China in a Secular Age
Coping with the Legacy of a Religious State
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Abstract
This short work discusses the ambiguities of China as a secular state. An exceptionally long tradition of statecraft evolving through a series of important religious changes, and the encounter of China with other empires and their civilizations, have shaped the present situation of intermingling between religion and state in a society where belief takes a wide variety of forms. The first part of the essay presents the concepts that help make sense of Chinese religions, paying attention to comparative approaches but also decentering the analysis by presenting the concepts Chinese use to explain their situation to outsiders. The second part offers a portrait of the nexus between state and religion before 1949, from ancient times, when the monarchy was deified, to late modernity, when the concepts of the secular, after travelling from Europe to Japan, shaped Chinese thinking about culture and power. The third part will offer a description of the intermingling between a state committed to a hard version of secularism and different religious establishments, as well as a portrait of social forces in the liminal space between the political and religious sphere. Finally, the fourth part will describe the realities of other societies with a Chinese heritage to show that a plurality of forms of secularity co-exist in the sinosphere.
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China in a Secular Age
Coping with the Legacy of a Religious State
In: Brill Research Perspectives in Religion and PoliticsSearch for other papers by André Laliberté in
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Abstract
This short work discusses the ambiguities of China as a secular state. An exceptionally long tradition of statecraft evolving through a series of important religious changes, and the encounter of China with other empires and their civilizations, have shaped the present situation of intermingling between religion and state in a society where belief takes a wide variety of forms. The first part of the essay presents the concepts that help make sense of Chinese religions, paying attention to comparative approaches but also decentering the analysis by presenting the concepts Chinese use to explain their situation to outsiders. The second part offers a portrait of the nexus between state and religion before 1949, from ancient times, when the monarchy was deified, to late modernity, when the concepts of the secular, after travelling from Europe to Japan, shaped Chinese thinking about culture and power. The third part will offer a description of the intermingling between a state committed to a hard version of secularism and different religious establishments, as well as a portrait of social forces in the liminal space between the political and religious sphere. Finally, the fourth part will describe the realities of other societies with a Chinese heritage to show that a plurality of forms of secularity co-exist in the sinosphere.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 632 | 210 | 61 |
| Full Text Views | 20 | 5 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 58 | 17 | 0 |