Chinese salvationist religions

Chinese salvationist religions or Chinese folk religious sects are a Chinese religious tradition characterised by a concern for salvation (moral fulfillment) of the person and the society. They are distinguished by egalitarianism, a founding charismatic person often informed by a divine revelation, a specific theology written in holy texts, a millenarian eschatology and a voluntary path of salvation, an embodied experience of the numinous through healing and self-cultivation, and an expansive orientation through evangelism and philanthropy.

Some scholars consider these religions a single phenomenon, and others consider them the fourth great Chinese religious category alongside the well-established Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Generally these religions focus on the worship of the universal God (Shangdi), represented as either male, female, or genderless, and regard their holy patriarchs as embodiments of God.

Terminology and definition
"Chinese salvationist religions" (救度宗教 jiùdù zōngjiào) is a contemporary neologism coined as a sociological category and gives prominence to folk religious sects' central pursuit that is the salvation of the individual and the society, in other words the moral fulfillment of individuals in reconstructed communities of sense. Chinese scholars traditionally describe them as "folk religious sects" (民间宗教 mínjiān zōngjiào, 民间教门 mínjiān jiàomén or 民间教派 mínjiān jiàopài) or "folk beliefs" (民间信仰 mínjiān xìnyǎng).

They are distinct from the Chinese folk religion consisting in the worship of gods and ancestors, although in English language there is a terminological confusion between the two. The 20th-century expression for these salvationist religious movements has been "redemptive societies" (救世团体 jiùshì tuántǐ), coined by scholar Prasenjit Duara.

A collective name that has been in use possibly since the latter part of the Qing dynasty is huìdàomén (会道门 "churches, ways and gates"), as their names interchangeably use the terms huì (会 "church, society, association, congregation"; when referring to their corporate form), dào (道 "way") or mén (门 "gate[way], door").

Their congregations and points of worship are usually called táng (堂 "church, hall") or tán (坛 "altar"). Western scholars often mistakenly identify them as "Protestant" churches.

The Vietnamese religions of Minh Đạo and Caodaism emerged from the same tradition of Chinese folk religious movements.

Secret religions
A category overlapping with that of the salvationist movements is that of the "secret societies" (秘密社会 mìmì shèhuì, or 秘密结社 mìmì jiéshè), religious communities of initiatory and secretive character, including rural militias and fraternal organisations which became very popular in the early republican period, and often labeled as "heretical doctrines" (宗教异端 zōngjiào yìduān).

Recent scholarship has begun to use the label "secret sects" (秘密教门 mìmì jiàomén) to distinguish the peasant "secret societies" with a positive dimension of the Yuan, Ming and Qing periods, from the negatively viewed "secret societies" of the early republic that became instruments of anti-revolutionary forces (the Guomindang or Japan).

Origin and history
Many of these religions are traced to the White Lotus tradition ("Chinese Maternism", as mentioned by Philip Clart ) that was already active in the Song dynasty; others claim a Taoist legacy and are based on the recovery of ancient scriptures attributed to important immortals such as Lü Dongbin and Zhang Sanfeng, and have contributed to the popularisation of neidan; other ones are distinctively Confucian and advocate the realisation of a "great commonwealth" (datong 大同) on a world scale, as dreamt of in the Book of Rites. Some scholars even find influences from Manichaeism, Mohism and shamanic traditions.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties many folk religious movements were outlawed by the imperial authorities as "evil religions" (邪教 xiéjiào). With the collapse of the Qing state in 1911 the sects enjoyed an unprecedented period of freedom and thrived, and many of them were officially recognised as religious groups by the early republican government.

The founding of the People's Republic in 1949 saw them suppressed once again, although since the 1990s and 2000s the climate was relaxed and some of them have received some form of official recognition. In Taiwan all the still existing restrictions were rescinded in the 1980s.

Folk religious movements began to rapidly revive in mainland China in the 1980s, and now if conceptualised as a single group they are said to have the same number of followers of the five state-sanctioned religions of China taken together. Scholars and government officials have been discussing to systematise and unify this large base of religious organisations; in 2004 the State Administration of Religious Affairs created a department for the management of folk religions. In the late 2015 a step was made at least for those of them with a Confucian identity, with the foundation of the Holy Confucian Church of China which aims to unite in a single body all Confucian religious groups.

Many of the movements of salvation of the 20th and 21st century aspire to become the repository of the entirety of the Chinese tradition in the face of Western modernism and materialism, advocating an "Eastern solution to the problems of the modern world", or even interacting with the modern discourse of an Asian-centered universal civilisation.

Geography and diffusion
The Chinese folk religious movements of salvation are mostly concentrated in northern and northeastern China, although with a significant influence reaching the Yangtze River Delta since the 16th century. The northern provinces have been a fertile ground for the movements of salvation for a number of reasons: firstly, popular religious movements were active in the region already in the Han dynasty, and they deeply penetrated local society; secondly, northern provinces are characterised by social mobility around the capital and weak traditional social structure, thus folk religious movements of salvation fulfill the demand of individual searching for new forms of community and social network.

According to the Chinese General Social Survey of 2012, approximately 2.2% of the population of China, which is around 30 million people, claim to be members of folk religious sects. The actual number of followers may be higher, about the same as the number of members of the five state-sanctioned religions of China if counted together. In Taiwan, recognised folk religious movements of salvation gather approximately 10% of the population as of the mid-2000s.

Earliest influences (Yuan, 1277–1377)

 * White Lotus (白蓮教 Báiliánjiào)
 * Maitreya teachings (弥勒教 Mílèjiào)

Ming (1367–1644) and Qing (1644–1911)

 * Baguadao (八卦道 "Way of the Eight Trigrams") networks
 * Denghua (燈花教 "Flower of Light") sect
 * Hongyang (弘阳 "Great Sun") or Hunyuan (混元 "Original Undetermined") sect
 * Huangtiandao (黃天道 "Way of the Yellow Sky") or Xuangu (悬鼓 "Dark Drum") sect
 * Luo teaching (罗教 Luójiào, "Luo (Menghong)'s tradition" ): Patriarch Luo was reportedly polemical towards the Bailian, Maitreyan, and Huangtian sects
 * Dacheng (大乘教 "Great Vehicle") or Yuandun (圆顿教 "Sudden Stillness") sect, the eastern branch of Luoism
 * Sects requiring fasting (斋教 zhāijiāo), including Xiantiandao dubbed the Qinglian (青莲教 "Black [Blue, or Green] Lotus") sect during the Qing
 * Mohou Yizhu (末後一著教 "Final Salvation") sect founded by Wang Jueyi in the 1870s, renamed Yiguandao in 1905
 * Dacheng teaching of Mount Jizu (鸡足山大乘教 Jīzúshān dàchéngjiào), a western branch of Luoism founded by Zhang Baotai in Yunnan
 * Church of the Highest Supreme (太上会 Tàishànghuì; also known as 太上门 Tàishàngmén, the "Gate of the Highest Supreme")
 * This sect has many schools, one of them is Xiao Yao Pai (逍遥派 Xiāoyáo Pài)
 * Church of the Heaven and the Earth (天地会 Tiāndìhuì) or Tiandimen (天地門 "Gate of the Heaven and the Earth")
 * Sanyi teaching (三一教 "Three-One"), founded by Lin Zhao'en on the base of Confucian principles
 * Taiping rebellion

Mainland Republican Era (1912–49)

 * Zaili teaching (在理教 Zàilǐjiào, "Abiding Principle")—registered in 1913
 * Daode Xueshe (道德学社 "Community for the Study of the Way and its Virtue")—1916
 * Xiantiandao (先天道 "Way of the Former Heaven") networks
 * Shengdao (圣道 "Holy Way"), best known by its incorporate name of Tongshanshe (同善社 "Community of the Goodness")—1917
 * Guiyidao (皈依道, "Way of the Return to the One"), best known by its corporate name of School of the Way of the Return to the One or simply School of the Way (道院 Dàoyuàn)—1921-27
 * Yiguandao (一貫道 "Consistent Way")—registered in 1947
 * Haizidao (亥子道 "Way of the Children")—branched out in the 1980s
 * Miledadao (弥勒大道 "Great Way of Maitreya")—branched out in the 1980s
 * Dragon Flower Church of the Heart-bound Heavenly Way (一心天道龙华会 Yīxīn Tiāndào Lónghuá Huì)—1932
 * Yuanmingdao (圆明道 "Way of the Bright Circle")
 * Yaochidao (瑤池道 "Way of the Jasper Lake")
 * Guigendao (归根道 "Way of the Return to the Root")
 * Jiushi (救世教 "Life Healing") sect, also known by its corporate name Wushanshe (悟善社 "Community of the Awakening to the Goodness")—1919
 * Universal Church of the Way and its Virtue (万国道德会 Wànguó Dàodéhuì)—1921
 * Jiugongdao (九宫道, "Way of the Nine Palaces")—1926
 * Holy Church of the Heavenly Virtue (天德圣教 Tiāndé shèngjiào)—early form of Tiandiism, recognised in 1930
 * Church of Virtue (德教会 Déjiàohuì)—started in 1945
 * Zhenkongdao (真空道 "Way of the True Emptiness")—1948
 * Confucian Church (孔教会 Kǒngjiàohuì)—founded by Kang Youwei
 * Xixinshe (洗心社 "Community of the Pure Heart")—another organisation of Kang Youwei's idea of a Confucian church
 * Yellow Sand Society—rural secret society and millenarian sect

Late 20th century

 * Xuanyuandao (轩辕道 "Way of the Mysterious Origin")—founded in 1952
 * Confucian Way of the Gods (儒宗神教 Rúzōng Shénjiào)—started in 1853, formally established in 1979
 * Lord of Universe Church (天帝教 Tiāndìjiào)—branch of Tiandiism established in 1979
 * Qigong (气功 "Cultivation of the Spirit")
 * Falungong (法轮功 "Cultivation of the Wheel of Law")
 * Zishen Nation (子申国) — led by the self-proclaimed emperor Li Guangchang, the sect ruled a small area in Zhejiang from 1981 to 1986

21st century

 * Confucian religious groups in China mainland (Confucian churches)
 * Weixinism (唯心教 Wéixīnjiào, "Only Heart") or "Holy Church of the Heart-Only" (唯心聖教 Wéixīn Shèngjiào)

Other sects

 * Changshandao
 * Church of Maitreya the King of the Universe (宇宙弥勒皇教 Yǔzhòu mílè huáng jiào)
 * Dadao Hui (大刀会 "Church of the Big Sword")
 * Datong Hui (大同会 "Church of the Great Harmony")
 * Dayiism (大易教 Dàyì jiào, "Great Simplicity")
 * Dongyue Hui
 * Gengshen Hui
 * Guixiangdao (跪香道 "Way of the Kneeling to Incense")
 * Holy Church of the Middle Flower (中华圣教 Zhōnghuá shèngjiào)
 * Hongsanism (红三教 Hóngsān jiào, "Red Three")
 * Huangjidao (皇极道 "Way of the Imperial Pole")
 * Huangxiandao (黄仙道 "Way of the Yellow Immortal")
 * Huazhaidao (华斋道 "Way of Flowers and Fasting")
 * Jiugendao (旧根道 "Way of the Old Source")
 * Laojundao (老君道 "Way of the Venerable Master")
 * Laorendao (老人道 "Way of the Venerable Men")
 * Mount Li Maternism (骊山老母教 Líshān Lǎomǔ jiào)
 * Puhuamen (普化门 "Gate of the Universal Change")
 * Pujidao (普济道 "Way of the Universal Help")
 * Puduism (普度教 Pǔdù jiào, "Universal Judgement"), Pududao (普度道 "Way of the Universal Judgment")
 * Qixingism
 * Qiugongdao
 * Renxuehaodao (人学好道 "Way of Men Learning the Goodness")
 * Sanfengdao (三峰道 "Way of the Three Peaks")
 * Shengxiandao (圣仙道 "Way of the Sages and the Immortals")
 * Shenmendao (神门道 "Way of the Godly Gate")
 * Sifangdao (四方道 "Way of the Four Manifestations")
 * Suibiandao
 * Tianguangdao (天光道 "Way of the Heavenly Light")
 * Tianhuadao (天花道 "Way of the Heavenly Flower")
 * Tianmingdao (天明道 "Way of the Heavenly Bright")
 * Tianxianmiaodao (天仙庙道 "Way of the Temple of the Heavenly Immortals")
 * Wanquandao (万全道 "Way of the Endless Whole" or "Surefire Way")
 * Wugong Hui
 * Xiaodao Hui (小刀会 "Church of the Small Sword")
 * Xuanmen Zhenzong (玄门真宗, "True School of the Mysterious Gate")
 * Yinjiezhi Hui
 * Yuanshuai Hui
 * Yuxumen (玉虚门 "Gate of the Jade Vacuity")
 * Zhongfangdao (中方道 "Way of the Middle Abode")
 * Zhongjiao Daoyi Hui
 * Zhongyongdao (中庸道 "Way of the Golden Mean")
 * Zhongxiao Tianfu (忠孝天府 "Heavenly House of Filial Loyalty")
 * Zhutian Hui
 * Zishenguo ("Zishen nation")