Religions and Society in China

This module's content lays the foundations of understanding what is religion in China, how the Chinese perceive the very notion of religion and how this perception and this notion must not be confused with the correspondent Western notions and pereptions.

This module's content describes what is Taoism, relates its history and defines its sources, shows the main paths of genesis for the Taoist cults.

This module's content describes the paths of development, which were taken by Taoist cults in their history, explains the ways that connected Taoist philosophy and social practice of religious cults and organisations.

This module's content describes the main ideas and principles of Confucianism, outlines the paths of its developments, explains the difference between what is Confucianism in its particular totality of traits and what is understood as a religion or a philosophy in the West.

This module's content describes the basic notions of Buddhism and explains its principles. The module gives an outline of the process of Buddhism's transition to China.

This module's content outlines the main texts and doctrines of Chan Buddhism, enumerates the main schools and branches, explains the influence that Buddhism had and has on Chinese life and art.

This module's content is dedicated to Chinese Mythos. This Module explains how the very notion of a mythical hero in China differs greatly from the correspondent Western notion.

This module's content describes the characteristic traits of Chinese sects and popular cults. This module introduces one of the most important notions in Chinese religious studies: Chinese synctretism.

This module's content is dedicated to describing the religious life in modern China, the main attitudes of officials to religion in PRC and in other places, where Chinese culture is widely spread.