What is the connection between Religion and Growth in China? Laowaiblog’s Editor in Chief Lior Paritzky tries to explain
Religion in China has been characterized by pluralism since the beginning of Chinese history. In China, religion, as it is known in the west, was never dominant; China, instead, has adopted a culture that is broadly based upon a Confucian way of thinking – a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical and quasi-religious thought. In China, rituals, such as attending church, do not exist in the same form as they do in the west. Rituals, rather, are the routines that people often engage in, knowingly or unknowingly, during the normal course of their lives.
Max Weber, a German sociologist and a political thinker, argued that religious practices and beliefs had important consequences for economic development. Furthermore, he believed that Protestanism was one of the major “elective affinities” associated with the rise of capitalism, bureaucracy and the rational-legal nation-state. This argument may be true considering the influences to which one is exposed while practicing religion: the belief of a higher power, the belief of life after death, the belief of heaven and hell, etc. Nevertheless, China is an exception to the theory proposed by Weber since it is not a Protestant country, yet it is turning into one of the most capitalist nations in the world.
In 2003, Professor Robert J. Barro and Dr. Rachel M. McCleary from Harvard University wrote a fascinating paper in which they investigated the effects of church attendance and religious beliefs on economic growth in nations and in fact measured the connection between Religion and Growth. Their data reveal an overall pattern in which economic development is associated with less religiosity which is measured by church attendance or religious beliefs. This pattern can be seen in simple relations between a measure of religiosity and per capita GDP, which they use as the basic indicator of economic development.
The Connection between Religion and Growth
The theory that stands behind their work on religion and growth is that: “religion affects economic outcomes mainly by fostering religious beliefs that influence individual traits such as thrift, work ethic, honesty, and openness to strangers. For example, beliefs in heaven and hell might affect these traits by creating perceived rewards and punishments that relate to “good” and “bad” lifetime behavior. In this perspective, organized religion—and, more specifically, attendance at religious services—would affect economic performance mostly indirectly, that is, through influences on the religious beliefs. Hence, we envision a chain whereby church attendance affects religious beliefs, which affect individual traits, which affect economic outcomes.”
In communist countries, religion was oppressed by the government, and the presence of a communist regime has a substantial negative relation with church attendance and religious beliefs. Nevertheless, the predominance of Confucian tradition and culture help explain why China has been so successful economically – everyday rituals can be targeted towards one centered goal (usually dictated by a higher power such as the government) which, for the past 33 years, has been economic growth. That helps explain the close connection that Religion and Growth have in China. A famous Chinese saying helps support this argument: “再接再厉” means to make sustained and unrelenting efforts towards achieving a goal.
Another explanation might be the homogeneous society which fabricates the Chinese nation: In China, the majority (92%) of the population is Han – descendants of the great Han dynasty who ruled China in 206 BC – 220 AD. A homogeneous society assists the country in setting goals in which everyone can see themselves fit. Although occasional conflicts among religions can occur, they are few due to strict governmental policies and regulations.
Other conditions also influence the relationship between Religion and Growth: The population of China, 1.32 billion people, can create certain problems when it comes to food, clothing and shelter. Nevertheless, a fierce competition for jobs, a strong desire to escape poverty and dominant Confucian values create circumstances in which many Chinese work very hard in an attempt to improve their quality of life; A phenomenon that significantly contributes to the economic growth of China.
Evidently, when examining the economic growth of a nation, many factors need to be considered. China, which is a secular country at its core, might be in a better position to propell its economy forward because policy makers realize that the vast majority of the population share prominent Confucian values. Beijing is, in fact, liberated from considering religious beliefs while pursuing economic policies; A situation that may benefit its economic development.
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Lior Paritzky is the Editor in Chief and Manager of Laowaiblog, an internet platform that provides opinion and views about social phenomena in modern China. Look for Lior on Twitter: Liorpari 
i see, you have studied china for a long time
Interesting topic, but I do have a few problems to raise.
1. “This argument may be true considering the influences to which one is exposed while practicing religion: the belief of a higher power, the belief of life after death, the belief of heaven and hell, etc.”
I think this generalizes too much, to the point of not being meaningful. One can’t practice “religion”, as if “religion” were some sort of discrete entity or stand-alone category, as if all the things popularly associated with the term “religion” even belong in the same category (they don’t). One can practice various forms of various traditions, or adopt various metanarratives and ideologies with which to interpret one’s experience, or simply hold certain opinions about the origin and nature of the world. But all this transcends the borders of what is popularly considered “religious” or “secular”.
2. “Nevertheless, China is an exception to the theory proposed by Weber since it is not a Protestant country, yet it is turning into one of the most capitalist nations in the world.”
China is not developing in a vacuum, and I can’t imagine it’s current growth without the influence of Western civilizations, which bear the fruit of their Judeo-Christian heritages in everything from science to the intrinsic value of the individual to the Protestant work ethic. Just because the tree grows in your neighbour’s yard doesn’t mean you can’t reach over the fence and pick the fruit, or plant one of their trees to your own orchard. I think there are many reasons why Chinese work their lives away, and the influence of Western capitalism is one of many contributing factors.
3. “China, which is a secular country at its core,”
I can only see this statement making sense if you employ a skewed definition of religion, and only look at specific facets of Chinese society while ignoring others. China’s state-controlled media may be secular, but that’s an artificial characteristic created by the government, as is the social marginalization of churches, for example. The average Mainland Chinese, along with the economically privileged, do all sorts of things on a regular basis (like buying and wearing Buddhist charms and burning offerings to the dead) that could hardly be called secular (though there are certainly some significant differences between those examples and typical Western ‘religious’ practices).
Anyway, interesting blog — strange I only just discovered it today. I am severely envious of your linguistic abilities!
Joel,
I wanted to thank you for leaving this long and meaningful comment on my post. You raise some valid points, especially the second one.
However, I think that the process which China is undergoing these days is unique to itself in the religious sense, because this process is based on cultural and historical values that are unique to China; People are not influenced by religious beliefs per se, as they might have been in Europe or in the U.S. Evidently, each country develops its own path for growth, but what is happening in China is unprecedented in its speed and its magnitude – and the lack of religion (religion as it is known in the west) plays a major factor.
Lior
The ties between religion and the economic booming is still not crystal clear. The religion has been there for centuries but the fortune is a recent thing.
Hi Zehai,
According to the research done for the article (Church attendance effects on economic growth), the ties are very clear. I suggest you read the study…
Actually, I haven’t read through all. But just reminded me that, This is not the phenomenon in China only. it also applicable in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea(Although Christian population in large in this country)and Japan……This is the common phenomenon of Far East Asia country that influenced with Confucian…..
I have been living in Shanghai for the past year, and I totally agree with what is written here. It is evident that foreign influence has been prominent here for decades, if not for centuries, and that this influence has contributed greatly to the development of China. The writer is right in the sense that religion can be directed towards achieving growth. A great example is of course Protestantism, in which money symbolizes the love God has for the individual. That way, individuals were told to work harder and to contribute more for the development of their country.
I agree with Alex. the phenomenon of what you call “China Capitalism” is not exclusive to China, but many other Asian countries have experienced the same thing. perhaps this is the reason why this region is so prosperous…
To insinuate that one of the reasons for China’s economic growth is “lack of religion”, as the writer claims, is a bit misleading. There are several reasons as to why China is growing the way it is:
Historically – China has been closed to the world for centuries, and ever since the economic reforms, there is a strong will by the Chinese to improve growth and to demonstrate strength. There are also years and years of catching up to do. The Chinese want to show everyone what they’re worth so they are working hard towards achieving that goal.
Culturally – we must remember the Confucianism is still the prominent “religion” in China, and it is an integral part of local culture. Confucianism encourages people to be obedient and concentrated towards goals. This is a perfect tool for the ruling party to control masses. Money, though, is slowly replacing Confucianism (much like written in the Managing Success article), and that is creating a situation in which everyone wants to have it – which encourages growth of course
Last but not least is the social reasons – since money symbolizes status, everyone wants to have it and the more the better. This is an addition to the cultural factor – it is socially accepted (or even admired) to be rich, so people will work as hard as possible to accumulate more money and to fulfill the dream of becoming rich.
Very very interesting Lior. I would love to read more about this topic!!
Weber’s argument had nothing to do with the relationship between going to Church and economic development. What he argued was that certain strains of protestantism created anxieties that were then solved by focusing on business. And they encouraged a sort of “worldly asceticism” where you don’t spend to lavishly on enjoying yourself. So instead of spending the money you make, you reinvest it. How you do in business is taken as an indicator of if you’re going to hell or not, making people focus all of their energy into their jobs.
Weber describes how this attitude, which started out as religious, was soon stripped of any religious connotations and just became the common sense of Capitalism. So tracking the relationship between church attendance and economic development is entirely missing the point. Weber’s argument had nothing to do with Catholicism, for example, and he argued that Confucianism was antithetical to the development of Capitalism (but that argument was really flawed).
The argument here is a spurious one. The Gulf states are amongst the most religious in the world and are also enjoying enormous growth.
The situation in China is that there is an enormous explosion in Pentecostalism, often within ‘underground’ churches (those not registered with and supervised by the state). The key argument here is that the rise of Pentecostalism – and other groups such as Falun Gong – fills in the ideological gap in Chinese society since the abandonment of Communist ideology. The related development is the explosion of consumerist values that are also a quasi-religious way to find meaning in one’s life.
The lack of religion in Chinese (official) politics is not because the Chinese people are not religious. The lack of religion in Chinese politics is because religion is heavily regulated by the state such that it cannot be a fetter or challenge to the dominance of the ruling party. They do not want a situation like in South Korea under its authoritarian regimes wherein churches were strong advocates of workers’ rights and multi-party democracy.
hello,i’m a student from Malaysia and taking international business courses. my coordinator give us some fact that the ‘religiousity’ (measure of how much religion affect someone’s life) in China is not as strong as the one in India. She ask us why this could happen..no one answer correctly then she ask us to do some research..may i ask u what do you think of it?
for me after reading some articles and came across ur blog i think it is because the government ruling that practice freedom of religion, and there is no proper management or religion that are widely practiced there..
The Chinese government cannot set a goal for 1.3 billion people to follow. There is no daily ritual that the government is demonstrating for the 1.3 billion to pursue ecnomic growth. It is the government policy to open up the economy for foreign direct investment which has created opportunities for individuals to pursue wealth more freely than before which has triggered this dramatic growth. Chinese are just hardworking to grasp all opportunity to earn money for personal and family security. This is just Chinese pragmatism which has little connection with religion or not. Everywhere all over the world, we can see Chinese are the most hardworking group. Why traditional Chinese cannot grow mulitnational enterprises? It is again its Confucian social classification according to the job i.e. scholars, peasants, workers, entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are seen by the social as greedy because they accumulate wealth and exploit the others. The scholars produce knowledge which is good for everyone. In fact, after the communist China becomes capitalist, more people start to find religion to console their soul. There see rising number of religious believers of all major world religions. Religion is to give a soul to fill the void of the capitalists.
only superstitions and some transformed religions (i rather say deteriorated from their archetype.typically Buddhism) survived serving people’s very secular desires. and soon they all turn to look like superstitions. this soil does grow faith except worships for power and maybe the dead (ancestor)
this is gay