sect, related to
Baguadao, in
Xingtai,
Hebei.
Imperial China 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" () on a world scale, as dreamt of in the
Book of Rites. Some scholars even find influences from
Manichaeism,
Mohism and
shamanic traditions.
Ming dynasty (and later, Qing dynasty) authorities collectively characterized the new religious societies as "White Lotus teachings", although actual beliefs and practices of the groups varied substantially. Practices so characterized in these periods included Pure Land Buddhism, Luo teaching, Yellow Heaven teaching, Great Yang teaching, the inner alchemy of the Eight Trigrams tradition, and the Three-in-One teachings. In the 16th to 17th century many folk religious movements were outlawed by the imperial authorities as "evil religions" or "heterodox sects" (). Imperial authorities regarded their teachings as inherently heretical because in teaching that existing human affairs were corrupt, those teachings amounted to denial of
Confucian values of political order and social harmony. Small, local new religious movements tended to be tolerated by the state during the Ming and Qing periods, in part because of the state's limited capacity to exercise effective control at the local levels. The Qing elite condemned salvationist groups as improper cults or heretical sects, but attempts to suppress the groups were only sporadic. Opposition from the state contributed to new religious movements engaging in rebellions (such as the White Lotus and the
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom) as did the sects' millenarian beliefs. Most of new religious movements did not actively seek to confront the state.
Republic of China 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. In the
Beiyang period, political disunity and fragmentation resulted in the decline of old institutions. New religious movements found opportunities to register with the government as religious, philanthropic, or public interest associations. During this time, some new religious movements like
Tongshanshe became modern organizations with national headquarters, local chapters, and the like. By the Republic of China period, religious societies developed certain common aspects, though they continued to have major variation in ritual and belief. Common aspects included an emphasis on salvation, which distinguished the societies from traditional family temple based religious practice. Many societies expressed belief in a female deity, the Unborn Venerable Mother. The Unborn Venerable Mother was asserted to have given birth to a man and woman who in turn produced the human race; after being sent to live in the world, the human race fell into wrongdoing and confusion. The Unborn Venerable Mother had sent the Lamplighter Buddha, then the
Sakyamuni Buddha, and was preparing to send the
Maitreya Buddha, who would guide believers to a paradise on earth, the Homeland of True Emptiness. The Republic of China viewed new religious movements less favorably over time. After the
Northern Expedition, the
Nationalist government banned several major new religious movements, deeming them superstitious and as presenting an infiltration risk. The popularity of new religious movements continued to grow during the Nationalist era despite the state's disfavor. Sociologist Yanfei Sun attributes the success of new religious movements during this period their effective harnessing of
nationalist sentiment, their ability to take advantage of diverse social networks, and their "eclectic blending of messages from various deep-seated religious traditions [which] resonated with the Chinese people." The Nationalist government's efforts to constrain new religious movements was also limited in regions governed by local strongmen and in areas that Japanese forces occupied. Additionally, lobbying efforts on behalf of some new religious movements resulted in them being allowed to exist and develop in the form of charitable organizations. In the 1920s and 1930s, economic insecurity contributed to the major growth of new religious movements. The largest groups in this period were
Yiguandao, Society for the Common Good,
Xiantiandao (the Way of Former Heaven), and
Jiugongdao (the Nine Palaces Way). From 1931 to 1945, Japan encouraged the growth of new religious movements in Manchuria and other occupied areas, believing that this would advance Japanese interests. During the
Second Sino-Japanese War, both the Nationalists and the Communists sought to mobilize new religious movements to help achieve wartime objectives. Yiguandao became the largest new religious movement of the era, in part because of its effective use of opportunities during the war. Its founder Zhang Guangbi developed a close relationship with the Japanese and Yiguandao included officials of the
Wang Jingwei government in its membership. As a result, both the Nationalists and the Communists condemned Yiguandao; at the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Zhang was arrested and the society was banned. As the Communists came into power, some networks of Yiguandao engaged in armed conflict with the Communists, interpreting the Communist victory in the civil war as showing that the "three disasters and eight difficulties" as the beginning of the third
kalpa.
People's Republic of China The
founding of the People's Republic in 1949 saw increased suppression of new religious movements. The PRC began a
campaign to suppress the new religious movements that had developed during the Republic of China era, deeming them reactionary secret societies (
fandong huidaomen) that may have been infiltrated by Nationalist elements and which could engage in sabotage. These efforts eliminated new religious movements from public practice. The impacts of the
Cultural Revolution on new religious movements varied. Especially because of the attack on the
Four Olds, some disbanded or became covert. Others were able to take advantage of the fact that the
Public Security Bureau apparatus was in disarray. From 1983 to 1986 (and later in some areas), the government implemented a "strike hard" campaign against these movements. In the mid-1990s, the Chinese state began to adopt Western
anti-cult discourse and terminology, influenced by the global media coverage of groups like the
Branch Davidians,
Aum Shinrikyo, and the
Order of the Solar Temple. It stopped using the Mao-era term "reactionary secret society" to refer to such groups, and instead began using the term "evil cult" (邪教
xiejiao) or "cultic organization". From 1995 to 1999, the
Ministry of State Security, the
State Council, and the
CPC Central Committee designated 14 new religious movements as evil cults. In 1999, the state engaged in an anti-Falun Gong campaign. As part of this effort, it created the Central Leading Group on Preventing and Dealing with Cults (the executive office of which is referred to as the
610 Office) and which in 2003 was expanded to cover other "cultic groups". On 30 October 1999, the
National People's Congress passed the
Resolution on Banning Cults, Preventing and Punishing Cultic Activities. The
Supreme People's Court and the
Supreme People's Procuratorate promulgated instructions on how to apply existing criminal law to people involved in "evil cults," which it defined as "illegal groups that are founded by using religion, qigong, or other pretenses; deify their leaders; produce and spread superstitious ideas and heretical teachings to deceive and swindle people' recruit and control their members; and pose a danger to society." With some revisions, these continue to be the basic legal framework for new religious movements which the state deems as cults, as of 2026. Since the 1990s and 2000s the climate was relaxed and some of these sects 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. 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==