This paper takes a fresh look at the global spread of the Chinese–Taiwanese new religious movement Yiguandao (一貫道; the emic transcription is “I-Kuan Tao”) by directing attention to the concrete places where transnational connections and interactions actually transpire, i.e., temples, shrines, and other sites of worship. Emically known as “Buddha halls” (fotang 佛堂), these places range from large-scale temple complexes, to small niches of worship in people’s private residences. Yet, they all share the potential of becoming venues of transregional interactions through processes of migration, the circulation of personnel, and local outreach. I argued that we need to take the distinct character of these localities more seriously, in order to fully understand the global networks of Yiguandao groups. Through their specific embeddedness in both local affairs and transnational projects, these temples are not simply local chapters of the (mostly) Taiwanese headquarters, but instead they are “translocalities” or even “portals of globalization”—two concepts developed in migration and global studies to help understand the significance of place in the recent phase of so-called globalization. By exploring Yiguandao temples across the globe, this paper critically evaluated these approaches, and their usefulness for the study of global religions. Empirically, it drew on both print and online material, as well as ethnographic fieldwork conducted by the author in Taiwan, Vienna (Austria), California, South Africa, and Japan from 2016 to 2018.
Recent scholarship has demonstrated that "sectarian religion" can be regarded as one of the most important strands in China's religious landscape. Notwithstanding the consensus about the religious, political, and social significance of sectarian religion in Chinese history, academics disagree sharply over questions of both definition and terminology. Building on the theories of Max Weber and Pierre Bourdieu, this article defines a new approach for the understanding of sectarian religion in imperial and modern China. In the first part, I discuss four primary assumptions that have led to many misunderstandings and distortions in previous research. In the second part, I demonstrate the shortcomings of the recently introduced concept of "redemptive societies," which implies a discontinuity between premodern sects and modern redemptive societies. In the last part, I construct a novel approach that aims to understand the workings of sectarian religion in sociological terms. * The present article grew from a chapter of my doctoral thesis (Broy 2014:24-36). The research that led to this thesis was funded by the German Research Foundation (dfg) as the research project "The Religious Practice of Zhaijiao ("Vegetarian Sects") in Taiwan" at the Institute for the Study of Religions at Leipzig University (Germany) from 2009 to 2011. In addition, the Institute of Ethnology of Academia Sinica (Taipei) gave me the opportunity to conduct fieldwork as a visiting scholar in 2010. I am very grateful for the support of both institutions, and particularly to Zhang Xun (Academia Sinica) for her kind advice. In addition, I greatly benefited from critical readings of earlier versions of this article by Hubert Seiwert, David Palmer, and four anonymous reviewers at the Review of Religion and Chinese Society. I would also like to express my gratitude towards these individuals as well as to Gene McGarry for his helpful suggestions. Of course, I alone am responsible for all existing errors and flaws. 146 Broy review of religion and chinese society 2 (2015) 145-185
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