BOOK REVIEW activist. But the book also covers the the old traditions and actually manages negative developments of Christian to make a good living as yinyang man, life in : corruption of clerical it is very unsure whether there will be a staff, preachers who see themselves tenth generation of funeral masters in The Souls of China: as the reincarnation of Christ, and the Li family. Li Binchang, the son and sect-like communities shooting up like youngest family member, is growing The Return of Religion after Mao mushrooms, to name just a few. up away from home in a boarding

It is of course not only Christianity, school, spending his days studying and All photos: © Stefan Larsson. but also the “native Chinese religions” playing video games, and dreaming of Britta Schmitz - Buddhism included - which are a future life in a big city. witnessing a renaissance. And thus the cast of “The Souls of China” Conclusion Ever since Europe’s Age of Enlightenment many regard a society without religion also includes Daoist priests, pilgrim has a deep understanding as the better, more peaceful one. However, a glance at Chinese history shows associations and some meditation gurus. of what makes the Chinese people tick. that this did not always prove true. The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) was One distinctive characteristic of the He takes the readers way beyond the without doubt one of the most radical and brutal fights against all religious three Chinese religions (Confucianism, surface in order to give them a glimpse beliefs and practices. Countless temples, mosques and churches were destroyed Daoism, and Buddhism) is that they of the soul(s) of China. Moreover, his and countless people arrested for their spiritual beliefs. Countless were also the are far less institutionalized than the writing has great literary qualities; with immaterial losses, nobody knows exactly how much of the spiritual and religious Abrahamic religions - to an extent that a gripping narrative style and a rich knowledge was lost forever, when pictures and scriptures were burned and chains some religious scholars have difficulties language. The only aspect I am missing of oral tradition were broken. died in September 1976. His wife Jiang to even call them religions. Believers in this work is the perspective of Qing and the other members of “Gang of Four” were arrested in October of the are not even restricted to subscribe to Chinese Muslims, as there don’t seem same year. But it took until 1982 for the Communist Party to publish “document Figure 2: Talisman in Daoist Dongyue Temple, only one of the schools. People might to be many papers on Islam during the 19” - an official directive on religions and how to deal with them. Only then were close to the Central Business District in . pray in a Daoist temple as well as in a Cultural Revolution. Though this topic many religious experts released from prison or labor camps, and a renaissance Buddhist pagoda and at the same time would of course touch some highly of religious traditions could begin. and anecdotes about “big politics” call themselves Confucianists sensitive ethnic issues. But this aside, right along with stories about priests, One of the many moving stories in the “Souls of China” is indeed a must fortune tellers and funeral masters. “The Souls of China” is the one of Li read for anyone who wants a deeper The relationship between govern- much as a surprise. It is - like almost important work. The emphasis of For Western readers it might be Bin, ninth-generation Daoist funeral understanding of China. ment and religion was and still everything else in China - rooted in the book is of course contemporary somewhat surprising that quite a lot and feng-shui master. He tries to fix is a complicated one: While it is the country’s proverbial “5000 years China, but the author also deals with of Chinese intellectuals and dissidents the broken chain of traditions with acknowledged that spiritual belief is to of history”. China has never been a the historical facts. The chapters of are professing Christians. One of so many of the sacred writings and some extent indispensable for a nation, country with only one religion. Even the book follow the rhythm of the them is Wang Yi, a former human pieces of ritual music lost forever in the party is at the same time afraid to in periods of persecution of certain Chinese lunar calendar, whose cycles rights lawyer who is now pastor of a the Cultural Revolution. At the same lose control over the people. Religious foreign religious groups or Chinese still define so many events in the life reformed church in , Sichuan. time, he has understood that there groups are still seen as unwelcome sects, China did not have a state of Chinese people. The Communist And while there have been no arrests are no future prospects for him in the competition to the Communist ide- religion. This is probably one reason Party is actually emulating those cycles of church members when Ian Johnson little village of his ancestors. This is ology. This often results in violent why the aspect of religion in the life of with its extremely ritualized congresses, was doing his research for this book, it why he moves to a bigger town, very suppression. But the growing the Chinese laobaixing (“the hundred five-year-plans and last but not least was reported in the international press much to the dismay of his father. Here influence of religion can’t be denied. surnames” - the common people) is the highly formalized introduction that Wang was detained in May 2018 he performs funerals for city dwellers Many Chinese people are searching for often overlooked in analyses dealing process of new political leaders. And ("China Blocks a Memorial Service to estranged from tradition. Many of some kind of spiritual values; the end with modern China. This makes “The so it is with some sense of irony that Sichuan Earthquake Victims" by Chris his clients are lacking even a basic of extreme communism and Mao cult souls of China” a very insightful, even the author also weaves in observations Buckley, May 12, 2018, The New York understanding of the ancient rituals, certainly left a vacuum which could Times). In the book we get a striking but they clutch at straws, in the hope not be filled by the ensuing frenetic image of the obstructions and troubles to do one last good thing for the materialism. the church has to fight with on a daily deceased. In one touching scene we In his book “The Souls of China: basis: from supposed infiltration with see two young children heartbroken The Return of Religion After Mao” party spies to problems of finding in the middle of their mother’s funeral Pulitzer prize winning writer and a venue willing to a room to the ceremony, trying to follow Li Bin’s journalist Ian Johnson follows a cast church for their Christmas service. So strict instructions. The children’s father Source: © Pantheon Publishing House. of activists from different religious why then does a man like Wang Yi seems no less forlorn, while the funeral groups. The work is the result of fifteen chose to become a man of religion? master is annoyed by the city people’s years of researching and travelling in Johnson tries to answer this question, ignorance. This is of course another Bibliographic information China. On his travels across China his conclusion being that in a system perspective on religion in modern Ian Johnson (2017) The Souls of China the author is not just observing his which is politically as repressive society: Previously meaningful rituals - The Return of Religion after Mao. Pen- protagonists’ spiritual activities, but as the Chinese one, a pastor and become empty when the spiritual guin Random House UK. 455 pages. actively taking part in them. Through seminar teacher like Wang can reach background knowledge is missing. ISBN: 978-0-241-30527-0 the very personal narratives we learn far more people than any political And while Li Bin works hard to revive about their life stories and the very individual motives that brought them Britta Schmitz [[email protected]] has a Master in Modern China Studies and is fluent in to their faiths. This plurality of belief Mandarin. She lived in Mainland China for nearly 10 years and has seen temples, mosques and is after all those years of egalitarianism churches in pretty much every corner of the country: From Kashgar in the "Wild West" to Harbin intriguing, but is does not come so Figure 1: Incense and offerings in Buddhist Fahai Temple, Beijing. close to Siberia. However, she is still amazed by all the different facets of .

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