The Modern Spirit of Asia: The Spiritual and the Secular in China and India Contributor(s): Van Der Veer, Peter (Author) |
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ISBN: 0691128154 ISBN-13: 9780691128153 Publisher: Princeton University Press OUR PRICE: $30.40 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 2013 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Anthropology - General - Social Science | Sociology Of Religion - Religion | Comparative Religion |
Dewey: 306.609 |
LCCN: 2012051029 |
Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6.1" W x 9.1" (1.01 lbs) 296 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - Chinese - Cultural Region - Indian - Cultural Region - Asian |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: A comparative look at religion and spirituality in postcolonial China and India 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. |
Contributor Bio(s): Van Der Veer, Peter: - Peter van der Veer is director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Gottingen, Germany, and a Distinguished Professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. His books include Imperial Encounters: Religion and Modernity in India and Britain (Princeton) and Religious Nationalism: Hindus and Muslims in India. |