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How to Measure Religious Phenomena in China and East Asia

How to Measure Religious Phenomena in China and East Asia. Liyong Dai PhD, Associate Professor School of Sociology, Central China Normal University Confucius Institute at Carleton University, Canada Liyong.Dai@carleton.ca allen.days@gmail.com. Gui-yuan Temple, Wuhan (武汉 • 归元寺).

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How to Measure Religious Phenomena in China and East Asia

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  1. How to Measure Religious Phenomena in China and East Asia Liyong Dai PhD, Associate ProfessorSchool of Sociology, Central China Normal UniversityConfucius Institute at Carleton University, CanadaLiyong.Dai@carleton.caallen.days@gmail.com

  2. Gui-yuan Temple, Wuhan (武汉 • 归元寺)

  3. Gui-yuan Temple, Wuhan (武汉 • 归元寺)

  4. Gui-yuan Temple, Wuhan (武汉 • 归元寺)

  5. Gui-yuan Temple, Wuhan (武汉 • 归元寺)

  6. Gui-yuan Temple, Wuhan (武汉 • 归元寺)

  7. Gui-yuan Temple, Wuhan (武汉 • 归元寺)

  8. Gui-yuan Temple, Wuhan (武汉 • 归元寺)

  9. Gui-yuan Temple, Wuhan (武汉 • 归元寺)

  10. Gui-yuan Temple, Wuhan (武汉 • 归元寺)

  11. Gui-yuan Temple, Wuhan (武汉 • 归元寺)

  12. Gui-yuan Temple, Wuhan (武汉 • 归元寺)

  13. Gui-yuan Temple, Wuhan (武汉 • 归元寺)

  14. La-ma Temple, Beijing (北京 • 雍和宫)

  15. La-ma Temple, Beijing (北京 • 雍和宫)

  16. La-ma Temple, Beijing (北京 • 雍和宫)

  17. Incense-pilgrim 香客

  18. Incense-pilgrim 香客 • The most common factor in East Asian Religions: • Across Buddhism,Daoism,Confucianism,Folk Religions… • How to categorize? How to classify? • Buddhist “incense-pilgrim” • Daoism “incense-pilgrim” • … • How to count, measure and calculate?

  19. Incense-pilgrim 香客 曹德旺 Cao, Dewang Billionaire Chinese #1Philanthropist

  20. Incense-pilgrim 香客 • Religious “identity”? Affiliation? Belonging? • Double belonging? • Or Partly belonging? • “Believing”: Double/multiple “Believing”? • “Believe without belonging”? • Maybe or maybe not!

  21. Incense-pilgrim 香客 Believe? Belonging? … Just do it?

  22. Incense-pilgrim 香客

  23. Incense-pilgrim 香客 • Chinese and East Asian cultural context: the conception of God: Polytheism, pantheism, deism … • Categories/instruments like “believe”, “affiliation”, “belonging”, “identity”, “identification”, which are more based on monotheistic ideas …

  24. Incense-pilgrim 香客 • Confucian ritual practitioners (儒礼的践行者) • cultural/spiritual tourist (文化/灵性旅游者) • occasional incense-pilgrims(偶然的香客) • constant incense-pilgrims(经常的香客) • lay disciples (居士 or 俗弟子) • other-worldly practitioners(出家修行者) • *sectarian believers (教门信众) • Typical Chinese Religious/Spiritual Niches

  25. A1: Confucian ritual practitioners A2: Cultural/Spiritual tourist A3: Occasional incense-pilgrims B3: Constant incense-pilgrims B2: Lay disciples B1: Other-worldly Practitioners D: Sectarian believers Population and Tension of Chinese Religions Tension: X2﹥X1﹥0 Population: Y3﹥Y2﹥Y1﹥0

  26. Hypothetical Distribution of Population and Tension of Religions in China and East Asia The Zeitgeist 时代精神 The Degree of Slop 斜率 Japanese case：… “Contradiction”? Tension: X3﹥X2﹥X1﹥0 Population: Y3﹥Y2﹥Y1﹥0

  27. East Asian Religions Vs. Religions in the West Asymmetrical Concave Curve Vs. Bell-shaped Curve

  28. Religious “Inters” and the Measurement of Religious Pluralism in the Future Incense-pilgrims → Inter-pilgrims (Religious “Inters”) Inter-religious tourists Occasional “Inters” Constant “Inters” Double/multiple… Tension: X3﹥X2﹥X1﹥0 Population: Y3﹥Y2﹥Y1﹥0

  29. East Asian Religions Vs. Religions in the West Asymmetrical Concave Curve Vs. Bell-shaped Curve

  30. Religious Phenomena in China & East Asia: How to Count, Measure and Calculation? • Statistic method of religious phenomena in China & East Asia requires a different approach. More attention should be given to practices rather than “affiliation”… • Typical Chinese religious/spiritual niches: Confucian ritual practitioners (儒礼的践行者), cultural/spiritual tourist (文化/灵性旅游者), occasional incense-pilgrims(偶然的香客), constant incense-pilgrims(经常的香客), lay disciples (居士or俗弟子) ,other-worldly practitioners(出家修行者), and sectarian believers (教门信众) • A much better mapping of religious phenomena in China and East Asia: the asymmetrical concave curve… • Comparison between the asymmetrical concave curve and the bell-shaped curve would shed some light… • Religious “Inters” and the Measurement of religious pluralism in the future…

  31. Thank you! Liyong Dai PhD, Associate ProfessorSchool of Sociology, Central China Normal UniversityConfucius Institute at Carleton University, CanadaLiyong.Dai@carleton.caallen.days@gmail.com

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