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A.The eminent British social anthropologist, Peter Worsley, has pointed out that religious symbols are inherently neither conservative nor revolutionary. That is, the same symbols can be used as meaning vehicles for very different purposes. We have seen this to be the case with certain symbols in Chinese religion. On the other hand, is it possible that there are certain symbols in the Chinese repertory that are intrinsically conservative or intrinsically revolutionary? If so, what are they and why are they intrinsically conservative or revolutionary?
B.In 1927, Mao Zedong predicted that if the Communist Party could do more for the people than the gods had, the people would lay the gods aside and follow the Communist Party. From 1958 to 1980 or so, however, the Party took no chances, and suppressed the gods as "feudal superstition." In the last few years, however, with the Communist Party still in control, there has nevertheless been a great resurgence of folk religious activity all over the countryside. How do you account for this?
C. It used to be thought that industrial growth, universal education, and the decline of local communities, in other words what we often refer to in shorthand as "modernization," would either mark a decline in religion or a shift to a more ethical, and psychological, less supernatural, version of what religion remained. But we find Taiwan and China to be full of shamans, messianic cults, and other less "modern" religions. What is going on here?