At the opening ceremony for the 2024 freshmen of China Taoist College, China Taoist Association bureaucrats clarified what “Sinicization of Taoism” means.
by Meng Yaoting
Taoism is a quintessential Chinese religion and perhaps the most typical expression of Chinese culture. Yet, Taoists are continuously told that Taoism should be “Sinicized.” This is further evidence that “Sinicization” does not mean adapting religion to Chinese culture and tradition. Taoism “is” Chinese tradition and culture. “Sinicization” in the People’s Republic of China means adapting religion to the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party, and making clergy spokespersons for the government and its ideology.
“Sinicization” starts with clergy education, and this is true for Taoists too. China Taoist College, located at the White Cloud Temple in Beijing, is the country’s highest Taoist educational institution.
On September 6, China Taoist College held the opening ceremony for the 2024 freshmen. It was chaired by Li Guangfu, President of China Taoist Association who is also the President of China Taoist College. At the beginning of the ceremony, all participants stood up and sang the national anthem.
In his speech, President Li Guangfu stated that “China Taoist College has embraced the principles of patriotism and religion, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” The college, Li said, “has implemented the spirit of the 2021 National Religious Work Conference and the CCP Central Committee’s decisions on religious work, prioritizing political and ideological guidance, incorporating socialist core values in talent cultivation, and emphasizing ideological and political education in the first place.”
Professor Jiang Shoucheng, as a representative of the external teachers, urged students to “expand their perspectives, strengthen their social responsibility and sense of history, and turn their knowledge into motivation and action.”
Jiang encouraged the students “to promote the integration of Taoism with socialist society and contribute to the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
Xi Jinping’s signature slogans were everywhere. What was clearly affirmed was that for the country’s premier Taoist seminary “ideological and political education,” not religion, comes “in the first place.” This is the real meaning of “Sinicization of Taoism.”
Uses a pseudonym for security reasons.
