Democracy's Dharma: Religious Renaissance and Political Development in Taiwan
This book explores the remarkable religious renaissance that has reformed, revitalized, and renewed the practices of Buddhism and Daoism in Taiwan. Democracy's Dharma connects these noteworthy developments to Taiwan's transition to democracy and the burgeoning needs of its new middle classes. Richard Madsen offers fresh thinking on Asian religions and shows that the public religious revival was not only encouraged by the early phases of the democratic transition but has helped to make that...
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"Madsen is a genial and well-informed guide, both to social-political change in Taiwan and to the ins and outs of religious movements. His engaging writing skillfully interweaves profound insights and themes into the descriptive analytical narrative. Democracy's Dharma presents new material based on recent research while offering a fresh spin on thinking about Asian religions."—Thomas Gold, editor of Social Connections in China: Institutions, Culture, and the Changing Nature of Guanxi
List of Illustrations viiAcknowledgments ixA Note on Romanization xiPreface xiiiThe Taiwanese Religious Context 1Tzu Chi: The Modernization of Buddhist Compassion 16Buddha's Light Mountain: The Buddhist Contribution to Democratic Civil Religion 51Dharma Drum Mountain: Transcendent Meaning in a Broken World 85The Enacting Heaven Temple: Hybrid Modernity 104Conclusions 131Notes 159Bibliography 175Glossary 181Index 183
