Description
Book SynopsisSince its announcement by Xi Jinping in 2015, “Sinicization” has become the slogan that guides Chinese official policy towards religion. What does it mean? What effects is it having on Chinese religions? Where will it lead? This book, with contributions from experts in the major religious traditions in China, is one of the first in English that answers these questions. From the top down, Sinicization is a project to control all forms of religion in China, even ancient indigenous forms, to make them conform to the demands of its Party-State. From the bottom up, however, religious believers are using the slogan either to sincerely attempt to adapt traditional practices to their modern cultural context or to protect their faith by offering lip service to government demands – or some combination of the two.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures Notes on Contributors Introduction Richard Madsen 1 Sinicization or Chinafication? Cultural Assimilation vs. Political Domestication of Christianity in China and Beyond Fenggang Yang 2 “Official Confucianism” as Newly Sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party Yong Chen 3 The Sinicization of Buddhism and Its Competing Reinventions of Tradition Weishan Huang 4 Already Post-Modern: Buddhist Stone Images in Luoyang and the Question of Sinicization Buddhist Stone Images in Luoyang and the Question of Sinicization Dong Wang 5 Faith in the Future/Practices of the Past A Sinicized Islamic Revival among the Hui of Xining Alexander Stewart 6 Xiejiao, Cults, and New Religions: Making Sense of the New Un-Sinicized Religions on China’s Fringe J. Gordon Melton Index
