Chinese culture

Duanwu festival dragon boat festival

religion Nowadays Shenism-Taoism and Buddhism are the largest religions in China with respectively over 30% Its government is officially atheist, having viewed religion as emblematic of feudalism and foreign colonialism, and maintained separation of state and the church. This changed during the Cultural Revolution, in 1966 and 1967. The Cultural Revolution led to a policy of elimination of religions; a massive number of places of worship were destroyed.[43] This policy relaxed considerably in the late 1970s at the end of the Cultural Revolution and more tolerance of religious expression has been permitted since the 1980s. The 1978 Constitution of the People's Republic of China guarantees "freedom of religion" in Article 46. The policy regarding religious practice in China states that Since the mid-1980s there has been a massive program to rebuild Buddhist and Taoist temples. In recent times, the government has expressed support for Buddhism and Taoism, organizing the World Buddhist Forum in 2006 and the International Forum on the Daodejing in 2007. The government sees these religions as an integral part of Chinese culture.[45] There are five recognized religions by the state, namely Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism.[46] To some degree, the government also controls the institutions in the religions it recognizes.[47] In October 2007, the new statute of China cites religion as an important element of citizens' life.[48] However, the Chinese government has also banned certain new religious movements.

Chinese dragon They had human faces and a snake’s tale known to occupy the bodies of water under the Earth. They were categorized into four groups: heavenly, divine, earthly, and hidden. These groups were determined by their function. Some guarded heaven, others made it rain, while even others drained the rivers or guarded treasures. Nagas contained features from the dragon, snake, and crocodile. The Chinese dragon is made up of many different types of animals on Earth. The dragon is said to have the head of a camel, 117 fish scales of the carp, deer horns, rabbit eyes, ears of a bull, the neck of a snake, stomach of a clam, paws of a tiger, and claws like an eagle. Like the Naga, there are four types of Chinese Dragons. These include the Celestial, Spiritual, Earth, and Underworld dragons. The Celestrial Dragon is said to protect the Gods and palaces in which the God’s live. The Spiritual Dragon controls the rain and wind. The Earth Dragon is in charge of all the water and rivers on the Earth and the Underworld Dragon guards all the precious gemstones and metals. The Chinese Dragon is considered to be the most popular spiritual animals today. It is essential to Chinese culture. The Dragon often symbolizes strength and power and is a symbol the emperors of China used in their clothing and furniture. The Chinese Dragon has been a symbolic symbol of China for thousands of years with records showing these creatures in books, scriptures and carved in stone as well as wood. These Chinese dragons are a design from legend however in China there are great lizards that have been around for millions of years and is possibly where the images originate from. In Chinese mythology the dragon is a part of a familiar scene and is said to promote good luck as well as warding off evil spirits.