Coming in 2009

Chinese Religions: The eBook will serve as a comprehensive yet accessible historical survey of Chinese religions. It will cover the whole spectrum of Chinese religious history, providing a thorough and balanced coverage of major developments, texts, traditions, beliefs, and practices. The book will adopt a combination of diachronic and thematic approaches, starting with an exploration of the earliest forms of religious beliefs and practices in ancient China, and ending with a discussion of present-day trends and predicaments. Whereas much of the book will be dedicated to the rich and multifaceted religious heritage of pre-modern China, there will also be an adequate coverage of the present, as the final two chapters will focus on religious life in modern China, including a discussion of recent globalizing trends and the spread of Chinese religious notions and traditions throughout the world, including the West. The historically far-reaching impact of Chinese traditions, especially Buddhism and Confucianism, on the religious history of the rest of East Asia will also be noted.

A substantial part of the book will focus on the three main Chinese religious traditions—the so-called “three teachings,” namely Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism—each of which will be allocated two chapters. However, other relevant traditions—such as popular religion, Christianity, and Islam—will also receive sufficient coverage. While separate chapters will be dedicated to the main traditions, throughout the book there will be discussions of the mutual influences and intersections among the diverse religions, as well as their interactions with other social forces and cultural phenomena (such as political authority, literary production, and artistic representation). There will also be a separate chapter that will focus on the patterns of engagement among the varied traditions, which will highlight the models of religious pluralism that evolved in the course of Chinese history.

Overall, the book will avoid a tendency to treat the main religious traditions as hermetically sealed from the others. Instead, it will highlight the organic nature of much of religious life in traditional Chinese society, and point to the varied responses to religious diversity among social elites and commoners. At the same time, it will also underscore the internal integrity and distinct identity of each of the main traditions, as expressed in its literature, doctrines, practices, and institutions (although that will be less applicable to a syncretic tradition like popular religion).