Buddhism, Taoism, And Confucianism

Before the Communist takeover of China the country's culture was heavily shaped by Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. During the Cultural Revolution in China, religion was condemned and many religious symbols and temples were destroyed, but recently it has been allowed to be practiced again. In China, there are five major religions that are recognized by the government. These religions include Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Christianity. Religious groups have to be registered with the government. If any registered or unregistered religious group emerges and the government feels that it is threatening the nationalist views, then the government will quickly label the group a cult and it will be suppressed. An example of an unregistered
It argues that the study of state formation provides a critical perspective for understanding the multiple transformations of religion in the colonial and postcolonial public sphere. The article starts by explaining that before the British colonization of India Hinduism, one of India's major religious movements, was a heterogeneous collection of similar rituals and practices that had no real central structure. At this time Hinduism was not truly recognized as a religion, and although it was wide spread it remained primarily local practice with no direct connection to other communities. It was not until the British colonization opened a whole in Indian society that Christian missionaries tried to fill that this changed. With the arrival of the missionaries, which he British claimed no connection to, the Indian people perceived a potential threat to their culture and way of life. In response to this a great number of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh organizations emerged to resist the Christian missionary project. This act lead to the crystallization of the modern corporate Hinduism that we see today, and allowed the elites that were now in control to expand their influence into the political sphere as well.

One noticeable similarity the two cultures share is the way religions became official religions. The main religions in both China and India were not really thought of as religions but more of philosophies. The religions of China were more like lifestyle choices rather than a religion and the same goes for India. If it was not for the British involvement in India and the communist Chinese government the traditional religions of these two culture would still probably be