Christian-Inspired Groups in the People's Republic of China after 1978: Reaction of State and Party Authorities.

Starting in 1978, the spiritual and religious life of China has shown a strong and diverse awakening due in large part to the weakening ideological and organizational control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCF) - Christian-inspired groups which combine organizational and doctrinal elements of Christian, as well as Chinese folk religious tradition, have a special appeal for the "losers" of China's modernization process in the countryside. Since the Ming dynasty, spiritual-religious groups have been perceived as an indicator of socio-economic instability and potential political unrest, and, therefore, pose an ideological and organizational threat to the Chinese State. With a still unchanged repressive policy towards spiritual-religious groups, the CCF has not been very successful in stopping the spread of sptritual-religious groups. Finding a more comprehensive approach to religion and to the interlinked socio-economic problems is one of the great challenges for the future of the Communist regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]