Religion In The 1500s

From the 1500s to the 1800s, religion was inherently a part of daily life and had an inevitable influence on state governing. China’s rigid state formation was founded 200 years prior and aspects from this style of governing are still in tact today (Religions Place In the Politics of Ancient India). The Chinese generally lived by the standards of Confucius; a philosophy focused on humanity, relationships, and placed a high value on education (John Lagerwey, p. 234). Meanwhile in India, which was conquered by the Muslim Mughals in the 1500s, the people were practicing both Hinduism, the worship of many God’s incorporating an austere caste system and a strong belief in reincarnation; and Islam, the Faith of the Muslims, requiring absolute
The Chinese were tolerant to other religions but also had the ability to control their influence. The most widely practiced belief in China was Confucianism, an ideology that shaped the social structure throughout China and guided the feudalistic society. Although the Chinese government allowed the practices of other beliefs, they required immense knowledge and strong understanding of Confucianism with the Civil Service Exam, an exam that determined your future. By requiring this exam, the Chinese government was restricting the people’s freedom to fully preach and practice another religion. Any other religions that were practiced in China including Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and more were not at all a threat to the Chinese because they had such a stable and longstanding government. In India, religious tolerance was imperative in order for the Mughals to maintain any control in the majorly Hindu country. The Emperor, Akbar the Great, has been credited with cultivating the cohesion of the Muslim and Hinduism with his inclusive policies (S.M.Ikram p. 156). These policies included actions such as his effort to appoint many Hindus to high-ranking
In China, developing the monarchy is most important for the state to direct their money towards; while in India, they adhere more towards their religious identity. The architecture in a given country is a cultural expression of the difference in religious and political ideals. China had an absence of religious architecture and buildings in the city, this political statement showed the strong centralized state (Kuhn, Dieter, p.187). Religion was controlled by the state and independent cities with religious centers were viewed at authoritative rivals and strictly prevented by the Chinese government. A common structure in China was ancestral temples of the royal families, which were viewed as a symbol of state and not religion (The State, the Family, and the Individual, p. 234). In India, Islamic architecture and religious infrastructures were everywhere. All political beautification projects revolved around the creation or demolition of religious structures; the more elaborate and impressive religious structures were, the happier the people were with the rule of the state. Kings in India built magnificent temples and granted large endowments in an effort to keep the people happy and promote the importance of dharma in daily life (Greg Sarafan: Muslim Hindu Religious Interactions in the Mughal Empire). The extreme prevalence of religion stressed the