Confucian church

The Confucian church (Chinese: 孔教会; pinyin: Kǒng jiàohuì or Rú jiàohuì) is a Confucian religious and social institution of the congregational type. It was first proposed by Kang Youwei (1858–1927) near the end of the 19th century, as a state religion of Qing China following a European model.

The "Confucian church" model was later replicated by overseas Chinese communities, who established independent Confucian churches active at the local level, especially in Indonesia and the United States.

There has been a revival of Confucianism in contemporary China since around 2000, which has triggered the proliferation of Confucian academies (书院; shūyuàn); the opening and reopening of temples of Confucius; the new phenomenon of grassroots Confucian communities or congregations (社区儒学; shèqū rúxué); and renewed talks about a national "Confucian church". With the participation of many Confucian leaders, a national Church of Confucius (孔圣会; Kǒngshènghuì) was established on November 1, 2015; its current spiritual leader is Jiang Qing.