Animal Life Release Control Extends to Taoism

After Buddhists, Taoists also drafted regulations to control the practice, implying more United Front involvement in the management of religion.

By Zhu Yaozu

May 1, 2025

Taoists performing a ceremony of releasing fish into the Yangtze River in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. From Weibo.

“Bitter Winter” has repeatedly covered efforts by the Chinese Communist Party through the United Front Work Department, to curb and control the widespread practice of Buddhist life release. 

Life release is a cherished Buddhist practice in which people lovingly purchase fish, birds, and other animals to set them free into their natural homes. Some CCP media have called life release a “feudal superstition” that needs regulation. While it is understandable to be concerned about commercial activities around major shrines and the impact of releasing non-native species on the environment, it is important to recognize that these worries should not overshadow a beautiful tradition that has thrived for at least 1,700 years. 

Concerns have also been expressed about the United Front’s attempt to increase the surveillance of Buddhist practices in general through the stricter control of life release.

Less well-known is that life release in China is not only a Buddhist practice. Taoists also perform life release, expressing the religion’s principles of respect for nature and universal harmony. Some temples also finance themselves by selling animals that devotees then release.

Thus, it is unsurprising that the United Front wants to extend its control of Buddhist life release to its Taoist counterpart.

Li Guangfu’s keynote speech at the April 14 meeting. From Weibo.

On April 14, 2025, the CCP-controlled China Taoist Association gathered for a meeting focused on regulating life release. Li Guangfu, the President of the China Taoist Association, gave the opening speech. High United Front Work Department bureaucrats joined to offer guidance. The China Taoist Association has also drafted its own “Draft Measures to Regulate Life Release Activities,” parallel to those prepared by the China Buddhist Association. Both emphasize that implementing control over life release should be an opportunity to study “Xi Jinping’s thought on ecology” and promote “strict governance of religion,” a policy that calls for direct intervention of the United Front in the management of religious communities, without relying only on the bureaucrats of the five approved religions.

Source: bitterwinter.org