Author Affiliation: Department of Sociology/Centre for Anthropological Research University of Hong Kong
關鍵詞
Redemptive societies=救世團體; salvationism=救度主義; sectarianism=宗派主義; new religious movements=新興宗教運動; Chinese religion=中國宗教
摘要
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 redemptive societies as one historical instance of a wave of salvationist movements, which appeared in the Republican period and bear the imprint of the socio-cultural conditions and concerns of that period. Finally, I discuss issues for future research and the significance of redemptive societies in the social, political and intellectual history of modern China, and in the modern history of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism.
Introduction 23 The "redemptive societies" category and its significance 32 Sectarian rebels, secret societies, folk religious cults, new religious movements 34 Salvationist religion as sociological category 43 Redemptive Societies as Historical Phenomenon 50 Redemptive societies and the modern history of Daoism and Confucianism 54 Conclusion 58 List of Works Cited 62
