China's Soul: Post-Mao Religious Revival

The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao

One billion souls desperately need the comfort of faith.

Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism experienced a vigorous revival, and Christianity also developed rapidly.

But can the Communist Party promise them a religious pure land?



Pulitzer Prize winner Ian Johnson's latest masterpiece

Five years of visits, covering Beijing, Shanxi, Sichuan, and Shanghai

The most up-to-date report on the spiritual life of the common people in contemporary China.



"China is experiencing a spiritual resurgence on the scale of the Great Awakening in the United States in the 19th century. This developing nation is reeling from dramatic social and economic change. People are flocking to new and alienated cities where they lack friends and the support they need to care for each other in their daily lives. They are grappling with questions: Why are we here? What makes us truly happy? How do we find our place as individuals, as communities, and as a nation? What is our soul?"



The above is Zhang Yan's opening statement in this book, clearly identifying the pressing spiritual crisis facing contemporary China. While the global focus is on China's economic rise, political hegemony, and the Sino-US conflict, Zhang Yan returns to a more fundamental and human question: how do Chinese people find their place in modern society?



All human beings have a need for faith, morality, and emotion, but for the Chinese, this issue is particularly urgent and difficult. Over the past century, China has undergone a transformation of unparalleled scale and depth: totalitarian rule, the Cultural Revolution, and finally, the most naked and unbridled form of capitalism we see today. All of this has not only destroyed traditional Chinese culture but also obliterated the Chinese people's understanding of value, meaning, and faith.



However, the Chinese are also actively seeking answers from both traditional and foreign cultures. Consequently, religions—whether ancient Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, or folk beliefs, or Western imports like Roman Catholicism and Protestantism—are flourishing. Statistics indicate that there are approximately 200 million Buddhists and Taoists in China today. Even Christianity, often constrained by the Chinese Communist Party, is estimated to have nearly 60 million adherents, with an annual growth rate of 7% since 1949.



How did this tremendous religious revival unfold? New York Times senior reporter Zhang Yan sought to document this movement. Zhang spent five years traveling to Beijing, Shanxi, Chengdu, Shanghai, Suzhou, Jinhua, and other cities, interviewing Buddhists, Taoists, and Christians, as well as practitioners of traditional folk customs. He documented how ordinary Chinese, amidst political repression and moral decay, gradually salvaged their nearly annihilated spiritual and cultural heritage from the ashes, while also attempting to create new meaning amidst the changing times.



This book features characters from across China, including Ni Zhenshan and his family from the Miaofeng Mountain pilgrimage group in Beijing; Li Manshan, the Yin-Yang Master, and his family from Yanggao, Shanxi; Confucian master Nan Huaijin, whose disciples are among the highest echelons of government and business; inner alchemy master Wang Liping; and the Chengdu Autumn Rain Covenant Church and its pastor, Wang Yi. Some are renowned throughout China, while others are mere commoners. Some find solace in their bodies and minds through meditation, scripture reading, divine intercession, and incense offerings; some are dedicated to the sublimation and transformation of social ethics, even daring to challenge the limits of the establishment. What they share in common is that they are all part of China's burgeoning religious revival. When the outside world offers no hope, they turn to the inner spiritual power.



The Chinese Communist regime has a love-hate relationship with religion. On the one hand, Beijing deliberately fosters officially recognized traditional religions to restore national confidence and consolidate its power. On the other hand, it is hostile to foreign religions, fearing that religious groups will expand into a "civil society" that could challenge its rule. Despite the CCP's increasingly tightened control over religion, Zhang Yan believes that in the long run, the power of religion can bring about a rebirth of values ​​and faith in China, contributing to its development into a mature, healthy, and civilized society. Even in these uncertain times, it can contribute to global dialogue among civilizations.


Celebrity recommendations

★Recommended articles:
Xing Fuzeng (Dean of the Faculty of Divinity, The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Lin Jingzhi (Assistant Professor, Institute of Religion, National Chengchi University)

★Jointly recommended:
Lin Yu-li (Reporter in Germany), Li Xueli (Editor-in-Chief of The Reporter), Hu Zhongxin (Senior Media Professional), Kang Bao (Researcher at the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica), Yang Xian-hong (Chairman of the Taiwan Alliance for Human Rights in China), Zhao Sile (Author of "Their Journey"), Cai Yuanlin (Director of the Institute of Religion, National Chengchi University), and Venerable Shi Zhaohui (Dean of the Department of Religion, Xuanzang University)

International experts and scholars praised Ha Jin (winner of the 2005 Faulkner Prize and the 1999 National Book Award): "The Soul of China is a rich, detailed, and timely work that explores a crucial aspect of Chinese life. Zhang Yan's writing is both profound and effortless, revealing profound observations and rich personal insights into characters and events. Each chapter is the result of more than two decades of Zhang Yan's intense interest in China and rigorous research. The book also possesses a deeply personal tone, with his rich emotions flowing through the pages. This is an extraordinary masterpiece."

Xing Fuzeng (Dean of the School of Theology, Chung Chi College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong) said: "'The Soul of China' tells a variety of spiritual stories, involving leaders and catechumens of Christian house churches, pilgrims of folk faiths, and practitioners of Taoism and Buddhism. It illustrates that in post-Cultural Revolution China, during the tremendous changes of the past 40 years of reform and opening up, religion has become a significant fact of Chinese society and a spiritual and spiritual appeal that the Chinese Communist Party cannot deny."

Liao Yiwu (Chinese exiled writer and author of "God is Red"): "Zhang Yan and his books both appear to possess a sagely air, yet they contain profound social critique and a profound concern. This embodies traditional Chinese Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, as well as the rebellious underworld. I wonder if this stems from the fact that he has spent much of his time, from the 1980s to the present, rooted in China, wandering the streets, experiencing the hardships of the poor, and working his way through life. From ancient times to the present, there are only a handful of Western scholars who have made a significant mark in Chinese history, and Zhang Yan is undoubtedly one of them. And in our time, after Harvard's Philip Kuhn's "Calling Souls," Zhang Yan's three-part masterpieces, "Wild Grass" and "The Soul of China," are undoubtedly his most outstanding."

Liao Yanbo (translator of this book) says: "Zhang Yan lives with his characters, participating in the joy of temple ceremonies and sharing the grief of funerals. Because he is a true friend, he empathizes with them. As a result, his writing, while cool and sharp, possesses a special warmth."

Qiu Xiaolong (Chinese writer) said: "Traditional Chinese critical theory is likened to 'the Six Classics are my footnotes,' and Zhang Yan achieves this in this book. Acting as both participant and observer, he integrates theoretical exploration with his own real-life experience, making each support the other, thus achieving a new methodological breakthrough. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand contemporary China."

Michael Szonyu, Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University, said: "Lu Xun once said, 'When more people walk a road, it becomes a new road.' 'The Soul of China' shows us how the Chinese people of the 21st century are forging new paths for religion in China, whether with determination or hesitation. The return and resurgence of religion is perhaps the most astonishing aspect of China's rapid transformation over the past few decades. Zhang Yan, with his masterful and meticulous writing, guides us through the important rituals, celebrations, and leading figures of China's new religious world. This is an elegant, moving, and insightful book."

Peter Hessler (author of "Finding Our Way Through China"): "'The Soul of China' is a miracle of reportage. Zhang Yan spent five years traveling across China, documenting numerous religious rituals never before seen by outsiders, including funerals, temple rites, fortune-telling, inner alchemy, Taoist practices, underground Christianity, and more. Zhang Yan not only presents vivid observations in minute detail, but also writes with profound emotion, often creating deeply moving characters. While books on Chinese politics and economics are plentiful, this is a classic on the cultural and moral lives of ordinary Chinese people."

Leslie T. Chang (author of "Factory Girl"): "Zhang Yan's book eschews the glitz and glamour of contemporary China to delve into the sacred underbelly—the religious world woven of ritual and tradition, myth, and belief—that has nourished China for millennia and continues to do so today. Following each day of the traditional lunar year, Zhang Yan embarks on a fascinating and insightful journey—from a pilgrimage to Miaofeng Mountain in Beijing to a Protestant gathering in Chengdu to Taoist funerals and divination in rural Shanxi. The soul and voice of the Chinese people leap forth from the pages. This vivid and rigorous book's exploration of contemporary Chinese religious belief will be difficult to surpass any time soon."

Pankaj Mishra, author of Rising from the Ruins of Empire: "For years, Zhang Yan has been a learned and generous guide, showing us how the largest national transformation in modern history unfolded. In The Soul of China, he ingeniously embarks on a path few have taken before: how the longing for religion and soul has transformed millions of Chinese people."

Karen Armstrong, a world-renowned scholar of religion, said: "This captivating book challenges the view, held by many today, that religion is a relic of the past. On the contrary, the powerful return of spirituality in China today, after a century of violent destruction, demonstrates that religion cannot be suppressed by external forces but may well be an integral part of human nature."

The Washington Post: "It's common in the West to assume that religion doesn't exist in Chinese society, at least not in a materialistic capitalist society controlled by a totalitarian government. But in 'The Soul of China,' journalist Zhang Yan proves this wrong... This book is both truthful and moving."

The New York Times Book Review: "A masterful work of meticulous observation and deep insight into the characters... Zhang Yan's writing tells us that ordinary Chinese people, longing for faith and seeking meaning in life, cannot wait for the Chinese dream carefully crafted by President Xi. With Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian believers now allowed to rebuild temples, the memory of past ritual traditions is being revived and brought back to China by believers."

The Economist reported: "Zhang Yan has been following religious issues in China for many years. In 2001, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the CCP's crackdown on Falun Gong for the Wall Street Journal. In the 18th and 19th centuries, American Christianity experienced a 'Great Awakening,' where popular religious fervor led to significant social and political changes. This appears to be precisely what is happening in China today..."

2019-02-10

八旗文化

576

9789578654495