Making Saints in Modern China offers a new perspective on the history of religion in modern and contemporary China by focusing on the profiles of religious leaders from the early twentieth century through the early twenty-first century. The volume offers biographies of prominent Daoists and Buddhists, as well as of the charismatic leaders of redemptive societies and state managers of religious associations in the Republican period and in the People’s Republic. Chapter authors include scholars from the United States, Canada, France, Italy, and Taiwan, some of whose work is made available in Eng ... More

Making Saints in Modern China offers a new perspective on the history of religion in modern and contemporary China by focusing on the profiles of religious leaders from the early twentieth century through the early twenty-first century. The volume offers biographies of prominent Daoists and Buddhists, as well as of the charismatic leaders of redemptive societies and state managers of religious associations in the Republican period and in the People’s Republic. Chapter authors include scholars from the United States, Canada, France, Italy, and Taiwan, some of whose work is made available in English for the first time. The focus of the volume is largely China proper, although some attention is devoted to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Chinese diaspora. Each chapter offers a biography of a religious leader and a detailed discussion of the way in which he or she became a “saint.” “Sainthood” has been (and remains) a contested category in China, given the commitment of China’s modern leadership to secularization, modernization, and revolution, and the discomfort of China’s elite with religious matters. Yet most of the saints depicted in this volume succeeded in rebuilding old institutions and creating new ones, despite the Chinese government’s disdain. Chapters illustrate how these leaders deployed, and sometimes retooled, traditional themes in hagiography and charismatic communication to attract followers and compete in the religious marketplace. Negotiation with often hostile authorities was also an important aspect of religious leadership, and many chapters reveal unexpected reserves of creativity and determination.