Chinese religious traditions from 1900-2005: an overview

Career decisions of international Chinese doctoral students: The influence of the self in the environment

“…Other philosophical influences have been overlooked in studies of international Chinese students. Chinese history has been steeped in Confucianism as well as Buddhism and Taoism for thousands of years until all three philosophies have become thoroughly intertwined, and underlie many aspects of Chinese culture that influence behaviour (Leung, 2010; Overmyer, 2009). For example, all three philosophies espouse that individuals should not tend to extremes but find a middle path to achieving harmony with others and with heaven (Ji, Lee, & Guo, 2010).…”

Folk religion as the “life-world”: revival of folk beliefs and renewal of religious categorization in contemporary China

“…This view contradicts some scholars who have adopted the classical religious classification system because they believe that folk religion cannot be treated as independent religions due to their lack of complete doctrine, rituals, and practices. Those scholars seize on the point that folk religion lacks systematization, so they are reluctant to put folk religion on par with the tradi-Chinese "three religions" -Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism (Overmyer 2005). Zhang argues that even the folk religion that had gained an independent status has been marginalized in modern history due to Western missionaries' initial holistic rejection of all Chinese folk religions, as manifested by Freedman's comment on Chinese religions (Zhang 2016).…”

“…Zhang argues that even the folk religion that had gained an independent status has been marginalized in modern history due to Western missionaries' initial holistic rejection of all Chinese folk religions, as manifested by Freedman's comment on Chinese religions (Zhang 2016). Wang refers to Overmyer's view on Chinese folk religion and explains that the taxonomic character of the concept of Chinese folk religion makes it possible to refer to both unofficial secret sects and the formal textual traditions of Taoism, Confucian philosophy, and Buddhism in dispersal forms (Wang 1996;Overmyer 1993). This points to the diffused character of folk religion, which cannot simply be subjected to research methods similar to those of institutional religion, but also has the potential to be viewed as an independent category because of its nature.…”

“…Overmyer's research aims to show that folk religion is not so much political as it is organized more from custom and the needs of people, for which he changed the term "secret society" to "fraternity of worship." All of this study is intended to illustrate the multiple positions of folk religion in Chinese society and thus emphasize their role of peace in politics (Overmyer 1993). However, it is not necessary to avoid the possibility that folk sects may play a role in times of dynastic change, as folk religion has both political and religious orientations in addition to its folkloric character.…”