Negotiating Religion in Modern China

by Poon, Shuk-Wah

• ISBN13: 9789629964214
• ISBN10: 962996421X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-12-01
• Publisher: Chinese Univ Pr

Summary

Shuk-wah Poon traces the history of the Chinese state's relationship with religion from 1900 to 1937. The revolutionary regime failed condemned religious practice in the early twentieth century, suppressing "superstitious" belief in favor of a secular, more enlightened society. Drawing on newspapers and unpublished official documents, this book focuses on the case of Guangzhou, largely because of the city's sustained involvement in the revolutionary quest for a "new" China. Shuk-wah Poon pays particular attention to the implementation of policy and citizens' attempts at adaptation and resistance.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Figures	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Religion, Modernity, and the Reordering of Urban Space	p. 4
Guangzhou and its Political and Cultural Setting	p. 6
Sources and Structure of the Book	p. 11
Collapse of the Imperial Order	p. 17
Introduction	p. 17
State, Society, and Religion in Late Imperial Guangzhou	p. 18
The Late Qing Reforms and the Revamping of the Religious Landscape	p. 24
Superstition: A Modernist Discourse in the Making	p. 27
The 1911 Revolution and the Measures against Religion	p. 35
Conclusion	p. 38
Religion and State-making in the Early 1920s	p. 41
Introduction	p. 41
State-building, Urban Planning, and the Expropriation of Temples	p. 42
Popular Resistance and the Triumph of the Nationalists	p. 52
Changes in the Religious Landscape	p. 58
Conclusion	p. 64
Politicizing Superstition and Remaking Urban Space	p. 67
Introduction	p. 67
A Modern State in Search of a Modern Society	p. 68
Reordering the Urban Landscape: New Civic and Religious Space	p. 72
Removal of the City God and Diviners	p. 78
Nationalizing Religious Space: From Divine Power to Native Goods	p. 83
Conclusion	p. 90
Refashioning Rituals and Festivals	p. 93
Introduction	p. 93
New Civic Rituals and the Solar Calendar	p. 94
Remaking the Double Seventh Festival	p. 100
Nationalizing the Hungry Ghost Festival	p. 108
Conclusion	p. 116
Government and the Remaking of Religion in the 1930s	p. 117
Introduction	p. 117
Reusing Ancient Sages and the Making of a New Religion	p. 118
Accommodating Buddhism in the New Political Culture	p. 125
Witch-hunting and the ôPurificationö of Daoism	p. 136
Conclusion	p. 142
Conclusion Negotiating Religion in Republican Chinese Cities	p. 145
Notes	p. 157
Bibliography	p. 183
Index	p. 201
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