Religion
China is one of great centres of world religious thought and practices. It is known especially as the birthplace of the religio-philosophical schools of Confucianism and Daoism (Taoism), belief systems that formed the basis of Chinese society and governance for centuries. Buddhism came to China perhaps as early as the 3rd century bce and was a recognized presence there by the 1st century ce. The country became an incubator for many of the great present-day Buddhist sects, including Zen (Chan) and Pure Land, and, by its extension into Tibet, the source of Tibetan Buddhism. In addition, hundreds of animist, folk, and syncretic religious practices developed in China, including the movement that spawned the Taiping Rebellion of the mid-19th century.
Tai, Mount: templesTemples on the slopes of Mount Tai, one of the five holy mountains of China, Shandong province, China.© Boris Stroujko/Shutterstock.com
The political and social upheavals in China during the first half of the 20th century had a disintegrating effect on Confucianism, Daoism, and (outside Tibet) Buddhism, and traditional observances of these were greatly weakened. From 1949 the country became officially atheist, although state-monitored religious practices continued to be allowed. However, some religions were persecuted, notably Tibetan Buddhism after China assumed military control of Tibet in 1959. The Chinese government has gradually relaxed many of its earlier restrictions on religious institutions and practices, but it still curtails those it considers threats to the social and political order (e.g., the spiritual exercise discipline called Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa).
Lhasa, Tibet, China: Potala PalacePotala Palace, a popular pilgrimage destination for Tibetan Buddhists, in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China.CQYoung—iStock/Thinkstock
About one-half of China’s people claim that they are nonreligious or atheist. Adherents to various indigenous folk religions, collectively about one-fifth of the total population, comprise the largest group of those professing a belief. Many Chinese who are identified as adherents of folk religions also embrace aspects and rituals of other religions. Members of non-Han minorities constitute the bulk of those following Buddhism and Islam. Christians are a small but significant and growing minority, many of them converts to Evangelical Protestant denominations.
China: Religious affiliationEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Settlement patterns
Rural areas
An overwhelming majority of rural settlements in China consist of sizable compact (nucleated) villages, except in mountainous and hilly terrain where such compaction is not possible. The formation of such rural settlements is related not only to the increasing population and to a long historical background but also to water supply (the practice of drilling deep wells, for instance) and to defense (especially, in former days, against attack by bandits). Many of the large villages have no urban atmosphere at all, even with populations of several thousand. Frequent markets may be held between such settlements to enable the peasants to barter their agricultural produce.
On the North China Plain, villages are fairly evenly distributed and are connected with one another by footpaths and cart tracks. Houses are built close together and are mostly made of sun-dried brick or pounded earth. Many of the market towns or even large villages are surrounded by walls. The number and length of the streets depend on the town’s size and the nature of the terrain; some streets are merely narrow lanes.
Rural landscapes of central and southern China are dominated by rice fields. The Yangtze River delta has almost every type of human settlement, from the single farmstead to the fairly large market town. Villages to the south and east of Lake Tai in Jiangsu province are generally located 1 to 2 miles (1.6 to 3 km) apart, and since the 1980s many of these have been developed into small towns. Villages in central China, particularly on the lower Yangtze, are larger than those of North China; many have a few shops that serve not only the villagers but also the dispersed residents nearby. In the centre of dozens of such villages is a market town, which collects rural produce and distributes manufactured goods. Communication among the villages is mainly by boat, along the dense net of waterways. The most elegant structures in the landscape are the numerous stone bridges that span streams and canals. In the Chengdu Plain of the Sichuan Basin, a large part of the population lives in isolated farmsteads or scattered hamlets, surrounded by thickets of bamboo and broad-leaved trees.
Cave dwellings are another distinctive feature of the Chinese rural landscape. They are common on the Loess Plateau and particularly in northern Shaanxi, western Shanxi, and southeastern Gansu, where the loess cover is thick and timber is scarce. A cave dwelling has the advantage of being naturally insulated, making it cooler in summer and warmer in winter.
The economic reforms initiated in China from the late 1970s had a profound impact on rural settlement. Improvements in agricultural productivity created a vast pool of surplus labour. Many of these rural workers went to the cities in search of factory jobs, but a large number stayed behind, where they engaged in a growing system of rural industrial production termed “township enterprise.” Usually engaged in light manufacturing for both domestic and export markets, these enterprises helped transform thousands of villages into partially urbanized towns and raised the standard of living for millions of peasants. The new towns thus served as a link between the city and the countryside and became a significant factor in the rapidly growing rural economy.
Urban areas
Urbanization and industrialization often have been closely related in China. The first major post-1949 urbanization push began in the mid-1950s, as the government intensified its efforts to convert the country into an industrial power. Urban growth accelerated even more rapidly from the mid-1980s, with China’s serious entry onto the global economic stage.
Street in Hailar, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China.Richard Harrington/Comstock
Thus, the rapid development of modern manufacturing industries and of communications in China produced a dramatic change in the urban landscape. Many new towns and cities have been built around manufacturing and mining centres. In the remoter areas of China, the first appearance of railways and highways contributed to the rapid growth of some entirely new towns, such as Shihezi in northern Xinjiang and Shiquanhe in western Tibet. Among larger cities, Ürümqi (Urumchi; capital of Xinjiang), Lanzhou (capital of Gansu), and Baotou (in Inner Mongolia) are examples where expansion has been extremely rapid. Lanzhou lies midway between southeastern and northwestern China. Baotou, formerly a bleak frontier town of traders, artisans, and immigrant farmers, has become one of the country’s largest steel centres.