Negotiating Religion in Modern China: State and Common People in Guangzhou, 1900–1937

Acknowledgements

My deepest gratitude goes to Hung Chang-tai, my thesis supervisor and mentor, without whose guidance and encouragement my academic journey would not have been so rewarding and fulfilling. I also wish to thank Choi Chi-cheung and Liu Tik-sang, my two other teachers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), for introducing me to the fascinating world of Chinese folk religion through the field trips to the New Territories in Hong Kong and to South China. First-hand observation of temples, festivals, devout worshippers, and possessed shamans has given me a much better sense of understanding written historical sources. I am grateful to James Hayes, David Faure, Daniel Kwan, Edward Rhoads, Vincent Goossaert, Paul Katz, Barton Starr, Rebekah Starr, and the two anonymous readers of the Chinese University Press, whose insightful comments have helped make this a better book than it otherwise would have been. All remaining errors are, of course, my own. I would also like to thank the Hong Kong Research Grant Council and the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Hong Kong for the generous research funding, and Lingnan University for granting a study leave. My final thanks go to my family and in particular, my husband, Wong Wing-ho, for his love and support all along the way. Portions of this book have been published as “Refashioning Festivals in Republican Guangzhou,” Modern China, vol. 30, no. 2, April 2004, pp. 199–227; “Religion, Modernity, and Urban Space: The City God Temple in Republican Guangzhou,” Modern China, vol. 34, no. 2, April 2008, pp. 247–275; “Between Religion and Superstition: Buddhism and Daoism in Guangzhou, China, 1900–1937,” Journal of Religious History, vol. 33, no. 4, December 2009, pp. 452–471. Acknowledgements Negotiating Religion.indd 9 2010/11/30 4:40:51 PM Negotiating Religion.indd 10 2010/11/30 4:40:51 PM ...