Hybridising Minjian Religion in South China: Participants, Rituals, and Architecture

Guo, Huanyu; Wang, Canglong; Nie, Youping; Tang, Xiaoxiang

Abstract

This study focuses on the ongoing hybridisation of minjian (folk or popular, literally “among the people”) religious activities in rural areas of south China. It demonstrates recent changes in religious hybridisation through extensive fieldwork in two villages. It also investigates intellectual debate on the concept of minjian religion and presents the relationship between state power and the religious revival in contemporary Chinese society. It then draws on fieldwork data to examine the hybrid nature of Chinese minjian religion from three aspects: the diversification of participants, the performative hybridisation of rituals, and the blending of spatial layouts. The main argument is that the revival of minjian religion involves the hybridisation of mystical and secular elements and of traditional and modern elements through the complex interactions between rural communities and official authorities.

Citation

Guo, H., Wang, C., Nie, Y., & Tang, X. (2022). Hybridising Minjian Religion in South China: Participants, Rituals, and Architecture. Religions, 13(5), Article 384. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13050384

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 15, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Apr 22, 2022
• Publication Date: May 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jul 30, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 1, 2022
• Journal: Religions
• Electronic ISSN: 2077-1444
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 5
• Article Number: 384
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13050384
• Keywords: Folk religion; Minjian religion; State power; Chinese society; Religious ritual
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4004561