Lambert, Tony2019-09-252019-09-252017-05-122001http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/164953"Control of religious affairs in China is not a recent innovation by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Over a millennium ago, in the middle of the ninth century AD, the independent power of the Buddhist monasteries which were fast becoming an 'imperium in imperio' were crushed by the Tang dynasty emperors. Since then religion has always been considered as a virtual department of state, to be regulated and controlled. The concept of a transcendent God, which provided a powerful focus of resistance to royal absolutism in the West (whether through the medieval papacy, the Reformation or Puritanism), was lacking in China; the emperor, the 'Son of Heaven', ruled supreme. Popular folk religion was tolerated but looked down on by urbane and quasi-agnostic Confucian officials. Secret societies and religious sects which multiplied and became hotbeds of sedition were ruthlessly suppressed. They were 'xie' - 'heterodox' - beyond the pale of Confucian orthodoxy."engWith permission of the license/copyright holderReligious policyChinacommunismBuddhismChristianityPolitical ethicsGovernance and ethicsChristian denominationsOrthodox (Eastern, Oriental)Comparative religion and interreligious dialogueChristian-BuddhistArticle