God in China
Programme One
Taoism and Folk Religion Tim Gardam, Principal of St Anne’s College, Oxford, travels through this vast nation of 1.4 billionpeople, to explore the role of “God in China”.
Taoism is China’s only indigenous, formalised religion and is inextricably intertwined with Chinese traditional folk religion.
Tim Gardam explores how the Communist Party is reconnecting with its religious heritage and actively promoting it through tourism. He visits one of Taoism’s key sacred sites, Maoshan, which boasts the tallest statue of the founder of Taoism, Laotze, in China. And he meets a Communist party member now turned Taoist patron.
