The Revival of the Social Scientific Study of Religion in China

John Berthrong
October 27, 2008

Ever since the beginning of the communist era in China in 1949, and especially during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, it has been trying times for China’s great universities. Theology, philosophy, religious studies, sociology, anthropology, and psychology, among others, fell on hard times and were basically banned from serious and critical study until the 1980s. However, like the popular revival of religion in China today, the social sciences have dynamically re-emerged in the intellectual life of modern China. There was no more dramatic illustration of this revival than the recent Beijing Summit on Chinese Spirituality and Society: A Symposium on the Social Scientific Study of Religion held recently (October 8-10 2008) on the campus of Peking University (better know as Beida 北大‭ ‬in Chinese). This fascinating conference was co-sponsored by a consortium of Chinese and American universities and foundations and demonstrated the growing cooperation on both sides of the Pacific when it comes to the critical social scientific study of religion in modern China. Boston University was extremely well represented by Profs. Robert Neville, Robert Weller (Anthropology), and John Berthrong.

Religion is flourishing again across China in a diversity of forms that will keep social scientists, historians, theologians, and religious studies professors busy for generations. Whether it is elite government, business and academic professionals worrying about the role of Kongzi 孔子‭ ‬(Confucius) in modern China or pondering the humble yet thoroughly entrancing practices and sacrifices at local temples, or the growth of the Christian Churches and the revitalization of Buddhism, China is alive religiously as well as commercially. There were over thirty-five formal symposium participants and the English collected essays runs to almost five hundred pages.

As someone in the humanities and theology I have watched the Chinese academic world flower over the last three decades. The one area that seemed to lag a bit was the social sciences and I think the reason for this is that, if you are an empirically minded social scientist, you need to collect data about the religious life of the Chinese people and I suspect that this was viewed as somewhat politically delicate even in the more open atmosphere of modern China. The papers at this conference demonstrate that Chinese social scientists have now begun the careful empirical study of Chinese religions and spirituality. Paper after paper, both by Chinese and Western colleagues, confirmed a sure grasp of current research methodologies. Moreover, close to seven hundred undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and interested members of the public completely packed a large hall to hear Prof. Tu Weiming’s plenary presentation about the future of Confucianism in China. The conference likewise received positive attention by the Chinese media. Everyone it seems is fascinated to learn about religion in China today.

I personally have had the privilege of knowing and working with many members of what is called the New Confucian movement. This includes philosophers and historians of religion who consider themselves Confucians as well as those who are simply fascinated by the revival of this great Chinese intellectual, social, philosophical, cultural, and religious tradition. But now sociologists and anthropologists, among others, have also begun to study what kinds of impact this Confucian intellectual or academic revival is having on all sorts of Chinese social strata. As my Chinese colleagues would say, it is about time to let a hundred flowers bloom again, and this now includes the social scientific study of China’s ebullient and diverse religious revival.