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Recent Papers by Anna Sun
Chinese Religions Going Global, Annual Review of Sociology of Religion, 2020
Review of Religion and Chinese Society, 2020
This paper proposes a new approach to Max Weber's Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism, whi... more This paper proposes a new approach to Max Weber's Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism, which is to make the development of Confucianism, rather than the development of modern capitalism, the dependent variable in our analysis of Chinese society. In this light, Weber's treatment of Confucianism and Daoism as an interconnected whole (the orthodoxy and heterodoxy of Chinese society) may be seen as a promising step in understanding the ecological dynamics of the Chinese religious system. In this system, diverse religious traditions coexist and are often interdependent, forming a rich tapestry of practices, beliefs, and ethics that give meaning to people in their everyday lives.
Review of Religion and Chinese Society, 2020
Guest editor's introduction to the special issue "Confucianism and Daoism: From Max Weber to the ... more Guest editor's introduction to the special issue "Confucianism and Daoism: From Max Weber to the Present," Review of Religion and Chinese Society 7(2): 161-163, 2020.
Harvard Divinity Bulletin, 2019
Politics, Religion, and Ideology, 2018
Princeton University Press, 2013
Is Confucianism a religion? If so, why do most Chinese think it isn't? From ancient Confucian tem... more Is Confucianism a religion? If so, why do most Chinese think it isn't? From ancient Confucian temples, to nineteenth-century archives, to the testimony of people interviewed by the author throughout China over a period of more than a decade, this book traces the birth and growth of the idea of Confucianism as a world religion. The book begins at Oxford, in the late nineteenth century, when Friedrich Max Müller and James Legge classified Confucianism as a world religion in the new discourse of "world religions" and the emerging discipline of comparative religion. Anna Sun shows how that decisive moment continues to influence the understanding of Confucianism in the contemporary world, not only in the West but also in China, where the politics of Confucianism has become important to the present regime in a time of transition. Contested histories of Confucianism are vital signs of social and political change. Sun also examines the revival of Confucianism in contemporary China and the social significance of the ritual practice of Confucian temples. While the Chinese government turns to Confucianism to justify its political agenda, Confucian activists have started a movement to turn Confucianism into a religion. Confucianism as a world religion might have begun as a scholarly construction, but are we witnessing its transformation into a social and political reality? With historical analysis, extensive research, and thoughtful reflection, Confucianism as a World Religion will engage all those interested in religion and global politics at the beginning of the Chinese century.
Religion and Orientalism in Asian Studies, 2016
The Drama Review, 2016
What do we mean when we speak of prayer? Is it more than "an order of words, the conscious occupa... more What do we mean when we speak of prayer? Is it more than "an order of words, the conscious occupation / Of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying," as T.S. Eliot suggests? In The Varieties of Religious Experience William James speaks of prayer as "active" and "spiritual work," and he proposes a broad understanding of prayer:
The Varieties of Confucian Experience Documenting a Grassroots Revival of Tradition, 2018
Harvard Divinity Bulletin, 2017
Review of Religion and Chinese Society, 2014
In this interview, the late Robert Bellah outlines his thoughts on and academic contributions to ... more In this interview, the late Robert Bellah outlines his thoughts on and academic contributions to the study of religion in Chinese Society. Drawing on his extensive experience and knowledge, Dr. Bellah answers a wide range of questions from the role China played in his intellectual endeavors to the role of Confucianism in China, to Sheilaism and civil religion as universal phenomena.
Journal of Chinese Religions, 2017
Papers by Anna Sun
Situating Spirituality
This introductory chapter sets up the volume’s themes and contributions. The first section outlin... more This introductory chapter sets up the volume’s themes and contributions. The first section outlines contemporary interest in spirituality and argues that current approaches to understanding contemporary spirituality are insufficient. The next section outlines what we call “first wave” scholarship on spirituality that, beginning in the 1990s, documented the society-wide shift toward spirituality. We then outline the elements of “second wave” spirituality that our volume represents. Thematically, our analytic framework views spirituality as eminently social and its meaning as fundamentally relational. The next three sections highlight how spirituality, both as lived experience and as analytic category, is always influenced by social (national, political, religious, etc.) context; how spirituality is undergirded by collective practices and serves as a resource for pragmatic problem-solving; and how it is influenced by power dynamics and institutional relations. We close with an overvie...
Bloomsbury Publishing eBooks, Oct 6, 2016
<p>This chapter studies the role of women in the current revival of Confucianism, from thei... more <p>This chapter studies the role of women in the current revival of Confucianism, from their participation in intellectual debates regarding Confucianism, to their promotion of Confucian thoughts in popular culture, to their participation in ancestral worship rituals. The revival of Confucianism in Mainland China takes many forms, from a revival of Confucian education, such as after-school classes focusing on the teaching of the Confucian canon, to the intensification of scholarship on Confucian thought in academia. There is also the state's effort to promote Confucianism as the dominant Chinese cultural ideology. This myriad development is not surprising, for it corresponds to the many aspects of Confucianism as historical, political, institutional, cultural, educational, philosophical, and religious systems of ideas and practices.</p>
Situating Spirituality, 2021
The definition of spirituality shifts perpetually across time and place, but there is a pattern a... more The definition of spirituality shifts perpetually across time and place, but there is a pattern at work. The definition of “spirituality” is always in relation to the definition of “religion” in a given society. In the United States and Western Europe, spirituality has been defined by what is left out of it, by which we mean diverse beliefs and varied everyday practices outside of—or on the margins of—existing religious institutional norms. While both are distinct from secularism, spirituality is the “other” to the “norm” of religion. In contemporary China, however, a different dynamic is at work. The dominant form of religious life emphasizes diverse beliefs and everyday ritual activities that are rooted in multiple religious traditions. This means that we require new ways of thinking about spiritual life in the Chinese context and other societies, such as those in Africa, with similar polytheistic patterns of practice.
Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Religion and Values in Public Life, Dec 20, 2020
Chinese Religions Going Global, Annual Review of Sociology of Religion, 2020
Review of Religion and Chinese Society, 2020
This paper proposes a new approach to Max Weber's Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism, whi... more This paper proposes a new approach to Max Weber's Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism, which is to make the development of Confucianism, rather than the development of modern capitalism, the dependent variable in our analysis of Chinese society. In this light, Weber's treatment of Confucianism and Daoism as an interconnected whole (the orthodoxy and heterodoxy of Chinese society) may be seen as a promising step in understanding the ecological dynamics of the Chinese religious system. In this system, diverse religious traditions coexist and are often interdependent, forming a rich tapestry of practices, beliefs, and ethics that give meaning to people in their everyday lives.
Review of Religion and Chinese Society, 2020
Guest editor's introduction to the special issue "Confucianism and Daoism: From Max Weber to the ... more Guest editor's introduction to the special issue "Confucianism and Daoism: From Max Weber to the Present," Review of Religion and Chinese Society 7(2): 161-163, 2020.
Harvard Divinity Bulletin, 2019
Politics, Religion, and Ideology, 2018
Princeton University Press, 2013
Is Confucianism a religion? If so, why do most Chinese think it isn't? From ancient Confucian tem... more Is Confucianism a religion? If so, why do most Chinese think it isn't? From ancient Confucian temples, to nineteenth-century archives, to the testimony of people interviewed by the author throughout China over a period of more than a decade, this book traces the birth and growth of the idea of Confucianism as a world religion. The book begins at Oxford, in the late nineteenth century, when Friedrich Max Müller and James Legge classified Confucianism as a world religion in the new discourse of "world religions" and the emerging discipline of comparative religion. Anna Sun shows how that decisive moment continues to influence the understanding of Confucianism in the contemporary world, not only in the West but also in China, where the politics of Confucianism has become important to the present regime in a time of transition. Contested histories of Confucianism are vital signs of social and political change. Sun also examines the revival of Confucianism in contemporary China and the social significance of the ritual practice of Confucian temples. While the Chinese government turns to Confucianism to justify its political agenda, Confucian activists have started a movement to turn Confucianism into a religion. Confucianism as a world religion might have begun as a scholarly construction, but are we witnessing its transformation into a social and political reality? With historical analysis, extensive research, and thoughtful reflection, Confucianism as a World Religion will engage all those interested in religion and global politics at the beginning of the Chinese century.
Religion and Orientalism in Asian Studies, 2016
The Drama Review, 2016
What do we mean when we speak of prayer? Is it more than "an order of words, the conscious occupa... more What do we mean when we speak of prayer? Is it more than "an order of words, the conscious occupation / Of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying," as T.S. Eliot suggests? In The Varieties of Religious Experience William James speaks of prayer as "active" and "spiritual work," and he proposes a broad understanding of prayer:
The Varieties of Confucian Experience Documenting a Grassroots Revival of Tradition, 2018
Harvard Divinity Bulletin, 2017
Review of Religion and Chinese Society, 2014
In this interview, the late Robert Bellah outlines his thoughts on and academic contributions to ... more In this interview, the late Robert Bellah outlines his thoughts on and academic contributions to the study of religion in Chinese Society. Drawing on his extensive experience and knowledge, Dr. Bellah answers a wide range of questions from the role China played in his intellectual endeavors to the role of Confucianism in China, to Sheilaism and civil religion as universal phenomena.
Journal of Chinese Religions, 2017
Situating Spirituality
This introductory chapter sets up the volume’s themes and contributions. The first section outlin... more This introductory chapter sets up the volume’s themes and contributions. The first section outlines contemporary interest in spirituality and argues that current approaches to understanding contemporary spirituality are insufficient. The next section outlines what we call “first wave” scholarship on spirituality that, beginning in the 1990s, documented the society-wide shift toward spirituality. We then outline the elements of “second wave” spirituality that our volume represents. Thematically, our analytic framework views spirituality as eminently social and its meaning as fundamentally relational. The next three sections highlight how spirituality, both as lived experience and as analytic category, is always influenced by social (national, political, religious, etc.) context; how spirituality is undergirded by collective practices and serves as a resource for pragmatic problem-solving; and how it is influenced by power dynamics and institutional relations. We close with an overvie...
Bloomsbury Publishing eBooks, Oct 6, 2016
<p>This chapter studies the role of women in the current revival of Confucianism, from thei... more <p>This chapter studies the role of women in the current revival of Confucianism, from their participation in intellectual debates regarding Confucianism, to their promotion of Confucian thoughts in popular culture, to their participation in ancestral worship rituals. The revival of Confucianism in Mainland China takes many forms, from a revival of Confucian education, such as after-school classes focusing on the teaching of the Confucian canon, to the intensification of scholarship on Confucian thought in academia. There is also the state's effort to promote Confucianism as the dominant Chinese cultural ideology. This myriad development is not surprising, for it corresponds to the many aspects of Confucianism as historical, political, institutional, cultural, educational, philosophical, and religious systems of ideas and practices.</p>
Situating Spirituality, 2021
The definition of spirituality shifts perpetually across time and place, but there is a pattern a... more The definition of spirituality shifts perpetually across time and place, but there is a pattern at work. The definition of “spirituality” is always in relation to the definition of “religion” in a given society. In the United States and Western Europe, spirituality has been defined by what is left out of it, by which we mean diverse beliefs and varied everyday practices outside of—or on the margins of—existing religious institutional norms. While both are distinct from secularism, spirituality is the “other” to the “norm” of religion. In contemporary China, however, a different dynamic is at work. The dominant form of religious life emphasizes diverse beliefs and everyday ritual activities that are rooted in multiple religious traditions. This means that we require new ways of thinking about spiritual life in the Chinese context and other societies, such as those in Africa, with similar polytheistic patterns of practice.
Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Religion and Values in Public Life, Dec 20, 2020
Situating Spirituality, 2021
The definition of spirituality shifts perpetually across time and place, but there is a pattern a... more The definition of spirituality shifts perpetually across time and place, but there is a pattern at work. The definition of “spirituality” is always in relation to the definition of “religion” in a given society. In the United States and Western Europe, spirituality has been defined by what is left out of it, by which we mean diverse beliefs and varied everyday practices outside of—or on the margins of—existing religious institutional norms. While both are distinct from secularism, spirituality is the “other” to the “norm” of religion. In contemporary China, however, a different dynamic is at work. The dominant form of religious life emphasizes diverse beliefs and everyday ritual activities that are rooted in multiple religious traditions. This means that we require new ways of thinking about spiritual life in the Chinese context and other societies, such as those in Africa, with similar polytheistic patterns of practice.
State, Market, and Religions in Chinese Societies, 2005
Since the turn of the twentieth century, many scholars in the West have treated Confucianism as a... more Since the turn of the twentieth century, many scholars in the West have treated Confucianism as a religion (Legge 1877; Müller 1900; Weber 1951; Granet 1977; Ching 1977; Tu 1989; Taylor 1990; Teiser 1996; Wilson 2002), and Confucianism is often portrayed as the ...
<p>This chapter presents the four major controversies in the past five centuries regarding ... more <p>This chapter presents the four major controversies in the past five centuries regarding the nature of Confucianism as a religion. The first is the Chinese Rites and Term Controversy, which involved Jesuit missionaries in China. The second is the so-called Term Controversy, which involved missionaries in China as well as scholars in the newly emerging intellectual discipline, "comparative religion." The third is the Confucianity Movement (<italic>kongjiao yundong</italic>), which was a failed movement to make Confucianity into China's state religion. The fourth is the latest debate over the religious nature of Confucianism, the so-called Confucianism as a Religion Controversy, which took place in China between 2000 and 2004.</p>
<p>This chapter focuses on the possible future developments of Confucianism in Chinese soci... more <p>This chapter focuses on the possible future developments of Confucianism in Chinese society: as a cultural identity, political ideology, ethical outlook, ritual practice, symbolic tool in politics, and even the foundation for the civil religion of China. The chapter presents three events that can be seen as corresponding to key issues involved in the future development of Confucianism in China. The first one is called the "politics of epistemology"; the second is the "politics of the religion question," and finally, the "politics of Confucian nationalism." However, despite the uncertainties in the politics of the future of Confucianism, its nature as a foundation of morality and possible source of civil religion will never go away.</p>
<p>This chapter analyzes the connection between the making of Confucianism as a religion an... more <p>This chapter analyzes the connection between the making of Confucianism as a religion and the emergence of comparative religion as a discipline, based primarily on extensive archival research conducted in the Max Müller Archive at Bodleian Library in Oxford, the British India Office Archive at the British Library, and the Archive at the Oxford University Press. It shows that by allying himself with Max Müller and the emerging discipline, professor James Legge moved the controversy over the religious nature of Confucianism from the small circle of missionaries in China to a new arena. Through innovative boundary work, Müller and Legge helped establish a legitimate intellectual field to promote the discourse of world religions of which Confucianism was an essential part.</p>
World Literature Today, 2019
<p>This chapter offers a new conceptual framework for addressing the empirical question of ... more <p>This chapter offers a new conceptual framework for addressing the empirical question of who the Confucians are in China. It suggests a three-tier definition that considers Confucian religious ritual practice along with ancestral worship, as well as Confucian spiritual exercise and social rituals. First, Confucianism is seen as one of the major world religions today, both in the popular imagination and in academic work. Second, the definition of religion is produced by a consensus between communities of practitioners and scholars, and it is a historical product rather than an ahistorical, normative concept. Finally, because of the nonstatic nature of both the definition of religion and the ideas associated with Confucianism, it is entirely plausible for Confucianism to be understood as a religion by both practitioners and scholars in a given social and historical context.</p>
Chinese Religions Going Global, 2020