Redemptive Societies in Cultural and Historical Context (original) (raw)
2011, Journal of Chinese Theatre, Ritual and Folklore / Minsu Quyi 173: 1-12. Co-author with Paul R. Katz and Wang Chien-chuan.
“Redemptive societies” is a term coined by Prasenjit Duara in his article “The Discourse of Civilization and Pan-Asianism” in 2001, referring to a wave of religious movements which appeared in Republican China, including the Tongshanshe 同善社, Daoyuan 道院, Yiguandao 一貫道 and so on, which combined the Chinese tradition of “syncretic sects” with philanthropy, social engagement, and aspirations to build a new universal civilization. These groups arguably constituted the largest wave of religious revival in Republican China. The destruction or confiscation of local temples opened a space for their deterritorialised networks, while elaboration of new formulations of sovereignty, modernity and civic duty gave them cultural and social significance as providers of charity and as mediators between Chinese spiritual tradition and modern constructions of nationhood and universal civilization. Redemptive societies were precursors of the qigong 氣功 movement in the post-Mao People’s Republic and of the popular Confucian revival of the early 21st century; and they continue to occupy an important place in the religious landscapes of Taiwan, Vietnam, and among Chinese diaspora communities in Southeast Asia.
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Redemptive Societies as Confucian NRMs?
Journal of Chinese Theatre, Ritual and Folklore / Minsu Quyi 172, pp. 1-12. Co-author with Paul R. Katz and Wang Chien-chuan. , 2011
“Redemptive societies” is a term coined by Prasenjit Duara in his article “The Discourse of Civilization and Pan-Asianism” in 2001, referring to a wave of religious movements which appeared in Republican China, including the Tongshanshe 同善社, Daoyuan 道院, Yiguandao 一貫道 and so on, which combined the Chinese tradition of “syncretic sects” with philanthropy, social engagement, and aspirations to build a new universal civilization. These groups arguably constituted the largest wave of religious revival in Republican China. The destruction or confiscation of local temples opened a space for their deterritorialised networks, while elaboration of new formulations of sovereignty, modernity and civic duty gave them cultural and social significance as providers of charity and as mediators between Chinese spiritual tradition and modern constructions of nationhood and universal civilization. Redemptive societies were precursors of the qigong 氣功 movement in the post-Mao People’s Republic and of the popular Confucian revival of the early 21st century; and they continue to occupy an important place in the religious landscapes of Taiwan, Vietnam, and among Chinese diaspora communities in Southeast Asia.
2011
This paper outlines a conceptual framework for research on Chinese redemptive societies and salvationist religion. I begin with a review of past scholarship on Republican era salvationist movements and their contemporary communities, comparing their treatment in three bodies of scholarly literature dealing with the history and scriptures of ”popular sects” in the late imperial era, the history of ”secret societies” of the Republican period, and the ethnography of ”popular religion” in the contemporary Chinese world. I then assess Prasenjit Duara's formulation of ”redemptive societies” as a label for a constellation of religious groups active in the republican period, and, after comparing the characteristics of the main groups in question (such as the Tongshanshe, Daoyuan, Yiguandao and others), argue that an analytical distinction needs to be made between ”salvationist movements” as a sociological category, which have appeared throughout Chinese history and until today, and rede...
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David W. Kim’s edited volume New Religious Movements in Modern Asian History: Sociocultural Alternatives contains a “Foreword” by Eileen Barker, doyenne of new religious movement (NRM) studies, an “Introduction” by Kim, and a range of highly interesting and relevant chapters on Asian new religions. Barker and Kim emphasise distinctive Asian themes (ancestor veneration, political systems like Maoism, world peace, syncretism, multi-faith societies, anti-colonialism, and the question of what constitutes newness in the Asian context); their musings set the scene for the eleven individual contributions that focus on single, specific case studies in the main. Chapters are organised into two parts, “West, South, and Southeast Asia” and “East Asia”.
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