Religions in China. China is a country with many religions. Buddhism, Taoism and Islam are quite popular, while there are also Christian believers (both Catholic and Protestant). Chinese citizens have freedom of religious belief.
Chinese Buddhism and Folk Religions
China has the world's largest Buddhist population, with an estimated 185–250 million practitioners, according to Freedom House. Though Buddhism originated in India, it has a long history and tradition in China and today is the country's largest institutionalized religion.
Taoism (also spelled Daoism) is a religion and a philosophy from ancient China that has influenced folk and national belief. Taoism has been connected to the philosopher Lao Tzu, who around 500 B.C.E. wrote the main book of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching.
The Japanese religious tradition is made up of several major components, including Shinto, Japan's earliest religion, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Christianity has been only a minor movement in Japan.
Taoism is "the way" leading one to fulfill their immortality by becoming one with the Tao or universe by living in balance. Buddhism is a philosophy where one strives to achieve enlightenment or nirvana through its teachings.
Taoism does not have a God in the way that the Abrahamic religions do. There is no omnipotent being beyond the cosmos, who created and controls the universe. In Taoism the universe springs from the Tao, and the Tao impersonally guides things on their way.
Taoism philosophy is based on three pillars: simplicity, patience, and compassion. Lao Tzu said that these three principles are our greatest treasures.
Religion in Russia is diverse, with Christianity, especially Russian Orthodoxy, being the most widely professed faith, but with significant minorities of non-religious people and adherents of other faiths.
Nevertheless, the majority of the population identifies as religious, with Christianity being the traditional and dominant faith. It is estimated that 37.8% of the population identified themselves as not religious, 27.7% identified as Roman Catholic Christians and 25.5% identified as Protestant Christians.
The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, many practitioners refer to their religion as Sanātana Dharma (Sanskrit: सनातन धर्म, lit.
Religious Taoism
Taoism is often taught in the West as an atheist or agnostic philosophy, but in China and Taiwan particularly, Taoism still functions like any conventional religion, and not like an abstract philosophy of life.
Taoist thought focuses on genuineness, longevity, health, immortality, vitality, wu wei (non-action, a natural action, a perfect equilibrium with tao), detachment, refinement (emptiness), spontaneity, transformation and omni-potentiality.
Early Buddhism was sometimes seen as a kind of foreign relative of Taoism and its scriptures were often translated into Chinese with Taoist vocabulary. Chan Buddhism in particular holds many beliefs in common with philosophical Taoism.
Religious affiliation in 2021
Christianity (43.9%) No religion (38.9%) Islam (3.2%) Hinduism (2.7%)
Christianity (Protestantism and Catholicism) and Buddhism are the dominant confessions among those who affiliate with a formal religion. Buddhism and Confucianism play an influential role in the lives of many South Korean people.
A majority of the population identified with 'Chinese Folk Religions' (49%). Of the remaining population, 21.3% of Hong Kong is Buddhist, 14.2% is Taoist, 11.8% is Christian and 3.7% identified with 'Other'. Smaller numbers of the population are Hindu, Sikh and Jewish.
85% of Norwegians belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway, but this membership is primarily cultural, as religious practice is low. There is no separation between Church and State: the Church of Norway is recognised by the constitution and the King is the head.
Switzerland is a predominantly Christian country. Catholics are the largest denomination, followed by Protestants. Switzerland's religious landscape has changed considerably in the last few decades.
Since the Portuguese colonized Brazil in the 16th century, it has been overwhelmingly Catholic. And today Brazil has more Roman Catholics than any other country in the world – an estimated 123 million.
While the majority of Ukrainians practice some form of Christian Orthodoxy, a minority of Ukrainians practice Ukrainian Greek-Catholicism, a denomination that combines Byzantine religious rite, Catholic faith, and Ukrainian culture.
Christianity. The most popular religion in the U.S. is Christianity, comprising the majority of the population (73.7% of adults in 2016), with the majority of American Christians belonging to a Protestant denomination or a Protestant offshoot (such as Mormonism or the Jehovah's Witnesses).
While most Israelis are Jewish, a growing share (currently about one-in-five adults) belong to other groups. Most non-Jewish residents of Israel are ethnically Arab and identify, religiously, as Muslims, Christians or Druze.
Pantheism and panentheism are two we might think of in this regard – perhaps these would be comfortable with the idea of God as energy.
Chinese Deities like Lord Guan, Xuan Tian Shang Di, and Tua Pek Kong are some of the most popular deities among Taoist adherents and the local Chinese community. Many Taoists also worshipped Buddhist Bodhisattvas like Guanyin and Di Zang Wang.