Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
1.1
0.8
Journals
Religions
Special Issues
Religion and Crisis in Late Imperial and Modern China
share announcement

Religion and Crisis in Late Imperial and Modern China

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2023) | Viewed by 5084

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Thoralf Klein

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Relations, Politics and History, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK
Interests: social and cultural history of China, 18th to 20th centuries; religion in modern China, with special emphasis on Christianity and political religions; imperialism and (post-)colonialism; representations of China in the West; transcultural studies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We welcome contributions for a Special Issue on “Religion and Crisis in Late Imperial and Modern China”, covering the period from the mid-17th century to the present. Crisis is understood here as a specific moment in time that sees a coalescence of circumstances and/or developments existentially threatening, or appearing to threaten, the status quo. Crises come in different forms and sizes, and they occur at both the personal and collective levels, although it is obvious that personal experiences of and responses to a crisis are shaped by the social and cultural context within which that person lives (cf. Diamond 2019, 32–49). Crises are “both ‘real’, in the sense of actual changes in social processes, and socially constructed, in the sense that different interpretations of the crisis have implications for its outcome” (Walby 2015, 24). In fact, people’s “experience of crisis” (Roitman 2014, 2) may matter more than real facts, and in some cases, crises may entirely be a product of the imaginary. Crises generate uncertainty, as the only assured fact is that they will end but when and how they will be resolved remains unclear (Koselleck 1958, 127). Living through them is thus fraught with pain and fear. On the other hand, they may also be perceived as a transitory state on the trajectory towards a better future, thus carrying a promise of betterment or renewal.

Contributors are invited to add to a systematic evaluation of the topic by presenting case studies addressing any form of religion that has existed in China between the early Qing period and the present day (including, of course, popular religion). Case studies may address, but are not limited to, the following guiding questions:

  • How did religions conceptualise crisis, both at the individual and collective levels? What concepts and techniques, if any, did they provide to predict and diagnose crises?
  • How did individuals and communities mobilise religious practices, concepts and—where applicable—beliefs to respond to crises? In so doing, how did they navigate between tradition and innovation? How did crises impact on religion—for example, to what extent did they lead to changes in concepts, practices, and affiliations?
  • How did religious individuals and religious communities organize pragmatic responses to crises, e.g., by means of political activism, philanthropic, or humanitarian activities?
  • To what extent did religious practices, concepts, and—where applicable—beliefs themselves cause crises, both at the personal level (e.g., where they failed to generate desired outcomes) and at the collective level (e.g., sectarian rebellion or violent responses to religious change such as the ‘missionary cases’)?
  • To what extent did the rise of secular worldviews and political movements such as scientism, nationalism and Marxism lead to a crisis of religion, both as an abstract concept and in the form of concrete religious communities? Did religious institutions or organizations conceive of national policies regulating or even attacking religion as a crisis and how did they respond? Conversely, to what extent can the renewal of religious activities and spirituality over the past decades be seen, as the French sinologist Claude Meyer (2021, 25–38) has recently argued, as a response to the moral crisis Chinese society has found itself in?

Proposals including a title, an abstract of up to 500 words and a short bio of approx. 200 words should be submitted to Thoralf Klein () by 15 July 2022.

Dr. Thoralf Klein
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • religion
  • crisis
  • China
  • crisis management
  • disaster
  • war
  • anti-religious movements

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 917 KiB  
Article
Cheng Yu’s Response to the Moral Crisis and the Modern Fate of Confucian China
by Dadui Yao
Religions 2023, 14(8), 956; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14080956 - 25 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1287
Abstract
Cheng Yu is a significant yet underexplored figure in modern Chinese history. His ideas on Confucianism were closely linked to three pivotal moments of crisis in modern Chinese history: The First Sino-Japanese War, the May Fourth Movement, and the Second Sino-Japanese War. The [...] Read more.
Cheng Yu is a significant yet underexplored figure in modern Chinese history. His ideas on Confucianism were closely linked to three pivotal moments of crisis in modern Chinese history: The First Sino-Japanese War, the May Fourth Movement, and the Second Sino-Japanese War. The First Sino-Japanese War led to the Qing government’s Hundred Days Reform, initiated by Kang Youwei in 1898. When the Reform failed, Cheng, the secretary of Timothy Richard, assisted Kang in his escape and became Kang’s disciple. In 1906, he traveled to Japan to investigate the development of industries, manufacturing, and hospitals, but his primary interest lay in Japan’s educational model. Cheng believed that China’s education lacked moral advancement compared to Japan’s, and he deemed it necessary to promote practical learning and moral education. Following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, he vigorously advocated moral instruction and hoped the government would establish Confucianism as the state religion. He believed it was the only way the government could preserve the country’s culture and save China from imminent destruction. Cheng’s ideas of Confucianism were emblematic of his era. In 1938, he attempted to reform Confucianism and promote Confucian moral education in the school system by cultivating the Chinese people’s cultural confidence and national identity. Cheng’s solution to China’s moral crisis was a response to the challenging question of the modern fate of Confucian China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Crisis in Late Imperial and Modern China)
18 pages, 920 KiB  
Article
Struggling in Crisis: The Evolution of Rainmaking in Transitional China, 1912–1949
by Jik-hung Au
Religions 2023, 14(7), 888; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070888 - 10 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1162
Abstract
This paper seeks to investigate China’s response to the crisis of survival in the early twentieth century through the lens of rainmaking, a ritual practice that connected with the transcendental nature of religious ideas, yet refused to be categorized primarily as Buddhism or [...] Read more.
This paper seeks to investigate China’s response to the crisis of survival in the early twentieth century through the lens of rainmaking, a ritual practice that connected with the transcendental nature of religious ideas, yet refused to be categorized primarily as Buddhism or Daoism. The time-honored ritual, straddling China’s transition from a monarchy to a republic, was enmeshed in a web of local and national crises with multiple dimensions. Its struggle for a place in the age of reason and rationality speaks volumes about the agonizing process by which the Chinese reconstructed their cultural identity in order to conform to a preconceived global narrative. Adapting rainmaking to the discourse of modernity set the stage for conflict and negotiation between the forces of social transformation and social conservation. The boundary between these forces is difficult to define, but their dynamic equilibrium shaped and reshaped the historical contour of rainmaking, illuminating the strength of China’s social inertia that could withstand the revolutionary force of a regime change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Crisis in Late Imperial and Modern China)
13 pages, 906 KiB  
Article
The Spirit-Writing Movement in the Chaozhou Region: Response to Modern Crises (1840–1949)
by Guoping Li
Religions 2023, 14(4), 429; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040429 - 23 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1572
Abstract
The spirit-writing (fuluan 扶鸞 or fuji 扶乩) movement was a response to modern crises in the domain of Chinese popular religion. From the nineteenth century, spirit-writing cults sprang up throughout China and became a national religious trend. These cults were centered around [...] Read more.
The spirit-writing (fuluan 扶鸞 or fuji 扶乩) movement was a response to modern crises in the domain of Chinese popular religion. From the nineteenth century, spirit-writing cults sprang up throughout China and became a national religious trend. These cults were centered around moral reform promoted through spirit-writing and aimed to reorient traditional values. This article focuses on how the Chinese conceptualized modern crises as jie 劫 by means of spirit-writing, expounded crises in the local context, and reacted to these ideas and crises in their religious and social practices. In the Chaozhou region, the movement arose in the context of disasters, political chaos, and the transmission of foreign culture and religions from the late nineteenth century. Chaozhou spirit-writing cults discoursed on the concept of jie as their doctrinal foundation and endeavored to save the world by receiving moral revelations from deities. They regarded doing good deeds as a way of cultivation and urged people to perform good deeds to avert disasters. Through the planchette, they expounded the meaning of good deeds and enriched their crisis theories in their religious practice. The movement demonstrated the initiative of popular religion, interpreting and reacting to modern crises by using traditional soteriological notions and practices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Crisis in Late Imperial and Modern China)
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop