Description
Book SynopsisThe religious landscape in Asia has long been diverse, with various forms of syncretic traditions and pragmatic practices continuously having been challenged by centrifugal forces of differentiation. This anthology explores representations and managements of religious diversity in Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and diaspora religions originating in these countries, seen through the lenses of history, identity, state, ritual and geography. In addition to presenting empirical cases, the chapters also address theoretical and methodological reflections using Asia as a laboratory for further comparative research of the relevance and use of 'religious diversity'. Religious Diversity in Asia was made possible by a framework grant from the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation allowing the grant holder (Jørn Borup) and two colleagues (Marianne Q. Fibiger and Lene Kühle) to host a workshop at Aarhus University and to co-arrange workshops in Delhi and Nagoya. We would like to thank professors Arshad Alam and Michiaki Okuyama for hosting these latter workshops at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Nanzan University, and we would like to thank Professor Chong-Suh Kim for the invitation for Jørn Borup to visit Seoul National University. We would also like to extend our gratitude to all the scholars who participated in the workshops and to all the authors we subsequently invited to contribute to our endeavor to create this academically relevant volume.
Table of ContentsList of Tables and Figures Notes on Contributors Introduction Jørn Borup and Marianne Q. Fibiger Part 1: Religious Diversities – Past and Present 1 Religious Diversity on the Korean Peninsula, Past and Present Don Baker 2 Religious Diversity in Japan Ugo Dessì 3 The Double-Layered Diversification of Religion in Post-Renovation Vietnam Chung Van Hoang PART 2: Identities 4 Some ‘Side Effects’ of Religious Diversity: Exploring Religious Conversion in the Indian Secular State Ayelet Harel-Shalev and Noa Levy 5 The Challenge of Diversity: Evangelical Missionaries and Ethno-Christianity in Reform Era Yunnan Gideon Elazar 6 From Syncretism to Split: Ethnographic Insights from a Socio-Religious Movement in India Santosh K. Singh Part 3: Education 7 Religious Diversity with Chinese Characteristics? Meanings and Implications of the Term ‘Religious Diversity’ in Contemporary Chinese Dissertations Yu Tao and Ed Griffith 8 How Religious Diversity Is Represented and Taught in Asian School Textbooks Satoko Fujiwara Part 4: Ritual 9 Worshipping Durga(s) Dasara, Durga Puja and the Dynamics of Goddess Worship in a Former Princely State in Odisha, India Uwe Skoda 10 Religious Diversity and Interreligious Contestations in Sri Lanka: the Encounter between Buddhism and Islam in the Galebandara Cult in Kurunagala Kalinga Tudor Silva Part 5: Diaspora 11 La Caridad, Oshún, and Kuan Yin in Afro-Chinese Religion in Cuba Martin A. Tsang 12 Religious Diversity among Asians in Old Diasporas Jorn Borup and Marianne Q. Fibiger Conclusion Lene Kühle Index
