Confucian church

Project for the Confucian Church Headquarters (孔教总会堂) in Beijing, next to the Confucian University. The Confucian University was opened in 1923, but the main church was never completed.[1]

The Confucian church (Chinese: 孔教会; pinyin: Kǒng jiàohuì or Rú jiàohuì) is a Confucian religious and social institution of the congregational type. It was first proposed by Kang Youwei (1858–1927) near the end of the 19th century, as a state religion of Qing China following a European model.[2]

The "Confucian church" model was later replicated by overseas Chinese communities,[3] who established independent Confucian churches active at the local level, especially in Indonesia and the United States.

There has been a revival of Confucianism in contemporary China since around 2000, which has triggered the proliferation of Confucian academies (书院; shūyuàn); the opening and reopening of temples of Confucius; the new phenomenon of grassroots Confucian communities or congregations (社区儒学; shèqū rúxué); and renewed talks about a national "Confucian church".[4] With the participation of many Confucian leaders, a national Church of Confucius (孔圣会; Kǒngshènghuì) was established on November 1, 2015; its current spiritual leader is Jiang Qing.

  1. ^ Tay Wei Leong. SAVING THE CHINESE NATION AND THE WORLD: RELIGION AND CONFUCIAN REFORMATION, 1880s-1937[permanent dead link]. National University of Singapore, 2012. pp. 96-98
  2. ^ Ya-pei Kuo, 2010.
  3. ^ Yong Chen, 2012. p. 174
  4. ^ Billioud, 2010. p. 201

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