kong and Macau reverted to Chinese rule. China’s growing economic strength could be directed at the absorption of Taiwan, seizure of island archipelagos in the South China Sea and possibly other surrounding countries. Russia’s under-populated Siberia could also come under pressure from over-populated China.

[edit] Government

  • Type of Government: Communist state

[edit] Destroying the Earth

[edit] Religion

  • China is an atheistic country, with 55.8% of the population non-religious. Christians make up 7.3% of its citizens. Majority Religion: Traditional Chinese beliefs 28.5%, Buddhism 8.4%.

[edit] Buddhism

  • China is estimated to be about 49% non-religious, 28% Chinese religions and 8% Buddhist, but the fact is most Chinese hold to beliefs that are essentially Buddhist in nature. Buddhists number at least 105 million in this country, and the number influenced by Buddhism either in a minor or major way could easily exceed 700 million. Buddhism is back strong as ever in the countryside and spreading in China’s cities too, especially the Tibetan version which has an exotic cultural appeal to young people searching for spiritual substance.

[edit] Islam

[edit] Nonreligious

[edit] Christianity

  • 2007: According to government figures there 130 millions of Christians in the country, 18 millions belong to the Three Self Patriotic Movement churches (TSPM). About 20 Millions are Catholics, six millions belong to the registered Catholic church.

[edit] History

  • At the time of Christ, there were four great empires in the world: Rome, Persia, India and China. Commercial routes connected Rome with Persia and India, where the Silk Road crossed the deserts of Central Asia to connect with China. It is entirely probable that some early Christian believers followed this route to China, but the first documented record of Christian missionaries to China was under the Nestorian church in the 7th century. This church, unfortunately, eventually died out.
  • During the Mongol dynasty of the 11th century, Franciscan missionaries won some converts but likewise vanished when Imperial patronage came to an end.Link title
  • In the 1500s, Jesuit missionaries from Portugal and Italy arrived in China. Since then Christianity has taken root and blossomed.
  • Elimination of all religious groups has always been the ultimate aim of the Marxist government. In the 1950s the government engineered the infiltration, subversion and control of all organized Christianity. By 1958 this had been achieved through the Three Self Patriotic Movement among Protestants, and the Catholic Patriotic Association among Catholics. During the Cultural Revolution even these puppet structures were banned, and all religious activity forced underground, giving birth to the house church movement. In 1978 restrictions were eased and the TSPM and CPA resurrected as a means of regaining governmental control of the thousands of house churches. This has been only partially successful. The collapse of Communism in Europe is perceived as due to ‘religion’, so strict controls are maintained over Christian and Muslim organizations and all unregistered activity repressed wherever possible. All figures are estimates.
  • The Communist Party claims that there are 100 million ‘believers’ in the five recognized religions (Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism) with 85,000 registered meeting places and 300,000 religious personnel. The actual figures are probably double this. The beliefs of the Chinese and many minorities are a blend of folk religions, Daoism and Buddhism. The Buddhists are of three major strands: Mahayana and Theravada among the Chinese and southern peoples such as the Dai, Zhuang, Manchu, etc., and Lama Buddhism among the Tibetan and Mongolian peoples of the west and north.
  • Islam is dominant in Xinjiang and Ningxia, and is the major religion of the Hui, Uygur, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Dongxiang, etc.
  • The severe suppression of the Falun Gong sect in 1999 and onwards has also greatly intensified persecution of the Christian networks outside the TSPM.
  • The growth of the Church in China since 1977 has no parallels in history. The 1,266,000 Protestant members and 1.8 mill. affiliates in 1949 had become 17m members and maybe 26m affiliates in 2000 as well as a much larger uncounted, but estimated, 45m house church Christians. The Catholics grew from 3m to 12m over the same period.
  • The millions of intercessors who travailed in prayer for the long-delayed breakthrough. The cumulative impact of 150 years of global prayer for China has been enormous. Prayer is changing China.

[edit] Churches

  • The Three Self Patriotic Movement churches (TSPM) were started by ‘patriotic’ and often theologically liberal Christians with the strong encouragement of the Communist Party. Restrictions include: no youth work, a ban on healing, and limited evangelism. Praise God for many who quietly ignore the rules. Growth is dramatic: 500,000 baptisms in the TSPM churches every year.
  • The unregistered or house church networks are the heart of the true Church in China. Intense persecution has indigenized and purified it. Prayer, revival, simple living and a Christocentric theology characterize it. Twenty or more larger networks exist.
  • The Christians in China despite they have suffered harsh persecution, they have remained faithful and committed. Churches are growing and seeing the Holy Spirit move in power.
  • Within the last ten years, in city after city, independent home churches are sprouting all over the place, with 10s of people up to 200 in a group.

[edit] Church and State Relations

[edit] Mission and Evangelization

  • Many hope that the 2008 Olympic Games will bring greater freedom and opportunities for witness. The Olympics will still come to China this summer—now is the time to pray for God’s hand to enable believers to make the most of this opportunity and for wisdom to know exactly how to do that.
  • China has nearly 60 million Communist Party members. Among them are many secret believers. Disillusionment and defection to Christianity has led to many resignations. May the Holy Spirit convict many more of their sin and need.
  • Thank God that no other country in history has seen as much church growth as there has been in China. Surprisingly the communist rulers of China actually helped the Christian church to grow because they cracked down on all kinds of religious superstition.
  • The rapid growth of the Church and its influence on the democracy movement has heightened the ideological clash since 1989. The Communist Party and the old men that run it feel threatened by the powerful attraction of Christianity. The influence of foreign visitors, students and experts, and the pervasive impact of Christian radio programmes, videos, literature and Bibles and the explosive growth in the use of the Internet have been perceived as decisive in this. Opposition to and vigilance against all activities conducted by foreigners has increased since 1989. May economic desire overcome ideological fears and keep the door open for needed Christian input. May all who go humbly listen, learn and adapt to the language and culture so as to maximize their long-term spiritual impact.
  • The Back to Jerusalem movement in China has become known over the world for its vision of sending out 100,000 missionaries back along the old Silk Road to Jerusalem carrying the gospel. Many Chinese missionaries have already gone out with this vision. But, recently, disturbances across China, particularly in the western areas, caused the government crackdown which resulted in many believers scrambling to cope with the new restrictions.
  • Forty-five people groups within China alone have no Bible, no Jesus film, no radio and no recordings in their languages; the largest three are the Yongnan Zhuang, the Zuojiang Zhuang, and the Northern Dong. Please pray for God’s Word to quickly come to them in a way they can hear, understand, and respond to. This region is complex with no common trade language, making it difficult to forge regional alliances across denominational, organizational and language barriers. Pray for God to supernaturally forge these connections and for a strong regional prayer and unreached people network to emerge quickly and to move forward boldly with God’s purposes here and beyond.

[edit] Broadcasting

[edit] Councils and Networks

[edit] Persecution

  • There is a degree of controlled freedom in official churches (Three Self Patriotic Movement churches), but most Chinese believers belong to unregistered house churches, and are liable to fines, arrest, torture, labour camps and even death. In 2006 there were less raids on house churches but more forced closures and demolitions than in 2005. New tactics saw house church leaders detained for longer, with church members freed after short interrogations.

[edit] Challenges for Christians:

  • Since 1999, the Secretary of State of the United States of America has designated China a “Country of Particular Concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act for particularly severe violations of religious freedom. The government restricts religious practice largely to government-sanctioned organizations and registered places of worship and controlled growth and scope of activities of both registered and unregistered religious groups, including “house churches.” Protestant Christians who worshiped outside of government-approved venues, including in their homes, continued to face detention and abuse, especially for attempting to meet in large groups, traveling within and outside of the country for religious meetings, and otherwise holding peaceful religious assemblies in unregistered venues. Police and other security officials sometimes disrupted Protestant religious meetings.
  • In June 2007, Beijing house church activist Hua Huaiqi was sentenced in a closed trial to six months in prison for obstruction of justice. Police reportedly beat him in jail and poured cold water over him in frigid weather. In April 2007, the Beijing Intermediate People's Court rejected the appeal of Shuang Shuying, the 76-year-old mother of Beijing house church activist Hua Huaiqi. Shuang was sentenced to two years in jail for destruction of public and private property. She claimed that she was defending herself from being struck by an oncoming police car when her cane struck the headlights of the car. Shuang was placed in a medical center under police surveillance after being sentenced because she suffered from heart problems and diabetes. In May 2007 police in Aksu City, Xinjiang, arrested approximately 30 house church leaders who met with Christians from the United States. Four American Christians were interrogated in connection with the meeting and later expelled from China.
  • Multitudes of students in China have been told from childhood that there is no God or afterlife but that they should be strong and depend only on themselves. Please, pray that God will reveal Himself to them so strongly and unmistakably that they will joyfully and totally give their lives to Him.

[edit] Cults and sects

  • Because the government restricts the distribution of Bibles and Christians literature, also proper training of church leaders is hardly possible, the is lack of Bible knowledge and of mature leadership in the churches. This has opened the way for many exotic messianic, syncretistic and divisive groups, some of which have spread over much of China. In some areas they now constitute 5% or more of the unregistered church population. Pray that this growth might be slowed by the loving proclamation of the truth of God’s Word through radio, literature, pastoral training, and preaching.

[edit] Future Trends

  • Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, China has been a multinational unitary state. China currently has 116 autonomous areas, including 5 autonomous regions, 30 autonomous prefectures and 113 autonomous counties. Together they cover more than 63.7 percent of China's territory. The total population of these regions is 120 million, of which 50 million are minorities. In fact, in only one third of the autonomous regions is the dominant national minority group equal to more than one -half of the population. The Law on Regional Autonomy for Minority Nationalities was adopted in May 1984 at the Second Session of the Sixth National People's Congress. It includes provisions for autonomous organizations, rights of self Government organizations, help from higher level organizations, training and assignment of cadres, specialists, and skilled workers among the minority peoples, and the strengthening and developing of socialist relations among nationalities. In short, the policy has been characterized as one state but many nationalities, or, political integration but cultural diversification.
  • In contradiction to the pronouncements of Engels and Lenin about "the survival of a sense of ethnic belonging long after the withering away of the State," the Chinese anthropologists of today are contemplating the disappearance of the nationalities in the near future. Their arguments include the tremendous changes brought to these people by forty years revolution and the still more important changes to come as the country progresses along the path of economic modernization.
  • Their arguments also reveal that they are mixing up "ethnicity" and "traditional culture." Traditional way of life are indeed endangered by economic development in China just as elsewhere in the world. A part of the people's culture linked to those traditions may well be lost within a few decades. An official movement to revive traditional culture has spread to almost every nationality to the point of puzzlement of a leading anthropologist of the Tungusic "primitive" societies of Manchuria, Qiu Pu.
  • In an article published in Studies in Nationalities, Qiu Pu advocates a "breakthrough in the forbidden area of the traditional culture." He shows that traditional cultures include also dark sides and outdated behavioral patterns detrimental to the development of an ethnic group. Should these be reformed or kept, with the risk of cutting the society off from reality and beneficial external influences? But he remarks, "to reform amounts to a transformation of old trends; it is a revolution and it will inevitably raise much resistance and opposition."
  • Ethnicity, the sense of belonging to a particular ethnic group, transcends the awareness of sharing the same traditional culture. Traditional cultures have undergone what appear to be superficial changes to fit a kind of standardized model of folklore, with official festivals, official songs and dances (often derived from religious rituals and transformed into folklore pageants). But, with the new liberal policy, ancient religious practices have been revived within the family and the village. Today ethnic membership will gather together people who do not speak the same language; some will have received a complete Han Chinese education, while others, belonging to different groups, have been put under the same ethnic label.
  • In a world of strict obedience to government planning, ethnicity is now clearly a political issue. Ethnicity gives a right to be different. For instance, in the population issue, a source of so much heartbreak among the Han is that the nationality families are permitted to have one or two children more than the Han, on account of their smaller population size. After 1978, millions of people, such as the Tujia of Hunan, who up till then had been counted as Han because they had lost their own language and had completely assimilated Chinese culture, asked to be considered a national minority. One of the most obvious results of the law on regional autonomy has been the reinforcement of ethnic identity. This is a special feature of the minority problem in the PRC and it is not likely to disappear unless the example of Hainan were to be generalized.
  • For those who advocate a quick assimilation of the minority nationalities, economic development has somewhat replaced the class struggle as the universal solution to the problem of the minority nationalities. The principle of equality between nationalities is ignored particularly when looking at the economic conditions of different nationalities. The "backwardness" of some of them, who had been completely neglected after the Cultural Revolution, is so great that the areas where they live are still closed to visitors, especially western tourists. In the middle of the eighties, a Miao anthropologist could write to an American colleague: "We are one of the poorest peoples in the world."
  • The implementation of the responsibility system among the minorities as well as in all rural China has encouraged the peasants to increase production. But they are often faced with the problem of scarcity of land and the need to find new sources of income. Without the strong support of the State, large economic ventures are beyond the reach of the nationalities. Modernization is slow: a few more bicycles, a few "walking tractors" and electricity in the village, bringing radio and TV sets into the household, are almost the only improvements that have taken place. And this is not likely to change until the gap in education and the general economic development enable the minorities to find better employment opportunities or to start their own enterprises.

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