Stating the Sacred - Religion, China, and the Formation of the Nation-State
epub | 2.09 MB | English | Author :Michael J. Walsh | B07VH19KHN | 2020 | Columbia University Press

Book Description :

China's constitution explicitly refers to its sovereign domain as "sacred territory." Why does an avowedly secular state make such a claim, and what does this suggest about the relations between religion and the nation-state? Focusing primarily on China, Stating the Sacred offers a novel approach to nation-state formation, arguing that its most critical element is how the state sacralizes the nation.
Michael J. Walsh explores the religious and political dimensions of Chinese state ideology, making the case that the sacred is a constitutive part of modern China. He examines the structural connection among texts (constitutions, legal codes, national histories), ostensibly universal and normative categories (race, religion, citizenship, freedom, human rights), and territoriality (the integrity of sovereignty and control over resources and people), showing how they are bound together by the sacred. Considering a variety of what he refers to as theopolitical techniques,...

Category : | History of China, Religious Studies - Church & State, Colonialism & Post-Colonialism