Yang Fenggang, Religion in China: Survival and Revival Under Communist Rule (2011)

Religion in China: Survival and Revival Under Communist Rule

Author:   Yang, Fenggang     
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 28, 2011)               
ISBN: 978 0 19 973565 5
Format: Hardback
Pages: 272
List price(s): 60.00 GBP  99.00 USD  
Publication date: 15 December 2011

Short description
In Religion in China, Fenggang Yang provides a comprehensive overview of the religious change in China under Communism, drawing on his political economy approach to the sociology of religion.

Full description
Religion in China survived the most radical suppression in human history--a total ban of any religion during and after the Cultural Revolution (1966-1979). All churches, temples, and mosques were closed down, converted for secular uses, or turned to museums for the purpose of atheist education. China remains under Communist rule. But in the last three decades, religion has revived and thrived. Christianity has been the fastest growing religion for decades. Many Buddhist and Daoist temples have been restored. The state even sponsors large Buddhist gatherings and ceremonies to venerate Confucius and the legendary ancestors of the Chinese people. Traditional Chinese temples have sprung up in some areas. On the other hand, quasi-religious qigong practices, once ubiquitous in public parks throughout the country, are now rare. All the while, the authorities have carried out waves of atheist propaganda, anti-superstition campaigns, severe crackdowns on the underground Christian churches and various evil cults. How do we explain the religious situation in China today? How do we explain the religious situation in China today? How did religion survive the eradication measures in the 1960s and 1970s? How do various religious groups manage to revive despite strict regulations? Why have some religions grown fast in the reform era? Why have some forms of spirituality gone through dramatic turns? In Religion in China, Fenggang Yang provides a comprehensive overview of the religious change in China under Communism, drawing on his political economy approach to the sociology of religion.

Table of contents
Preface Chapter One: Explaining Religious Vitality Chapter Two: A Definition of Religion for the Social Scientific Study of Religion Chapter Three: Chinese Marxist Atheism and Its Policy Implications Chapter Four: Regulating Religion under Communism Chapter Five: The Red, Black, and Gray Markets of Religion Chapter Six: The Shortage Economy of Religion under Communism Chapter Seven: Oligopoly Dynamics: China and Beyond