Making Saints in Modern China ed. by David Ownby, Vincent Goossaert, and Ji Zhe (review)

The twentieth century was an era of growing secularism within the Sinophone world. Nevertheless, religion and religious phenomena continue to have a large impact on Chinese culture. Following a line of inquiry that has been gaining momentum in the past two decades, this volume seeks to explain how charisma and authority have been constructed within the context of Chinese religion. Unlike other studies where biographies of religious figures are used merely to tell the story of a given tradition, this book takes as its focus the figures themselves, and the process by which their reputations were constructed.

Each of the book’s three editors is a well-regarded scholar in the study of modern Chinese religion, and each has contributed a chapter to this volume. To these they have added chapters by nine other established scholars, resulting in a book comprised of studies of twelve figures active in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. By and large, these individuals represent those traditions that were mainstream among Han people at the start of the twentieth century. As the editors themselves recognize, this volume does not include any Christian or Muslim figures, and Tibetan Buddhism is represented only by Longlian 隆蓮 (1907–2000), an erudite Han nun with a deep interest in Tibetan Buddhist studies (chapter 8). Longlian is also the only woman among the twelve figures studied. This is unfortunate. The editors are also clear that because their goal is to examine the nature of religious charisma in the context of a secular era, they have intentionally decided not to include any “secular” saints (such as Mao Zedong or Lei Feng) within the book.

There are other forms of diversity in the coverage, however. For example, this volume is not organized around the three major traditions of Confucianism, Daoism and Han Buddhism, and true to the editors’ prior work, the book deals with individuals who are important to Chinese religiosity as a whole, but do not fit neatly within any of these categories. There is one chapter each on Duan Zhengyuan 段正元 (1864–1940) and Zhang Tianran 張天然 (1889–1947), the respective founders of two major redemptive societies, the Daode Xueshe 道德學社 and Yiguandao 一貫道 (chapters 4 and 6). In addition to these contributions by Fan Chunwu and Sébastien Billioud, David Ownby contributes a chapter on Li Yujie 李玉階 (1901–1994), the founder of Tiandijiao 天帝教, another redemptive society. Redemptive societies, those “organized, modern and contemporary expressions of a lay salvationist impulse that has long existed in Chinese religion” (p. 253), which often centered on charismatic founders, had a major impact on Chinese religion in the twentieth century and their inclusion in this volume provides welcome breadth. Additionally, there is also an excellent chapter by Catherine Despeux on the spiritual, scholastic, and political activities of the late Nan Huaijin 南懷瑾 (1918–2012). Nan wrote and spoke authoritatively on each of China’s big three traditions, and his books can still be found for sale in bookstores throughout the Sinophone world. He did not, however, have a clear religious affiliation, and he is often overlooked in studies of modern Chinese religion despite his obvious influence.

The seven other figures in the book run the gambit in terms of the traditions they belonged to and the time periods in which they lived, though fully half of the book’s twelve chapters are dedicated to well-known Buddhist figures. In chapter 1, Jan Kiely builds on earlier work to assesses the process by which the Pure Land master Yinguang 印光 (1861–1940) became a media sensation in Republican China. Yinguang’s popularity is often remarked upon by scholars of the period, but this chapter provides a clear and focused analysis of the route by which this came to happen. Daniela Campo also draws from her ongoing research to write about the creation of the story of Chan Master Xuyun 虛雲 (ca. 1864–1959) within Chinese Buddhist...