Atlas of Religion in China: Social and Geographical Contexts

Yang, Fenggang

doi:10.1163/9789004369900

Cited by 84 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…In addition, no Taoist and Buddhist sacred mountains are found in places in Northwest China, such as Xinjiang, which is more influenced by Islam, and which brought Taoism and Chinese Buddhism closer to the centre-south of China (Dillon, 2003). Such geographical distribution is consistent with the Atlas of Religion in China (Yang, 2018).…”

Section: Geographical Distribution Of Sacred Mountainssupporting

confidence: 88%

The geography of religions: Comparing Buddhist and Taoist sacred mountains in China

Qiu

Pei

Lin

2022

Geographical Research

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Increasing attention has been given to geographical contributions to cultural heritage in religion. However, comparative quantitative research remains scarce. As a first attempt, this study presents findings from comparative spatial and statistical analyses of the geographical distribution and features of mountains in China sacred in Taoism and Buddhism. Because both have strong orientations to natural environments, we find more similarities than differences between them, even though the two religions have different origins, philosophies, and doctrines. The results empirically support the influences of Taoism on Buddhism in China, findings that supplement current understandings of Buddhism in China in terms of the geographical dynamics of integration and sinicisation of Chinese culture. The findings also enrich current debates, including in this journal, emphasising the importance of environmental symbols in studies on geography and religion. Connecting humanity with physical geography in light of the changes, including grief, being wrought in the Anthropocene, we hope to inspire more geographically grounded and methodologically eclectic studies on religions.

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Section: Geographical Distribution Of Sacred Mountainssupporting

confidence: 88%

The geography of religions: Comparing Buddhist and Taoist sacred mountains in China

Qiu

Pei

Lin

2022

Geographical Research

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“…For example, one study finds an uptick in the self‐reported importance of religion in people's lives in China during the 1990s, followed by stability in the 2000s (Hu 2017). Yang (2014:567, 2018) has similarly reported the occurrence of some religious revival in China, following the 1966–79 period when religious practice was forbidden and “all temples, mosques, and churches were closed down.” But there have not been similar studies on most Asian or African countries.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Exceptional Is the West? An Investigation of Worldwide Trends in Societal‐Average Levels of Religiosity, 1981–2020

Roberts

2023

Scientific Study of Religion

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Research shows most Western societies became less religious over recent decades. But we know much less about the rest of the world. Is the non‐Western world also becoming less religious, as some varieties of secularization theory would lead us to expect? Using 1981‐to‐2020 World/European Values Survey data from 103 countries, this study describes, and uses mixed‐effects models to rigorously estimate, religious trends in eight world regions and five former Soviet and Eastern Bloc (FSEB) subregions. Results indicate that religious decline occurred in Latin America, Central and Baltic Europe, and (recently) in the Mideast and North Africa. But there is little evidence of such decline elsewhere in Asia, Africa, or the FSEB—despite the broad reach of many modernizing social trends. These findings do not lend support to a strong version of secularization theory but may be consistent with some versions of the idea that modernization can make people less religious.

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“…Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Marxism prevails and has become the new orthodoxy in mainland China, and thus atheism, materialism, and scientism are taught through the entire education system (Yang 1999). Under Mao's leadership and particularly during the Cultural revolution (1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974)(1975)(1976), religious beliefs were proclaimed as 'feudal superstition', religious organisations were banned, and religious activities were widely prohibited (Yang 2018). Owing to China's opening and reform in 1980s, religious freedom was written into the Chinese constitution with an aim to promote spiritual revival and development and regulate faith practices (The Law Library of Congress 2018).…”

Section: Religious and Cultural Landscape Of Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

“Cross Is Fix”: Christianity and Christian Community as Vehicles for Overcoming Settlement Crises of Chinese Immigrant Families

Wang

2022

Religions

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Mainland Chinese grow up in a nation with Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism as their cultural heritage, and are educated with atheism, materialism, and scientism in contemporary China. However, the high rate of conversion to Christianity among Chinese immigrants in Anglo-Saxon countries constitutes a distinctive feature in studies of migration. This paper aims to investigate the reasons for becoming Christian and the development of spirituality of a group of first-generation Chinese Australians from mainland China. All the seven participants are highly educated women who migrated to Australia as adults and had young children at the time of conversion. Data were collected mainly through open-ended in-depth interviews, and triangulated with private conversations, observations, and WeChat messaging. This ethnographic qualitative research found that these immigrants’ Christian attempts were prominently triggered by settlement crisis as new immigrants and as immigrant parents. They see Christianity and church community as a strong vehicle to resolve integration difficulties in a new society, such as economic and career insecurities, social isolation, language barriers, marital crises, and parenting dilemmas. Their Christian movement is facilitated by identified ideological congruence but hindered by cultural conflicts between their newly acquired Christian doctrines and their previously instructed values. The findings have implications for immigrant families, secular institutions, and religious organizations, as to the psychosocial well-being of new migrants.

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Atlas of Religion in China: Social and Geographical Contexts

Abstract: Disclaimer: The maps in this atlas are solely for the scholarly purpose of visualizing characteristics of topography, population, and religious venues. None of the maps should be taken as an official demarcation of territories or borders by any political or religious organizations.

Cited by 84 publications

References 95 publications

The geography of religions: Comparing Buddhist and Taoist sacred mountains in China

The geography of religions: Comparing Buddhist and Taoist sacred mountains in China

How Exceptional Is the West? An Investigation of Worldwide Trends in Societal‐Average Levels of Religiosity, 1981–2020

“Cross Is Fix”: Christianity and Christian Community as Vehicles for Overcoming Settlement Crises of Chinese Immigrant Families

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