Spirituality has long been a fundamental element of Chinese society and culture, but when China came under the influence of Western and Japanese powers in the nineteenth century, traditional religion was seen as holding China back from modernization. Since the first Opium War against the British Empire began in 1839, successive Chinese leaders have sought to rid China of its "backward" traditions in order to build a strong China based on modernist ideas and technological innovation. Under this pretext, religious institutions came under attack by Chinese authorities and believers were forced to practice their faith in hiding. Following the death of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Mao Zedong in 1976, religion was gradually allowed to resurface. In less than half a century, Chinese spirituality has returned to prominence, and in some ways, far surpassed the importance it held before it was forcibly removed from the Chinese faithful.
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