作者：杨辰 编辑：冯仍 校对：程筱筱 翻译：周敏
在知乎上，一个热门问题引发了不少讨论：“为什么大多数中国人都是无神论者？”西方人眼中，中国人似乎缺乏信仰，但这其实是中共长期洗脑和操控的结果。中国人的“无神论”不是自然演化，而是被中共强加的意识形态枷锁，根植于几千年的历史文化，却被扭曲成服务于极权统治的工具。这篇文章从中西方差异入手，揭露中共如何通过压制宗教、推广唯物主义来维持控制，或许能撕开一些伪装的面纱。
拿史前大洪水的神话来说明中西方差异吧。西方传说中，上帝看到人间罪恶，便降下洪水惩罚，只怜悯诺亚一家，让他们建造方舟逃过一劫。这反映出西方文化中，神是绝对主宰，一切源于神的意志，强调个人与神明的精神连接。而在中国神话里，大禹带领民众艰苦奋斗，堵塞洪水、疏通河道，最终战胜灾害。这本是“人定胜天”的积极理念，但中共却将其篡改为集体主义神话，宣扬“群众力量”，实则掩盖他们对民众的奴役。中共的教育体系从小学起就灌输这些故事，不是为了启发独立思考，而是为了培养对党的盲从，让人民相信只有在党的领导下才能“战胜天灾”——就像他们宣传的抗疫“胜利”一样，忽略了无数被掩盖的悲剧。
许多人天真地认为中国人不信神是因为共产主义和马克思主义强调无神论，但这正是中共的宣传伎俩。实际上，中共正是利用中国历史文化的土壤，将无神论作为武器，摧毁传统信仰，代之以对党的崇拜。中国神话中神仙众多，道教有玉皇大帝、太上老君，佛教有如来佛祖、观音菩萨，还有财神爷、土地公等，各司其职。但在中共统治下，这些被贬为“封建迷信”，民众与神的关系被扭曲成“交易”：人敬神，神须服务。但中共不允许任何“神”凌驾于党之上，他们摧毁寺庙、迫害信徒，将宗教变成可控的工具。西方人祈祷是“上帝赐我力量，感谢上帝”，成功归功于神，失败自责。中国人求愿后，若实现就还愿，若不成则换庙——但在中共时代，连这点自由都被剥夺，寺庙成了党的宣传阵地，僧侣被迫学习“习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想”。
举些例子就能看出这种扭曲。华北“晒龙王”的习俗，本是民间对神明的“讨说法”，但中共视之为“落后风俗”，在文革中被砸烂。民国军阀张宗昌炮轰龙王求雨的事儿，虽荒唐，却体现了不畏“神权”的民间精神；如今，中共却用“人工降雨”技术自夸“科技兴国”，实则在新疆等地用高科技监控宗教少数民族。乐山大佛因有“实绩”而受维护，但中共在西藏摧毁无数寺庙，强迫喇嘛“爱国爱党”，将宗教遗产变成旅游道具。动画《哪吒》里那句“拜了三年，生不出来，我砸了这破庙”，在今天会被审查为“负面能量”，因为它挑战权威——而中共最怕的就是人民挑战党的“神圣”地位。
中国人拜神多为实用主义，“无事不登三宝殿”，但中共将此妖魔化为“唯物主义胜利”，实则通过“破四旧”运动摧毁了亿万人的精神家园。西方人难懂这种模式，故觉得中国人敬神却不信神。但真相是，中共不允许真信神，因为那会分散对党的忠诚。少数虔诚信徒？他们被监视、关押，如法轮功学员或地下基督徒。汉字象形说有道理，难有统一一神教，但商朝的鬼神崇拜被周灭商后理性化——可惜中共篡改历史，将周易变成“辩证唯物主义”的伪装，废人祭是进步，但中共的“阶级斗争”造成更多死亡。
如今中国人“信仰”祖先，烧纸钱祭祖，但中共连这都控制：清明节被宣传为“文明祭扫”，禁止“迷信活动”。国外烧冥币潮流有趣，但在中国，中共用“无神论”教育从小洗脑，让人民无处寄托，只剩对党的“感恩”。中国人并非无信仰，而是被中共剥夺了自由信仰。王权大于神权的历史，被中共放大成极权大于一切，四次灭佛不过是小巫见大巫——想想新疆的再教育营、基督教会的“三自”控制。相比西方神明，中国人被逼信“伟大领袖”，这不是文化自信，而是极权奴役。在当下，这“无神论”不过是中共维持统治的谎言，唤醒需要真相。
Why Are Most Chinese People Atheists? From the Perspective of the CCP’s Manipulation of Culture and Belief
Author: Yang Chen Editor: Feng Reng Proofreading: Cheng Xiaoxiao Translation: Zhou Min
On Zhihu Q&A platform, a trending question sparked considerable discussion: “Why are most Chinese people atheists?” In the eyes of Westerners, Chinese people seem to lack faith, but this is actually the result of the CCP’s long-term brainwashing and manipulation. The “atheism” of the Chinese people is not a natural evolution, but an ideological shackle imposed by the CCP; it is rooted in thousands of years of history and culture, yet distorted into a tool serving totalitarian rule. This article starts with the differences between the East and the West to reveal how the CCP maintains control by suppressing religion and promoting materialism, perhaps tearing away some of the camouflaged veils.
Let’s use the myth of the Great Flood to illustrate the differences between China and the West. In Western legends, when God saw the wickedness of the world, He sent a flood to punish it, showing mercy only to Noah’s family and allowing them to build an ark to escape. This reflects that in Western culture, God is the absolute master, and everything originates from God’s will, emphasizing the spiritual connection between the individual and the divine. In Chinese mythology, however, Da Yu (Yu the Great) led the people in arduous struggle, blocking the flood and dredging river channels to eventually overcome the disaster. This was originally a positive concept of “man’s determination can conquer heaven,” but the CCP has distorted it into a collectivist myth, promoting “the power of the masses” to actually cover up their enslavement of the people. The CCP’s education system instills these stories from primary school onward, not to inspire independent thinking, but to cultivate blind obedience to the Party, making the people believe that only under the Party’s leadership can they “overcome natural disasters”—just like the “victory” in the anti-epidemic fight they promote, while ignoring the countless covered-up tragedies.
Many people naively believe that Chinese people do not believe in God because Communism and Marxism emphasize atheism, but this is precisely the CCP’s propaganda trick. In fact, the CCP utilizes the soil of Chinese history and culture to use atheism as a weapon to destroy traditional beliefs and replace them with worship of the Party. Chinese mythology has numerous deities: Taoism has the Jade Emperor and Taishang Laojun; Buddhism has the Buddha and Guanyin Bodhisattva; and there are also the God of Wealth, the Earth God, and others, each with their own duties. But under CCP rule, these are disparaged as “feudal superstition,” and the relationship between the people and the gods is distorted into a “transaction”: people respect the gods, and the gods must serve. However, the CCP does not allow any “God” to stand above the Party; they destroy temples, persecute believers, and turn religion into a controllable tool. When Westerners pray, it is “God give me strength, thank God”; success is credited to God, and failure results in self-reflection. When Chinese people make a wish, if it comes true, they fulfill their vow; if it does not, they switch temples—but in the CCP era, even this bit of freedom is stripped away. Temples have become the Party’s propaganda fronts, and monks are forced to study “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”
A few examples reveal this distortion. The custom of “sunning the Dragon King” in North China was originally a folk way of “demanding an explanation” from the deity, but the CCP regards it as a “backward custom,” and it was smashed during the Cultural Revolution. The story of the Republic-era warlord Zhang Zongchang shelling the Dragon King to pray for rain, though absurd, reflected a folk spirit that did not fear “theocratic power”; today, the CCP uses “artificial rain” technology to boast about “strengthening the country through science and technology,” while in reality using high-tech to monitor religious minorities in places like Xinjiang. The Leshan Giant Buddha is maintained because it has “actual results” (as a tourist attraction), but the CCP has destroyed countless temples in Tibet, forced lamas to be “patriotic and love the Party,” and turned religious heritage into tourism props. The line “I’ve worshipped for three years, yet I can’t give birth; I’ll smash this broken temple” in the animation Nezha would be censored today as “negative energy” because it challenges authority—and what the CCP fears most is the people challenging the “sacred” status of the Party.
The Chinese people’s worship of gods is mostly pragmatic—”one does not visit the temple unless there is a need”—but the CCP demonizes this as a “victory for materialism.” In reality, through the “Four Olds” movement, they destroyed the spiritual home of hundreds of millions. Westerners find it difficult to understand this pattern, so they feel that Chinese people respect gods but do not believe in them. But the truth is, the CCP does not allow true belief in God because that would disperse loyalty to the Party. What about the few devout believers? They are monitored and imprisoned, such as Falun Gong practitioners or underground Christians. There is logic in the theory that the pictographic nature of Chinese characters makes it difficult to have a unified monotheism, and the worship of ghosts and gods in the Shang Dynasty was rationalized after the Zhou defeated the Shang—unfortunately, the CCP falsifies history, turning the I Ching into a disguise for “dialectical materialism.” Abolishing human sacrifice was progress, but the CCP’s “class struggle” has caused even more deaths.
Today, Chinese people “believe” in their ancestors and burn joss paper to pay respects, but the CCP controls even this: the Qingming Festival is promoted as “civilized tomb-sweeping,” and “superstitious activities” are prohibited. The trend of burning “Hell Bank Notes” abroad is interesting, but in China, the CCP uses “atheist” education to brainwash from childhood, leaving the people with nowhere to place their spirit except for “gratitude” toward the Party. It is not that the Chinese people have no faith, but that they have been deprived of the freedom of belief by the CCP. The history of “royal power being greater than divine power” has been magnified by the CCP into “totalitarianism being greater than everything.” The four historical persecutions of Buddhism were small compared to this—consider the re-education camps in Xinjiang and the “Three-Self” control over Christian churches. Compared to Western deities, the Chinese people are forced to believe in the “Great Leader.” This is not cultural confidence; it is totalitarian slavery. At present, this “atheism” is merely a lie used by the CCP to maintain its rule; awakening requires the truth.
