Quanzhen: How China Weaponizes Taoism for Global Propaganda. 3. Ready to Mobilize?

9 months ago

For years the CCP It stands for Chinese Communist Party, which from 1949 controls all social and political life in China. Members of CCP should in principle be self-proclaimed atheists. The ultimate goal of CCP is suppression of religion. However, how this goal is achieved has varied during time, and after Chairman Mao’s death the CCP has acknowledged that, notwithstanding its efforts, religions may survive in China for a long time.

" href="https://bitterwinter.org/Vocabulary/ccp/" target="_blank" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; transition: 0.1s ease-in-out; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 51, 51); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">CCP has openly taken advantage of a small number of Taiwanese citizens’ enthusiasm for Quanzhen Taoism

(道教). One of the traditional Three Teachings, dating back to at least the 4<sup>th</sup> century BCE. Its mythical founder is Laozi (老子), also spelled Lao-Tzu. The official romanization system adopted in China transliterates 道教 as "Daoism” rather than "Taoism.” However, the traditional Western spelling "Taoism” is kept by some scholars as more faithful to the Chinese pronunciation.

" href="https://bitterwinter.org/Vocabulary/taoism/" target="_blank" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; transition: 0.1s ease-in-out; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 51, 51); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">Taoism, corralling religious pilgrims from across the strait into meetings and ceremonies serving up heavy doses of ideology meant to convert these “Taiwanese compatriots” to its cause. According to several people who spoke to “Religioscope” for this paper, the CCP

It stands for Chinese Communist Party, which from 1949 controls all social and political life in China. Members of CCP should in principle be self-proclaimed atheists. The ultimate goal of CCP is suppression of religion. However, how this goal is achieved has varied during time, and after Chairman Mao’s death the CCP has acknowledged that, notwithstanding its efforts, religions may survive in China for a long time.

" href="https://bitterwinter.org/Vocabulary/ccp/" target="_blank" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; transition: 0.1s ease-in-out; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 51, 51); font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; color: rgb(221, 51, 51) !important;">CCP has also used these interactions as an opportunity to lure Taiwanese visitors closer into its orbit by offering a variety of enticements.

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