The first religion in China was of a shamanistic sort with animalistic attributes. These "wu" shamans engaged in classic shamanistic activities such divination, healing, offerings and rainmaking. After shamanism you can find other indigenous religions centered an ancestor veneration and then a bit later worship of nature deities. The first of the "primary" religions of China was Taoism. One could argue that early Taoism was a continuation of Wu shamanism. These practices date from the 4th century BCE and eventually became a structured religion in the second century BCE. Taoism becomes a state religion in the 5th century.

Buddhism came to China from India in the 3rd century. For most people Buddhism was an activity of making offerings and chanting to Buddhist deities in order to be reborn in a heaven-like paradise. The upper class elites also practiced a more philosophical style of Buddhism centered on scripture study and then later meditation with the genesis of Chan (zen) Buddhism starting in the 7th century.

The other main religion of China is Confucianism. Its a humanistic philosophical tradition. Confucius lived in the 6th century BCE though most of the texts attributed to him were written a dozens to few hundreds years after his death. It goes through periods of persecution and favor with a peak of its influence occurring during the 12th century. Many of the various persecutions of Buddhism in China were influenced by the strong antagonism of the religion by adherents of Confucianism. The main arguments against Buddhism were that it was a foreign influence and was parasitic on society with so much land and wealth held by tax-exempt Monasteries.