‘Religious Diversity’ in Contemporary Chinese Scholarship

Contemporary China offers a particularly interesting setting to study religious diversity as a result of its unique socio-political context. Based on the quantitative and qualitative evidence in a representative sample of Chinese dissertations, this essay identifies two characteristics associated with the usage of ‘religious diversity’ in contemporary Chinese scholarship: firstly, the focal point of ‘religious diversity’ is frequently the linkages and similarities between the roles played by different religions in a diverse but united society; secondly, ‘religious diversity’ is often discussed along with ethnic diversity. Religious diversity is important as an academic concept as well as a social phenomenon. Contemporary China offers a particularly interesting setting for the study of religious diversity because the state plays an important, albeit not always decisive, role in shaping the religious field. The Chinese state explicitly permits and bans a limited number of religious beliefs and activities. Nevertheless, at the same time, whether deliberately or unintentionally, there is a lack of clear regulation on the vast majority of the religious field in contemporary China, creating a space that is described by Yang (2006) as the ‘gray market’ of religion. Diversity in contemporary China’s religious field has attracted a great deal of attention in Englishlanguage academia. These scholarly works offer significant insight into the different focus and emphasis that the concept of ‘religious diversity’ has when used in regard to China even in the English language. In particular, two interesting themes can be identified through analysing the usage of the concept of ‘religious diversity’ in China-related English scholarly works. Firstly, religious diversity is not merely understood as the co-existence of mutually-incompatible religions, as it is commonly viewed in the Western context. Instead, it is seen as a strength through which the unity and harmony of a society can be developed by drawing on shared pools of symbols, beliefs, norms and rituals. Secondly, the state is regarded as a vitally * This essay is extracted from a much longer and more complex academic work titled ‘Religious Diversity in the Lens of Contemporary Chinese Dissertations’, which I collaborated with Dr Ed Griffith and will be published in an anthology of articles on religious diversity in Asia. I would like to thank Dr Griffith for his invaluable intellectual inputs and collegial spirit, without which this project probably could never have been completed. I would also like to thank Professor Timothy Garton Ash, Dr Dorian Singh, and friends at St Antony’s College, whose very kind understanding, support, encouragement, and tolerance during the process of composing this essay mean much to me. 1 See, for example, Berling (1997), Cheng (2010).