How does the Chinese Communist Party govern the country?

Chapter 20

"Among the vast mountains and deserts of Asia, there is a unique religious kingdom in the world, which is the world of lamas." German philosopher Herder described Tibet in this way.

Tibet has a strong religious atmosphere, and almost all the people believe in religion.According to statistics, in the 20s, there were 50 monasteries, large and small, and 2676 monks and nuns in Tibet, accounting for 114925% of the total population. In 10, the appeal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central People's Government for the peaceful liberation of Tibet spread to Tibet. The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan upper class had the greatest doubt: the Communists are atheists and do not believe in any religion. Will the religion in Tibet be wiped out?

In response to this misgiving, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central People's Government solemnly declared: implement a policy of freedom of religious belief in Tibet, respect the religious beliefs and customs of the Tibetan people, and protect lama temples.

After this policy, there are specific and detailed regulations: All religious facilities must not be tampered with out of curiosity; anti-superstition or dissatisfaction with religion must not be propagated among the masses; no temples or scripture halls are allowed without consent It is strictly forbidden to live in or visit Lama temples during wartime; if you want to visit in normal times, you must contact them first, and you are not allowed to touch the Buddha statues, spit or fart; you are not allowed to fish, hunt, hunt eagles, or kill livestock near the temples. They are not allowed to cut firewood and wander around the "Sacred Mountain", let alone shoot at will.Even small matters such as touching Buddha statues, spitting and farting when visiting are clearly stipulated, which shows the cautious attitude and good intentions.

In 1952, Phuntsok Wanggyal, who was the deputy head of the United Front Work Department of the Tibet Working Committee at the time, went to pay an official visit to the Dalai Lama.Phuntsok Wanggyal is a Tibetan and a cadre of the Communist Party. What kind of etiquette will he pay respects to the "God King" of the Tibetan people?The Dalai Lama is paying attention, and the Kaxag monks and officials are also paying attention.They were less concerned with the etiquette of Phuntsok Wangye's meeting with the Dalai Lama than with the Communist Party's attitude towards Tibetan religion.During the receiving ceremony, Phuntsok Wanggye first offered a khata and "Mozadensang" to the Dalai Lama as usual, and then, under the eyes of everyone, according to the prior decision of the Tibet Working Committee, he gave the Dalai Lama the same as ordinary Tibetans. Kowtow ceremony.This move surprised and moved the Dalai Lama and the monks and lay officials present. They saw the sincerity of the Communist Party in respecting the religious beliefs and customs of the Tibetan people and its sincerity in implementing the policy of freedom of religious belief.

After several years of observation and comprehension, in September 1954, the Dalai Lama said sincerely at the first National People's Congress: "Among all kinds of instigation and dissension by the enemy, the main one is to spread rumors about the Communist Party and the People's Government. Destruction of religion. The Tibetan people have strong religious beliefs. These rumors once made them uneasy, but now the rumors of "the Communist Party and the people's government destroy religion" have all gone bankrupt. There is freedom of belief." A Tibetan lama who later came to the United States recalled that until 9, he traveled extensively in Kham, and his religious activities or research were not once disturbed at that time.Alan Wennington, a British journalist, confirmed the authenticity and universality of the Dalai Lama's speech and the Tibetan Lama's recollection with his own experience. He said that when he visited Lhasa in 1959, he "never met a Any suspicious Tibetan".

Tibet is a microcosm of the Chinese Communist Party's policy of freedom of religious belief.Freedom of religious belief is a consistent stand of the Communist Party of China.

As early as the period of the new democratic revolution, the Communist Party of China clearly put forward the policy of respecting and protecting the freedom of religious belief, and implemented it earnestly and strictly.The Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region under the leadership of the Communist Party of China has relatively concentrated Muslims, and the border region government pays great attention to respecting and protecting Islam.Back then, the border region government not only promulgated a large number of documents respecting and protecting Islam, but also helped build five mosques in areas where Muslims gathered in the territory in addition to fierce wars.Mao Zedong personally wrote the inscription for the newly built Yan'an Mosque.According to the "Report and Proposal from the Ethnic Affairs Committee of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government to the Second Border Region Council": In 5, a total of 1941 mosques were built in the border region, and "wherever there are Muslims in the border region, there are mosques."

The border region government also actively recruited religious circles to participate in the construction of democracy in the border region. Statistics show that in the third session of the border region council held in 1946, there were 22 representatives from Christianity, Catholicism, and Buddhism; among representatives from 19 counties and cities including Yan’an City, There are 231 MPs from Christianity, Catholicism and Buddhism.Edgar Snow, an American journalist who visited the Border Region twice, used the word "careful" to describe the degree of respect for religion by the Chinese Communist Party. It also made an impression among the most suspicious peasants and imams".

After the founding of New China, materialist Marxism became the mainstream ideology of New China, but the Communist Party did not use administrative orders to eliminate religion, but pushed the policy of freedom of religious belief implemented during the revolutionary period to the whole country.Mao Zedong clearly pointed out: "The Communist Party adopts a protection policy for religions. Believers and non-believers, those who believe in this religion or believe in other religions, shall be protected and respected. The protection policy adopted for religion today will still be adopted in the future. Protection policy." "We cannot use administrative orders to eliminate religion, we cannot force people not to believe in religion, we cannot force people to give up idealism, and we cannot force people to believe in Marxism.

From the early days of the founding of New China to the early 50s, "China's policy of freedom of religious belief was actually implemented." After the late 20s, especially during the ten-year "Cultural Revolution", due to the increasingly "Left" guiding ideology of the Communist Party of China, the policy of freedom of religious belief was inevitably impacted.

After 1978, the Chinese Communist Party resumed the policy of freedom of religious belief. In 1982, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a landmark document in the history of the religious policy development of the Communist Party of China, namely, "Basic Viewpoints and Basic Policies on Religious Issues in the Socialist Period of my country."The document recognizes that religion is a legal existence in a socialist society and will continue to exist for a long time. It points out that "the party's religious policy is by no means a temporary expedient measure," and emphasizes the need to sincerely implement the policy of freedom of religious belief.

In 2001, the Chinese Communist Party convened its first high-level conference devoted to religious work.This meeting refined and sublimated the achievements of the Chinese Communists in exploring religious issues for more than ten years, or even decades, and pointed out that the socialist religious issue has three characteristics: long-term, mass, and special complexity, the most fundamental of which is long-term sex.The meeting pointed out: "It now appears that the establishment of the socialist system is conducive to eliminating the class roots of religious existence, but the disappearance of other social, natural, and cognitive roots of religious existence will require an extremely long historical period. ? ?The final demise of religion may be longer than the demise of classes and countries.” This is the scientific understanding that the Chinese Communists have obtained from observing religion based on the principles of dialectical materialism and historical materialism.

Based on this scientific understanding, the [-]th National Congress of the Communist Party of China formally put forward the basic policy of the party's religious work, which is to fully implement the party's policy on freedom of religious belief, manage religious affairs in accordance with the law, adhere to the principle of independence and self-government, and actively guide the development of religion and society. Compatible with socialist society.The Seventeenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China reaffirmed this policy and included it in the newly revised general outline of the party constitution.

The core of the basic policy of the Communist Party of China's religious work is freedom of religious belief, making religious belief truly an individual choice of citizens.Article 30 of Constitution No.[-] stipulates: "Citizens of the People's Republic of China have freedom of religious belief. No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in a religion or not to believe in a religion, and shall not discriminate against citizens who believe in a religion or citizens who do not believe in a religion."

The Chinese Communists are atheists, and atheism and freedom of religious belief should not be incompatible. Regarding this complex issue, which is difficult to explain in theory and difficult to deal with in practice, Li Ruihuan, former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, expressed it in a simple and vivid way. Using an analogy, he made a convincing explanation: "Citizens have the freedom to believe in religion, and they also have the freedom not to believe in religion.

If you don't believe it, I believe it, or if I don't believe it, you believe it, this is a personal matter.It cannot be said that because you believe in God and I do not believe in God, or because I believe in God and you do not believe in God, there will be antagonisms.My mother believes in Buddhism, so she has to burn incense and be a vegetarian.I am an atheist, and I respect and love my mother very much. There is no conflict between us because of our different beliefs. "

The well-known American scholar John Naisbitt found after examining the living conditions of Tibetan monks in China today: "The central government pays the monks on a monthly basis. Not only can they get food and clothing, they are also equipped with mobile phones, and perhaps Internet services that can facilitate their access to information and coordinate activities.” This is not an isolated phenomenon. In China, not only the normal religious activities of religious believers are protected by law, but the Chinese government also helps religious groups establish religious schools and train ethnic minorities. Religious personnel, and subsidize the maintenance of some religious activity sites in ethnic minority areas, and provide subsidies to ethnic minority religious personnel who are living in difficulties.In addition, in order to improve the working conditions of national religious groups and religious schools, since 2003, the central government has also restricted the offices and offices of seven national religious groups of Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Christianity. Support and provide preferential policies for the construction of 7 religious colleges and universities. In 6 construction projects, the state funding exceeded 11 million yuan.

The mass printing and distribution of "Bibles" in mainland China is another proof of China's policy of freedom of religious belief.Since 1980, the Christian Church in China has printed more than 1 million copies of the Bible in 22 editions, making it the church that prints the most Bibles in the world.

Among them, more than 900 million copies have been printed for overseas churches, making the "Bible" also becoming "Made in China".The Chinese government exempts the printing and sales of the "Bible", and the price of the "Bible" is only one-fifth of that of ordinary books of the same kind. More than 70 Bible distribution centers have been established across the country to provide churches and believers across the country. Easy and quick access to Bibles. In 2010, American "Christianity Today" magazine targeted "Smuggling Bibles into China? "The topic invites directors of American missions and organizations to express their views.Jonathan Brooks, chairman of the Missionary Association of China and the Voice of Asia, a 100-year-old ministry that has missioned and distributed Bibles in China, is quite representative. He pointed out: "Chinese officials are trying to ensure that there are enough The "Bible" is provided to all Christians who want to get the Bible", and there is no need to smuggle the "Bible" into China.This essentially expresses the affirmation of overseas Christians for the freedom of religious belief in China.

Under the guidance of the policy of freedom of religious belief, China's religious development has entered a stable and healthy "golden period".According to statistics, China now has more than 1 million religious believers, about 36 religious personnel, about 13 religious venues, more than 5500 religious organizations, and more than 110 religious schools.In Xinjiang, there are 2.43 mosques, with more than 2.8 Islamic clerics; in Tibet, there are more than 1700 places for religious activities, and about 4.6 monks and nuns. Activities and temple studies and degree promotion activities are carried out normally. Every year, more than one million religious believers come to Lhasa to pay homage to the Buddha. Prayer flags, manidu piles, and religious believers engaged in religious activities can be seen everywhere. In 2010, the British journalist Brandon visited Tibet. On July 7 of the same year, he published an article in the American "Christian Science Monitor" saying: "When you first come to Tibet, you will know what the Tibetans here enjoy. Impressed by freedom of religion. I have heard activists from the British Free Tibet Movement say that Chinese authorities are trying to 'eliminate Tibetan identity and culture'. However, when I find out that Tibetans are actually able to practice their religion largely unhindered on a daily basis , I was very surprised and relieved.”

In today's China, religious activities are regulated and orderly, and religious believers are united and harmonious with non-religious people and people of different religions.When the world is confused by "religious fever" and "clash of civilizations", China is "the only place with beautiful scenery".This is another "miracle" that is happening every day while China is creating an economic miracle.

(End of this chapter)