Religion in Tibet

Religion in Tibet, China (estimates as of 2012)[1]

  Tibetan Buddhism (78.5%)
  Bon (12.5%)
  Chinese folk religion and others (8.58%)
  Islam[2] (0.4%)
  Christianity (0.02%)
Maitreya Buddha statue of Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse

The main religion in Tibet has been Buddhism since its outspread in the 8th century AD. As of 2022 the historical region of Tibet (the areas inhabited by ethnic Tibetans) is mostly comprised in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China and partly in the Chinese provinces of Qinghai and Sichuan. Before the arrival of Buddhism, the main religion among Tibetans was an indigenous shamanic[3] and animistic[4] religion, Bon, which would later influence the formation of Tibetan Buddhism and still attracts the allegiance of a sizeable minority of Tibetans.

According to estimates from the International Religious Freedom Report of 2012, most Tibetans (who comprise 91% of the population of the Tibet Autonomous Region) are associated with Tibetan Buddhism, while a minority of 400,000 people (12.5% of the total population of the TAR) profess the native Bon religion. Other groups in Tibet practise folk religions which share the image of Confucius (Tibetan: Kongtse Trulgyi Gyalpo) with Chinese folk religion, though in a different light.[5][6] The statistics do not cover the government-sponsored atheist[7] proportion of the Tibetan population. According to some reports, the government of China has been promoting the Bon religion, linking it with Confucianism.[8][9]

  1. ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2012 by the US government. p. 20: «Most ethnic Tibetans practice Tibetan Buddhism, although a sizeable minority practices Bon, an indigenous religion, and very small minorities practice Islam, Catholicism, or Protestantism. Some scholars estimate that there are as many as 400,000 Bon followers across the Tibetan Plateau. Scholars also estimate that there are up to 5,000 ethnic Tibetan Muslims and 700 ethnic Tibetan Catholics in the TAR.»
  2. ^ Min Junqing. The Present Situation and Characteristics of Contemporary Islam in China. JISMOR, 8. 2010 Islam by province, page 29. Data from: Yang Zongde, Study on Current Muslim Population in China, Jinan Muslim, 2, 2010.
  3. ^ Ermakov, Dmitry (2008). Bø and Bön: Ancient Shamanic Traditions of Siberia and Tibet in Their Relation to the Teachings of a Central Asian Buddha. Jyatha, Thamel, Kathmandu: Vajra Publications. ISBN 9789937506113. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  4. ^ Smith, Warren W. (31 July 2019) [1996]. "Foundations of the Tibetan State". Tibetan Nation: A History Of Tibetan Nationalism And Sino-tibetan Relations. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9781000612288. Retrieved 7 November 2022. Jol Bon [pre-Bon] was animistic in beliefs and shamanistic in its ritual aspects.
  5. ^ Te-Ming TSENG, Shen-Yu LIN. The Image of Confucius in Tibetan Culture Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. 臺灣東亞文明研究學刊 第4卷第2期(總第8期) 2007年12月 頁169–207.
  6. ^ Shenyu Lin. "The Tibetan Image of Confucius" Archived 2017-09-13 at the Wayback Machine. Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines.
  7. ^ "China announces 'civilizing' atheism drive in Tibet". BBC. 12 January 1999. Retrieved 7 November 2022. The Chinese Communist Party has launched a three-year drive to promote atheism in the Buddhist region of Tibet, saying it is the key to economic progress and a weapon against separatism as typified by the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama.
  8. ^ China-Tibet Online: Confucius ruled as a "divine king" in Tibet[permanent dead link‍]. 2014-11-04
  9. ^ "Confucius ruled as a "divine king" in Tibet_Tibetan Buddhism_TIBET". 手机中国西藏网. 2015-12-03. Retrieved 2024-05-10.