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Recovering Chinese Religiosities

July 17, 2008
SOF OnDemand:
» Download (mp3, 53:09)
» Listen Now (RealAudio, 53:09)
» Podcast

Put the words "religion" and "China" in a sentence together, and Western imaginations may go to indifference at best, to brutal repression at worst. Yet in grand historical perspective, China is a crucible of religious and philosophical thought and practice. Anthropologist and filmmaker Mayfair Yang says that the upheavals of the 20th century created an amnesia — in the West as in China itself — about this rich, pluralistic spiritual inheritance. She traces some of this story for us, and describes a subtle new revival of reverence and ritual.

Program Details

About the Image

Survivors flee on a millitary ferry three days after an earthquake struck southwestern China on May 12, 2008.
(photo: Liu Jin/AFP/Getty Images)

Unheard Cuts

» Unedited Interview with Mayfair Yang
(mp3, 1:33:37)

We had to cut some great segments from the original conversation for the radio. But, here you can listen to it all, and tell us what you think of our edits.

SOF Observed

» Blog Post: Ancestors at Meal Time

An endearing story from Krista's conversation with Mayfair Yang, caught on video.

» Blog Post: Building Guanxi

Krista's recent conversation with Nicole Mones about Chinese cuisine as a necessary means of building connectedness.

Hear the Music

» SOF Playlist ¦ hear full-length tracks of each song played in the program

Voices of Our Audience

» Reflections ¦ tell us and other audience members what this program meant to you

Voice on the Radio

Kate Braestrup Mayfair Yang

Yang is the Chair of Asian Studies at the University of Sydney, and Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has done field research in Taiwan and China, and has directed two documentary films.