A Note About the Faith of China

There are all kinds of opinions about the faith of China. Some people claim it has been more or less an atheistic culture for thousands of years, while others insist that a unique blend of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucius thought is as Chinese as chopsticks. I don’t want to contribute to the on-going dialogue on the subject, just note a few observations.

The Chinese people I’ve met are so open-minded. Someone pointed out that if they weren’t open-minded, I wouldn’t have met them. Of course this hypothesis is scientifically unverifiable, so we’ll shelve it for the moment. I just see these bookstores on the road (and literally on the road) filled with people reading Mao’s biography and Bible stories, the Quran and Who Moved My Cheese. It’s not just the material but the looks on their faces. I watch these Chinese people staring at the newspapers posted on the bulletin board. If you have your own, your neighbor on the subway might just lean over your shoulder and have a peak.

I’ve found out that Chinese people are great listeners. Whether they believe what you’re saying or not, they’re not afraid to ask straightforward questions and listen without arguing back. Chinese seem content to let you say all you want, taking their time to reach a conclusion. I guess you could say that one feature of “open-mindedness with Chinese characteristics” is that they don’t jump into things. Contrary to American’s idea of a “leap of faith,” many Chinese have expressed to me their intention of knowing more before they decide what to finally believe.

There was this thing called the Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution when no temples, churches or mosques legally operated in the country. The contemporary comeback of every creed in China has amazed social scientists and people trying to find a seat on Sunday morning. Perhaps years of isolation sparked Chinese people’s curiosity about countries, cultures and religions they knew little about. Or perhaps the mind-numbing pace of modernization has made the people’s spiritual needs acutely evident. Whatever the case, I am always amazed at the number of Chinese people who are not altogether strangers to faith. It is not uncommon to hear “I read Bible stories when I was a child,” or “my grandmother was a Christian.” I am told of tiny villages that met missionaries generations ago and are predominantly Christian to this day.

I’m not trying to assert that China is a Christian country. Rather, I’m saying how impressed I am by many Chinese people’s high regard for faith, even faith in Jesus and Christian believers. I also admire Chinese people’s open-mindedness and proactive approach to finding out about new things. It’s not a bad way to run into the truth.