Religious+and+Other+Causes

Outline the RELIGIOUS and OTHER (eg cultural, just because) causes of the Tiananmen Square massacre here.

__Under imperial and colonial rule **LONG-TERM**__

- Main religions under imperial rule before the 18th and 19th centuries were Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism - 18th and 19th century with the beginnings of Western ideology, traditional religions began to decline and religions such as Christianity grew in China.

__Mao’s Cultural revolution and Religion (1966 – 1976) **MID TERM**__

- Communist and atheist Communist Part of China came to power in 1949 (said that traditional religions were backward and superstitious, and Western religion was seen as representative of colonial domination) - The People's Republic of China was established in 1949. Its government is officially atheist, which viewed religion as emblematic of feudalism and foreign colonisation. - believed that all vestiges of Chinese traditional culture needed to be overturned - Saw Chinese as being dominated by three separate institution: o State o Clan o Family o (women dominated by all and men) - disastrous consequences on all aspects of society in China with loss of culture - Apparently governments at all levels made great efforts to revive and implement the policy of freedom of religious belief etc during the time of the Cultural revolution with many people still practicing traditional religions - During cultural revolution, many sights ruined or changed into places for secular use - Under Mao’s leadership, a whole generation of youth was indoctrinated with Mao’s teachings and views. This caused a massive loss of culture, as traditional practices were lost. - As a consequence of the Cultural Revolution, religion was opposed because it undermined social philosophy. - In particular, during this time, the youth were told what to learn and believe from Mao’s //little red book// so were denied freedom of expression. The youth had a mindset of oppression. Ultimately the students were searching for something else and wanted their identity to be heard (Tiananmen Square). - During this period, there was thought to be no need for religion as Mao himself was like God. - Tibet was oppressed by the Red Guard for practicing Buddhism

__After Cultural Revolution (post- 70’s)__

- (Deng came to power in 1977) 1978 Constitution of the People’s Republic of China gave people the right to freedom of religion under Deng Xiaoping’s open reforms - Was amended again in 1982 to allow more freedom of religion in China - China became to 'collapse' in the 1970's and became a backwards society. - In the 1980's students travelled to various other countries to study and became influenced by Western ideas, including that of religion.  __Freedom of Religious Belief today in China **POST TIANANMEN**__

- main religions are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catolicism and Protestantism - //may freely choose and express their religious beliefs// - //statistics show that over 100 million ppl are followers of various religions// - //Buddhism and Taoism most popular// - Chinese government has banned the practice of religions such as Falun Gong and Xiantianism - While stressing the protection of freedom of religious belief China pays equal attention to the protection of the freedom not to believe in religion, thus ensuring freedom of religious belief in a complete sense.

__Root causes of rebellion **OTHER**__

<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">- serious discontent <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">- oppression <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">- __corruption__ >
 * During the Imperial era, the spread of corruption in traditional China is often connected to the Confucian concept of //renzhi//, "government of the people" as opposed to the legalist "government of the law". A ll relations were based solely on mutual trust and propriety. However, this kind of moral uprightness could be developed only among a minority. The famous attempt of Wang Anshi to institutionalize the monetary relations of the state, thus reducing corruption, were met with sharp criticism by the Confucian elite. As a result, corruption continued to be widespread both in the court and among the local elites.
 * <span style="font-family: sans-serif,helvetica,sans-serif;">Cadre corruption in post-1949 China lies in the "organizational involution" of the ruling party, including the regime's policies, institutions, norms, and failure to adapt to a changing environment in the post-Mao era.
 * <span style="font-family: sans-serif,helvetica,sans-serif;"> Attacking corruption in the Chinese Communist Party was one of the forces behind the Tiananmen protests of 1989. In post-Mao China, CCP members misused their powers in government posts, thus similar to familiar patterns of corruption in some periods of Imperial China.
 * <span style="font-family: sans-serif,helvetica,sans-serif;"> Like other socialist economies that have gone through monumental transition, post-Mao China has experienced unprecedented levels of corruption

__ - Religion and culture as substitute for political expression __ <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">- religion makes up a person and communities personal and collective identity <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">- culture fever. Culture, like religion, is often a substitute for political expression. After decades of wooden Communist culture, slash-and-burn revolutionary modernism and murderous political campaigns, Chinese intellectuals turned to traditional Chinese culture to find answers to China's contemporary problems. <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">- Idea of ‘Culture Fever’ under Deng played a large part in the causes of Tiananmen Square as Deng’s reforms opened the door to the formerly repressed and isolated Chinese society. o These reforms opened up access to large amounts of information which have been classified into three types of cultural crazes; § Socioeconomic crazes (result of people’s reaction to sudden emergence of new economic and political freedom) § High/popular culture craze (result from sudden influx of new information from the west and rediscovery of old Chinese cultural practices and beliefs) § Culture criticism/traditional Chinese culture crazes (was a result of the great leap towards modernization with western cultural crazes looking to the west for advice)