This essay explores a few of the reasons for the failure of Western theories to capture Chinese religious experiences. It will include Durkheim's insight that "The sacred . . . is society in disguised form" and variants of secularization theories in contrast to Confucian ones, especially Xunzi's theory about ritual, read as representative of religion. This article will examine the impossibility of asserting a straightforward claim, without exception, that could capture the three thousand years of historical and contemporary diversity manifested by the three institutional religions (Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism), the continuous formation of popular religious movements, ever developing sectarian groups, and pan-Chinese quasi-religious practices like ancestor veneration, divination, healing practices and the like. The study will start by looking at variable categories used in the study of different religions, the similarities in assumptions among the three institutional religions such as the "good" and self-cultivation, and the central place of secularization theory in the contemporary study of Chinese religions. A theoretical orientation of both flexibility and indeterminacy is suggested based on indigenous ideas.

This article examines the history of Chinese religiosities in Saskatoon. Chinese Religion(s), described by Jordan and Li Paper and David Chuenyan Lai as an “unrecognized” religion in Canada, can just as easily be described as “misunderstood.” To better understand the “religion(s)” of Chinese Canadians, this exploratory essay concentrates on the population in Saskatoon from the mid-nineteenth to the early twenty-first centuries with the help of archival materials that range from oral interviews to photographs; headstone inscriptions and offerings at graves in Hillcrest and Woodlawn cemeteries; textual sources including newspapers, provincial statutes, books, and journal articles; and thirteen interviews conducted in 2007.这篇论文试图通过对加拿大萨斯卡通市的华人宗教信仰和实践的考察和分析说明文化上的误解是造成白人对华人负面印象的重要原因。学者描述加拿大华人的宗教信仰是“未被认可的”，不如称之为“被误解的”更为恰当。为了更好地认识和理解加籍华人的宗教信仰及其实践，这篇探索性的论文重点放在 19 世纪中至 21 世纪初加拿大萨斯卡通的华人。论文采用的档案资料包括面谈、照片、墓碑刻文、 Hillcrest 和 Woodlawn 墓地的祭物，以及包括报刊、萨省法规、书籍、期刊论文和 2007 年进行的 13 次面谈的文本资料。This article is in English.

Western media reports on the relationship between state and religion in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), American media especially often focuses on the anti-religious repression and violence in the Tibetan Autonomous and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Regions on the western border of the country. These accounts shape a particular understanding of the PRC that fuels mistrust and misunderstanding. This essay seeks to understand elements that contribute to this journalistic orientation first by looking at government documents that outline the legal parameters for the practice of religion for both citizens and foreigners; second, by examining official U.S. oversight and critique of these; and finally, by considering accounts of accommodation and cooperation between the official institutions and religious practitioners and organizations. The PRC documents include two White Papers on official policies and a memorandum on religious charity work, “Provisions” for foreigners and “Regulations” for Chinese citizens. Also included will be critical analyses and commentaries from the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China and the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor within the State Department. Finally, accounts of the evangelical Christian Gospel Rehab in Yunnan and various Hui Muslim communities and individuals in Dubai will illustrate the multiple strategies used by the government in handling religious groups. The records suggest that the mistrust and misunderstanding between the two powers grow out of vastly different assumptions, perspectives and interpretations of the situation. They show that the PRC and the U.S. are very far apart in their understanding of religion in mainland China. While the communist state understands itself to be fighting separatists and terrorists in the western border regions in order to maintain security, peace and stability in the country, the Americans see the Chinese as persecuting religious and ethnic minorities.