The Revitalization of Shamanism in Contemporary China
A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2023) | Viewed by 32270
Special Issue Editors
Interests: Daoist religion and philosophy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: Inuit prehistory; Chinese prehistory–early history; Arctic ethnography; Chinese subarctic peoples; Shamanism; Animism
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Shamanism has a long history in China and is still practiced in many areas today among many different types of people, from the Han Chinese to ethnic groups living in diverse rural areas. After a debilitating decline when it was strictly outlawed during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, over the last four decades the shamanistic tradition has been greatly rejuvenated. While spirit mediums are engaged in healing services, devil exorcising, divining, and problem resolving in their communities among the Han Chinese, sacrificial cults, ancestor worshiping, and ritual ceremonies are frequently performed by Tungusic and Mongolian shamans in North China.
In the last several decades, scholars, whether Chinese or Western, have contributed to this field with their diverse perspectives on ritualism, symbolism, psychological states, and cultural mentalities. More recently, contemporary scholars have been asking many related questions: What are the ontological natures of Chinese shamanism? How have Chinese shamans adapted to the politico-economic circumstances of the contemporary Chinese order? How do the practices of Chinese shamanism mirror social changes in local historical contexts? How are shamanistic systems reshaped and reconstructed in the larger global context? How do shamanistic eco-cosmologies interact with other human and naturalistic environmental perspectives in China? All these questions are still central problems in our understandings of contemporary shamanism in China.
We are seeking articles for this Special Issue from scholars and other researchers of shamanism who are active in a variety of disciplines, such as ethnography, religious studies, anthropology, archaeology, art history, sociology, psychology, philosophy, and others. We strongly encourage papers that both focus on the continuing phenomenon of shamanism in China and contextualize the contemporary practice of Chinese shamanism in a comparative context. We wish to promote critical thinking and theoretically oriented approaches that further our understanding of the revitalization of shamanism in contemporary China.
Dr. Thomas Michael
Prof. Dr. Feng Qu
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.