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Chinese folk religion is sometimes seen as a constituent part of Chinese traditional religion, but more often, the two are regarded as synonymous. With around 454 million adherents or about 6.6% of the world population, Chinese folk religion is one of the major religious traditions in the world.
The Eastern religions are the religions which originated in East, South and Southeast Asia and thus have dissimilarities with Western, African and Iranian religions. [1] Eastern religions include: [2] [3] Taoic religions or East Asian religions such as Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese folk religion, and Shinto
Syncretism is a common feature of East Asian religions, often making it difficult to recognise individual faiths. [10] [11] Further complications arise from the inconsistent use of many terms. "Tao religion" is often used for Taoism itself, [12] as well as being used for many Tao-based new religious movements. [13]
While the word religion is difficult to define, one standard model of religion used in religious studies courses defines it as [a] system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations ...
South Asia was primarily Hindu in ancient times. Buddhism appeared around 500 BCE. [10]Christianity and Islam made an appearance in Kerala during this time period; Saint Thomas is believed to have travelled to Kerala soon after the death of Jesus and converted some people, [11] while the first mosque to be built in India was built during the Islamic prophet Muhammad's lifetime in Kerala. [12]
It is the most widely practiced religion of Southeast Asia, North Africa, Western Asia, and Central Asia, while Muslim-majority countries also exist in parts of South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Europe. There are also several Islamic republics, including Iran, Pakistan, Mauritania, and Afghanistan.
The largest religions in Asia are Islam and Hinduism, both with approximately 1.1 billion adherents. In 2010, the Pew Research Center found five of the ten most religiously diverse regions in the world to be in Asia. [91] Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated in India, a country of South Asia.
The culture of South Asia, also known as Desi culture, is a mixture of several cultures in and around the Indian subcontinent. Ancient South Asian culture was primarily based in Hinduism , which itself formed as a mixture of Vedic religion and indigenous traditions (like Dravidian folk religion ), and later Buddhist influences. [ 1 ]