To understand China’s indigenous religions, Confucianism & Taoism, is to understand the underlying philosophy that drives much of today’s Chinese culture.  Confucianism, concerned with human society and the social responsibilities of its members, makes it a perfect complement to China’s other indigenous religion, Taoism, which is more focused on the spiritual individual, who intuitively seeks his personal unity with that of nature.

Taoism’s focus on the individual complements Confucianism’s focus on social morality, a "yin and yang" of sorts.

It is unique to China that its two principal, indigenous faiths served as opposing, yet absolutely necessary complementary standards of belief and practice for Chinese civilization. 

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: One of the benefits of eBooks is that we can easily update content and release new editions of our guidebooks. These updates are FREE for existing customers. Please visit for a list of recently updated guides and instructions on downloading the new version to your device.