This talk presents insights from a forthcoming book that synthesizes two decades of ethnographic, archival and historical comparative research to examine religious transformation in post-Mao China.

Focusing on five major religions, the study tackles key questions regarding their growth dynamics in a specific political context. Why did Protestantism experience rapid growth while Catholicism lagged behind? How to explain the profound changes experienced by Chinese popular religion in its post-Mao revival? Why did New Religious Movements fail to become a major player in the religious landscape of post-Mao China, despite their great potential? Why did the Chinese Buddhist community's development diverge from its Republican-era and post-1949 Taiwanese counterparts?