1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910790557703321

Autore

van der Veer Peter

Titolo

The Modern Spirit of Asia : The Spiritual and the Secular in China and India / / Peter van der Veer

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Princeton, NJ : , : Princeton University Press, , [2013]

©2014

ISBN

1-4008-4855-5

Edizione

[Course Book]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (297 p.)

Disciplina

306.6095

Soggetti

China -- Religious life and customs

India -- Religious life and customs

Nationalism -- China -- Religious aspects

Nationalism -- India -- Religious aspects

Religion and sociology -- China

Religion and sociology -- India

Secularism -- China -- History

Secularism -- India -- History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Spirituality in Modern Society -- Chapter 3. The Making of Oriental Religion -- Chapter 4. Conversion to Indian and Chinese Modernities -- Chapter 5. Secularism's Magic -- Chapter 6. "Smash Temples, Build Schools": Comparing Secularism in India and China -- Chapter 7. The Spiritual Body -- Chapter 8. Muslims in India and China -- Chapter 9. Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

The Modern Spirit of Asia challenges the notion that modernity in China and India are derivative imitations of the West, arguing that these societies have transformed their ancient traditions in unique and distinctive ways. Peter van der Veer begins with nineteenth-century imperial history, exploring how Western concepts of spirituality, secularity, religion, and magic were used to translate the traditions of India and China. He traces how modern Western notions of religion and



magic were incorporated into the respective nation-building projects of Chinese and Indian nationalist intellectuals, yet how modernity in China and India is by no means uniform. While religion is a centerpiece of Indian nationalism, it is viewed in China as an obstacle to progress that must be marginalized and controlled. The Modern Spirit of Asia moves deftly from Kandinsky's understanding of spirituality in art to Indian yoga and Chinese qi gong, from modern theories of secularism to histories of Christian conversion, from Orientalist constructions of religion to Chinese campaigns against magic and superstition, and from Muslim Kashmir to Muslim Xinjiang. Van der Veer, an outspoken proponent of the importance of comparative studies of religion and society, eloquently makes his case in this groundbreaking examination of the spiritual and the secular in China and India.