Forms of religion in China throughout history have included animism during the Xia dynasty, which evolved into the state religion of the Shang and Zhou. Alongside an ever-present undercurrent of Chinese folk religion, highly literary, systematised currents related to Taoism and Confucianism emerged during the Spring and Autumn period. Buddhism began to influence China during the Han dynasty, and Christianity and Islam appeared during the Tang.
Today, while the government of China is officially atheist, it recognises five official religious bodies assigned to major organised religions in the country: Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam.