The revival of religious belief and practice in China over the past thirty years, after decades of severe repression, has attracted much attention by scholars. Social scientific studies of religion by mainland Chinese scholars has also increased in recent years, using theories and methods developed mainly outside China. Increasingly, mainland scholars are also debating whether theories and concepts developed in western societies are fully appropriate for the study of religion in Chinese societies. This volume presents a selection of papers by sociologists, anthropologists, and historians of religion on these themes. The chapters include rich field studies of particular religions and religious activities, along with theoretical and historical reflections by scholars inside and outside China on problems and opportunities in the revival of the social scientific study of religion in Chinese societies.

Contents Introduction Graeme Lang and Fenggang Yang Part I: Methodological and Theoretical Challenges Chapter 1: Thirty Years of Religious Studies in China He Guanghu Chapter 2: History as a Factor in the Social Scientific Study of Chinese Religion J. Gordon Melton Chapter 3: Explanations of International Differences in Rleigion That May Apply to China V.A. Daniel Olson Chapter 4: The Dilemma of Chinese Religious Studies within the Framework of Western Religious Theories Fan Lizhu Chapter 5: Religion in China: Some Introductory Notes for the Intrepid Western Scholar Eileen Barker Chapter 6: Local Ritual Traditions of Southeast China: A Challenge to Definitions of Religion and Theories of Ritual Kenneth Dean Part II: Identities, Organizations, and Societies Chapter 7: Contemporary Chinese Beliefs and Spiritual Pursuits Today Yuan Yue Chapter 8: Exploring the Relationship between Religion and Ethnicity in China He Qimlin Chapter 9: From Grassroots Association to Civil Society Organization: A Case Study of the Hebei Province Dragon Tablet Fair Gao Bingzhong and Ma Qiang Chapter 10: On the Problem of Developing a Mechanism for the Participation of Religion in the Social Services Sector Liu Peng Chapter 11: Religion and Environmentalism in Chinese Societies Graeme Lang and Lu Yunfeng Chapter 12: Secular State and Religious Society in Mainland China and Taiwan Richard Madsen