Abstract
Different models of relations between State and Church can be adopted according to the different visions and types of the society. History has registered mono-polar, bi-polar and multi-polar visions of a society. China has kept throughout its history a mono-polar vision. Catholic Church struggled to achieve a bi-polar society and, in the present multi-religious context, adopts the multi-polar vision. This is the reason why the Catholic Church hopes for a true separation between State and Church, and not just being requested to avoid any interference into the State’s political objectives. On this level, the Catholic Church presents strong challenges to a mono-polar vision of the society.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
James T. Meyers, Enemies Without Guns, o.c., p. 201.
- 2.
For a very comprehensive picture, see in particular, Jason Kindopp – Carol Lee Hamrin (ed.), God and Caesar in China (Washington: Brooking Institution Press, 2004).
- 3.
According to Wikipedia: “The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, a series of Popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such as bishops and abbots. Although the principal conflict began in 1075 between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, a brief but significant struggle over investiture also occurred between Henry I of England and the Pope Paschal II in the years 1103 to 1107, and the issue played a minor role in the struggles between church and state in France as well. The entire controversy was finally resolved by the Concordat of Worms in 1122.”
- 4.
Timothy Brook, “The Politics of Religion: Late-Imperial Origins of Regulatory State,” in Yoshiro Ashiwa – David L. Wank, Making Religion Making the State (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009), p. 23.
- 5.
For more details, see J. J. M. de Groot, Sectarianism and Religious Persecution in China: A Page in the History of Religions (Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen). 2v Amsterdam 1903–1904; Paul A. Cohen, China and Christianity, The Missionary Movement and the Growth of Chinese Anti-foreignism (Cambridge – London: Harvard University Press, 1977).
- 6.
Daniel H. Bays, “A Tradition of State Dominance,” in J. Kindopp – C. Lee Hamrin, God and Caesar in China, o.c., p. 36.
- 7.
Michey Spiegel, “Control and Containment in the Reform Era,” in J. Kindopp – C. Lee Hamrin, God and Caesar in China, o.c., p. 41.
- 8.
Daniel H. Bays, “A Tradition of State Dominance,” in J. Kindopp – C. Lee Hamrin, God and Caesar in China, o.c., p. 25.
- 9.
“Religion and State Relationship,” in Asia News, 06.12.2017.
- 10.
Dong Wang, “Restructuring Governance in Contemporary Urban China: Perspectives on State and Society,” in Journal of Contemporary China, vol. 20, no. 72, November 2011, pp. 723–733.
- 11.
Carol Lee Hamrin, “Advancing Religious Freedom,” in J. Kindopp – C. Lee Hamrin, God and Caesar in China, o.c., 176.
- 12.
Yoshiro Ashiwa – David L. Wank, Making Religion Making the State, o.c., p. 17.
- 13.
Jacques Gernet, China and Christianity, o.c., pp. 105, 108 and 115.
- 14.
Pope John Paul II, Memory & Identity (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2005), pp. 135–136.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ticozzi, S. (2023). Church and State Relationship in China. In: CHINA and the Catholic Church. Christianity in Modern China. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3173-6_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3173-6_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-99-3172-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-99-3173-6
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)