Overview

A syncretistic and millenarian religious movement, the Yiguandao (Way of Pervading Unity) was one of the major redemptive societies of Republican China. It developed extremely rapidly in the 1930s and the 1940s, attracting millions of members. Severely repressed after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, it managed to endure and redeploy elsewhere, especially in Taiwan. Today, it has become one of the largest and most influential religious movements in Asia and at the same time one of the least known and understood. From its powerful base in Taiwan, it has expanded worldwide, including in mainland China where it remains officially forbidden. Based on ethnographic work carried out over nearly a decade, Reclaiming the Wilderness offers an in-depth study of a Yiguandao community in Hong Kong that serves as a node of circulation between Taiwan, Macao, China and elsewhere. Sébastien Billioud explores the factors contributing to the expansionary dynamics of the group: the way adepts live and confirm their faith; the importance of charismatic leadership; the role of Confucianism, which makes it possible to defuse tensions with Chinese authorities and sometimes even to cooperate with them; and, finally, the well-structured expansionary strategies of the Yiguandao and its quasi-diplomatic efforts to navigate the troubled waters of cross-straits politics.

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9780197529133

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Reviews

I highly recommend this well-researched book * Na Chen, Nova Religio * Reclaiming the Wilderness is a must-read for scholars in the field, but also more broadly for anyone interested in the Confucian revival in China, cross-strait relations, and new religious movements. Finally, it also provides valuable insights for non-specialists and students. As such, Billioud has succeeded in providing a highly readable book that appeals to experts and nonspecialists alike and which, I am sure, will leave a great impact on Chinese studies and religious studies. * Nikolas Broy, International Journal of Asian Studies * This book is well organized to illustrate the current work Yiguandao practitioners are doing to reclaim what they view as their rightful place as a legitimate part of China's religious landscape. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals. * M. C. Brose, CHOICE * The greatest worth of this volume is arguably its very fundamental premise: studies pertaining to Yīguàndào - especially those built upon genuine access to practitioners - are desperately lacking, and this volume grants a much-needed window. * Joseph Chadwin, Religious Studies Review *

Reclaiming the Wilderness is a must-read for scholars in the field, but also more broadly for anyone interested in the Confucian revival in China, cross-strait relations, and new religious movements. Finally, it also provides valuable insights for non-specialists and students. As such, Billioud has succeeded in providing a highly readable book that appeals to experts and nonspecialists alike and which, I am sure, will leave a great impact on Chinese studies and religious studies. * Nikolas Broy, International Journal of Asian Studies * This book is well organized to illustrate the current work Yiguandao practitioners are doing to reclaim what they view as their rightful place as a legitimate part of China's religious landscape. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals. * M. C. Brose, CHOICE *

This book is well organized to illustrate the current work Yiguandao practitioners are doing to reclaim what they view as their rightful place as a legitimate part of China's religious landscape. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals. * M. C. Brose, CHOICE *

I highly recommend this well-researched book * Na Chen, Nova Religio * Reclaiming the Wilderness is a must-read for scholars in the field, but also more broadly for anyone interested in the Confucian revival in China, cross-strait relations, and new religious movements. Finally, it also provides valuable insights for non-specialists and students. As such, Billioud has succeeded in providing a highly readable book that appeals to experts and nonspecialists alike and which, I am sure, will leave a great impact on Chinese studies and religious studies. * Nikolas Broy, International Journal of Asian Studies * This book is well organized to illustrate the current work Yiguandao practitioners are doing to reclaim what they view as their rightful place as a legitimate part of China's religious landscape. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals. * M. C. Brose, CHOICE *

Author Information

Sébastien Billioud is Professor of Chinese Studies at Université de Paris and a member of the French Research Institute on East Asia (IFRAE). His cross-disciplinary research explores the modern and contemporary fates of Confucianism. He is the author of Thinking Through Confucian Modernity, A Study of Mou Zongsan's Moral Metaphysics, The Sage and the People, The Confucian Revival in China, and other works.

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