Souls of China

The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao by Ian Johnson, 400 pages

As the twentieth century began, religion was endangered in China.  Chinese intellectuals considered the country's traditional beliefs as either symptom or cause of the nation's backwardness, while opposing foreign religion as the tool of imperialism.  Even before the Communists came to power in 1949, religion was denounced in education, the rights of religious organizations were limited, and much of the country's sacred landscape had been demolished.  Then came Mao, who attempted to impose socialism and atheism at the cost of tens of millions of lives.

As the twenty-first century begins, religion is booming in China.  The government actively subsidizes the study and practice of traditional Chinese religions and philosophies, even promoting them overseas.  Meanwhile, Protestant Christian churches, some of the few public institutions existing outside of Party control, are booming, with the result that China now hosts the seventh largest Christian population in the world.

This continuing change is the subject of Ian Johnson's The Souls of China.  This is not a statistical overview, however, but a look at the nature, causes, and future of China's "Great Awakening" through personal stories, including a family of traditional yingyang men, a family running a reborn pilgrimage society associated with a Daoist shrine, the followers of a Buddhist sage, and the leadership of an evangelical Christian church, all arranged and revisited through the framework of the traditional Chinese year.  The result is remarkable and fascinating.  Johnson brings sympathy and understanding to his study, which is sensitive and nuanced.  His treatment of the secular rituals of the Communist party is particularly interesting, highlighting their quasi-religious nature and further demonstrating why the Chinese, having lost faith in Marxism, have found progress impossible without religion.