Holy Confucian Church

Holy Confucian Church 孔圣会 Kǒngshènghuì
Type	Confucian church
Classification	Confucianism
Orientation	Gongyang school (New Text Confucianism)
Scripture	Four Books and Five Classics
Polity	self-supporting
Founder	Zhou Beichen
Origin	2009 first local congregation, 2015 national church China
Official website	http://zhksh.org/

The Holy Confucian Church or Holy Church of Confucius (孔圣会 Kǒngshènghuì) or Holy Confucian Church of China (中华孔圣会 Zhōnghuá Kǒngshènghuì) is a body formed of many local Confucian churches or halls (孔圣堂 Kǒngshèngtáng) in China. The grassroots movement was initiated by Zhou Beichen, a disciple of the Confucian philosopher Jiang Qing, who founded the first holy church in Shenzhen in 2009.^[1] The aim of the movement was to develop a network of local Confucian churches throughout the country,^[2] eventually unifying into a national body and becoming the state religion of China.^[2] The Holy Confucian Church has received support from the Confucian Academy of Hong Kong, although it has developed independently from the latter.^[3]

In 2010 the first holy church in Shenzhen was officially registered as a non-governmental non-profit (fēi qǐyè 非企业) organisation of public interest (gōngyì 公益) affiliated with the Federation of Confucian Culture of Qufu City.^[4] The Holy Church maintains close relations with local government officials and high-ranking dignitaries of the State Administration for Religious Affairs attend its ceremonies.^[5] The national and international body, the Holy Confucian Church of China, was finally established in late 2015.^[6][7][8]

History of the founder and the organisation

Zhou Beichen was born in the province of Guizhou in 1965.^[9] He studies at the Guizhou University and experienced with work in journalism, publishing and teaching.^[9] In the 1980s he was interested in Western philosophy, while in the 1990s he studied the works of many contemporary Neo-Confucian circles.^[9]

Later, Zhou Beichen approached to Jiang Qing's work on the Gongyang (公羊) school of New Text Confucianism, especially the idea of political Confucianism or the "outside kingship" (外王).^[9] In 1996 he met Jiang Qing in person and they founded together the Yangming Academy in Guizhou.^[9] Between that year and 2003 he settled down in Shenzhen, living with business activity and projecting the Confucian holy halls (Kongshengtang) movement which officially started in 2009.^[9]

The Confucian holy halls multiplied over the following years and on the 1st November 2015 many Confucian scholars including Jiang Qing, Kang Xiaoguang, Zhang Xianglong and Sheng Hong gathered in Shenzhen for the formal establishment of a national and international Holy Confucian Church which would encompass all local Confucian congregations and civil organisations.^[6] Jiang Qing was appointed as the spiritual leader of the church.^[6]

Some see the Holy Confucian Church as a continuation of the Confucian Church that was founded in 1912 by Kang Youwei, a Confucian reformer, but which was later disbanded because of hostile political climate.^[6] The contemporary Holy Confucian Church aims to foster folk Confucian and traditional religion in a period of deep crisis of the Chinese civilisation, and represent a "body" for the "soul" of the Chinese, or a new embodiment of the "wandering soul" of Confucianism deprived of its social structure after the empire fell apart.^[8] The church has found some opposition, even within the Confucian community, by people who see it as an imitation of Christianity and fear a departure from the teachings of Confucianism.^[6]

Besides the nourishment of Chinese culture, the Holy Church's constitution also mentions the aim of maintaining the "religious ecology" (宗教生态 zōngjiào shēngtài) of Chinese society through the absorption and reinterpretation of alien religions and heterodox cults into Confucianism.^[6]

Structure of the church

The Holy Confucian Church is a highly structured institution both in its doctrine of the faith and in its organisation.^[8] The reference to its "holiness" in its name means that the church reflects the sacred order of nature in holidays, ancestral ties and the environment.^[8]

Its local congregations (孔圣堂 Kǒngshèngtáng) are at the same times schools and temples (学庙和一 xué miào hé yī) for the education of the individuals and the moral reconstitution of society, the filial way (孝慈之道 xiàocí zhī dào) and spiritual home (精神家园 jīngshén jiāyuán) of Chinese life.^[10] Its worship halls are called dàochǎng (道场 "place of the way"), a term for wide worship halls.

Economy of the church

In order to develop independently from the support of sponsors as it was the case in the first months after its creation, in 2010 the Holy Confucian Church of Shenzhen adopted a "sustainable development model", also termed the "Shenzhen model" by the media.^[5] The policy implies the self-support of the Church through wedding and funeral rites, and through schools of "Confucian corporate culture" for business companies.^[5] The goal of the church is to provide non-profit services, and it offers education, rituals and other activities which are free of charge.^[5]

The nationwide Holy Confucian Church created in 2015 plans to replicate the Shenzhen model all over China and abroad and form missionary institutes and community-oriented lecture circuits, and Confucian schools.^[8] These objectives will be financed by integrated social donations and funding members, contributions from local government for public services at Temples of Confucius, its industrial platform, and other resources.^[8]

Founding members

Scholarly commission^[8]

• Chairman: Jiang Qing, Yangming Confucian Adobe (阳明精舍 Yángmíng jīngshě);
• Vice-chairman: Chen Ming, editor of Yuán dào (《原道》), professor and director of the Research Center on Confucianism of the Capital Normal University;
• Members:
  • Zhang Xianglong, professor of Philosophy and Social Development at Shandong University;
  • Zhang Xinmin, professor and honorary president of Chinese Culture Academy of Guizhou University;
  • Huang Kaiguo, professor of Church and State Relations at Sichuan Normal University;
  • Hu Zhihong, professor of the Traditional Chinese Culture Research Center of Wuhan University;
  • Li Jinglin, professor of Philosophy at Beijing Normal University;
  • Chen Zhaoying, professor of Chinese at Taiwan National Central University;
  • Sheng Hong, professor of the Center for Economic Research of Shandong University;
  • Lin Wu, professor of the Institute of Religion and Culture at Taiwan Tzu Chi University;
  • Zhou Chi Cheng, professor of Politics and Administration at South China Normal University;
  • Yang Chaoming, professor and president of China Confucius Research Institute;
  • Kang Xiaoguang, professor of the School of Public Administration and director of the Institute of Non-Profit Organizations of the Renmin University of China;
  • Guo Yi, tenured professor of the Department of Philosophy of Seoul National University (Korea);
  • Fan Ruiping, professor of Public Policy at City University of Hong Kong;
  • Fang Zhaohui, professor of History at Tsinghua University;
  • Wang Ruichang, professor at Capital University of Economics and Business;
  • Yaozhong Qiu, professor of the Institute for Advanced Study of Humanities and Social Sciences of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics;
  • Zhang Wanlin, professor of Philosophy at Hunan University of Science and Technology;
  • Peng Yongjie, professor of the Confucius Research Institute of Renmin University of China;
  • Ceng Yi, professor at Tongji University's College of Humanities;
  • Bai Tongdong, professor at the School of Philosophy at Fudan University;
  • Tang Wenming, professor of Philosophy at Tsinghua University;
  • Chen Jinguo, research fellow of Contemporary Religion at the Institute of World Religions of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences;
  • Guo Xiaodong, professor at the School of Philosophy of Fudan University;
  • Chen Yun, professor of Philosophy at East China Normal University;
  • Ke Xiaogang, professor of Humanities at Tongji University;
  • Chen Yong, professor at the Center for Asian and African Studies at El Colegio de México;

Others

Zhu Tong, Li Wenming

Council^[8]

• Chairman: Zhang Hua, director of Sanhe International Group;
• Director-general: Zhou Beichen, leader of Shenzhen Holy Confucian Church and president of the Confucian Cultural Exchange Center;
• Board of directors: Hu Huiyin, Kong Xiangdong (secretary-general of the World Association of Descendants of Confucius), Yang Ruqing (dean of Beijing Weihang Academy), Li Zheng, Ji Junchun, Di Jiwen, Wei Zhangzhou, Long Zhouwei (vice-president of Qufu Federation of Confucian Culture), Fan Fei, Chen Shiqiao (Fuding Confucian Practice Research Association), Meng Xiandong, Yuan Yan (president of Guangzhou branch of Minglun Academy), Wang Yi, Yi Zhijun (director of Nanchang Filial Modesty Traditional Cultural Center), Cai Dinghuang (executive director of Nanchang Morality Association), Li Liangshui (secretary-general of Guangdong Academy of National Learning).

See also

• Confucianism
• Confucian church
• Confucian Academy

References

Sources

• Billioud, Sebastien; Joel Thoraval (2015). The Sage and the People: The Confucian Revival in China. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0190258144. 
• Payette, Alex. Shenzhen's Kongshengtang: Religious Confucianism and Local Moral Governance. Part of: Role of Religion in Political Life, Panel RC43, 23rd World Congress of Political Science, 19–24 July 2014.