CHINESE RELIGION: A CONTEXTUAL APPROACH . By Xinzhong Yao and Yanxia Zhao . London : Continuum , 2010 . Pp . 226 . $39.95 .
摘要
Initially, this textbook (by Chinese specialists on Confucianism now teaching in Britain) seems comparable to M. Poceski's 2009 Introducing Chinese Religions; for example, it includes “questions for discussion” in each chapter. It also shares the same audience: advanced undergraduates. But whereas Poceski offered “comprehensive and balanced coverage of the main religious traditions” of China, this book abandons the traditional separation of exposition on those traditions: instead of detailing historical phases of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc., Yao and Zhao press readers to recognize the generalized social context of “Chinese Religion.” Two introductory chapters on concepts of “religion” in the Chinese context are followed by thematic chapters on “Religion in History,”“Religion as [sic] Culture,”“Religion in Family Contexts,”“Religion and State,”“Religious Beliefs,”“Religious Practices,” and “Religion as the [sic] Way of Life,” where we read that “being a Chinese itself is to be religious,” although “religion is highly secularized and commercialized” in contemporary China. In sum, these authors endeavor to undo Westerners' traditional approaches to the data of Chinese religion, challenging readers to “contextualize” all such data in broader social and cultural terms. The emphasis on embracing ambiguity will frustrate students who seek clear‐cut facts, yet these authors clearly see deconstruction of inherited interpretive approaches as ideal. Knowledgeable instructors may find this a useful complement to Poceski's textbook and/or books on specific Chinese religious traditions.
