Religion, Culture, and the Public Sphere in China and Japan

Albert Welter is professor of Chinese religion and culture in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona.  He specializes in medieval Chinese Buddhism, and is exploring the impact of administrative policies on secularism and religion in China as well as Buddhist interactions with elite, literati culture.Jeffrey Newmark is assistant professor of Japanese language and culture in the Program of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Winnipeg.  His expertise lies in early modern Japanese intellectual history, particularly nineteenth century thought.  He is currently investigating the public sphere in the late Tokugawa Osaka region.

• Introduction: The East Asian Public Sphere.- The Sphere of Privilege: Confucian Culture and the Administration of Buddhism (and Religion) in China.- Conservative and Progressive Models for Buddhism under the Republic of China.- Islamic Charity in China: Its Organizations and Activities in a New Era.- “Knowing the [Confucian] Way” and the Political Sphere.- A Self-Made Outlier in the Tokugawa Public Sphere: Ōshio Heihachirō and His 1837 Osaka Riot.- Longing for the Ideal World: An Unofficial Religious Association in the Late Tokugawa Public Sphere.- Religious Minorities and the Public Sphere: Kagawa Toyohiko and Christian “Counterpublics” in Modern Japanese Society.- Truths Unacknowledged: The Public Sphere and Japan’s Colonial Project in Korea.- The East Asian Public Sphere: Concluding Remarks and Theoretical Considerations.

“The editors should be commended for collecting these valuable essays and providing an effectively unifying thread, which makes this volume both timely and a ‘must-read’ for scholars interested in this topic.” (Ugo Dessì, Religious Studies Review, Vol. 45 (2), June, 2019)