Everyday religiosity in the state sphere: folk beliefs ans practices in an Chinese state-run orphanage
The religious sector in contemporary China is often portrayed as resisting or negotiating with an interventionist state in order to survive or protect its autonomy. This article, however, shows how it enters the state sphere and imbues the presumed state agents. By exploring folk beliefs and practic...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Print Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Sage Publ.
2016
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In: |
China information
Year: 2016, Volume: 30, Issue: 1, Pages: 81-98 |
Further subjects: | B
Orphan
B Religious practice B Manners and customs B Tradition B China B State institution B Custom B Religious policy B Religiosity |
Summary: | The religious sector in contemporary China is often portrayed as resisting or negotiating with an interventionist state in order to survive or protect its autonomy. This article, however, shows how it enters the state sphere and imbues the presumed state agents. By exploring folk beliefs and practices in a state-run orphanage (such as philanthropists’ activities, which they related to accumulation of karmic merits, childcare workers’ discourses, conduct associated with predestined relationships and baby ghosts, and institution officials’ preoccupation with palmistry, fortune telling and karmic retribution), and the impact of folk belief and practices on the working of the state apparatus, this study aims to enrich current scholarship by looking at state-religion interactions beyond the religious sphere and also reversing the image of Chinese religions as merely passive or reactive actors. (China Inf/GIGA) |
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ISSN: | 0920-203X |
Contains: | In: China information
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