Contents -- Acknowledgements -- List of Contributors -- Introduction The Rising Social Scientific Study of Religion in China -- Part I Methodological and Theoretical Challenges -- Chapter One Thirty Years of Religious Studies in China -- Chapter Two History as a Factor in the Social Scientific Study of Chinese Religion -- Chapter Three Explanations of International Differences in Religion that May Apply to China -- Chapter Four The Dilemma of Pursuing Chinese Religious Studies within the Framework of Western Religious Theories -- Chapter Five Religion in China: Some Introductory Notes for the Intrepid Western Scholar -- Chapter Six Local Ritual Traditions of Southeast China: A Challenge to Definitions of Religion and Theories of Ritual -- Part II Identities, Organizations and Societies -- Chapter Seven Contemporary Chinese Beliefs and Spiritual Pursuits -- Chapter Eight Exploring the Relationship between Religion and Ethnicity in China -- Chapter Nine From Grassroots Association to Civil Society Organization: A Case Study of the Hebei Province Dragon Tablet Fair -- Chapter Ten On the Problem of Developing a Mechanism for the Participation of Religion in the Social Services Sector -- Chapter Eleven Religion and Environmentalism in Chinese Societies -- Chapter Twelve Secular State and Religious Society in Mainland China and Taiwan -- Afterword -- Index.