Negotiating Religion in Modern China: State and Common People in Guangzhou, 1900–1937

Negotiating Religion in Modern China traces the history of the Chinese state's relationship with religion from 1900 to 1937. The revolutionary regime condemned religious practice in the early twentieth century, suppressing "superstitious" belief in favor of a secular, more enlightened society. Drawing on newspapers and unpublished official documents, this book focuses on the case of Guangzhou, largely because of the city's sustained involvement in the revolutionary quest for a "new" China. The author pays particular attention to the implementation of policy and citizens' attempts at adaptation and resistance.

Shuk-wah Poon is an assistant professor in history at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. She specializes in popular religions in early twentieth-century China. Professor Poon has a wide range of research interests and is currently devoting her time to the history of swimming and human-animal relations in modern China and colonial Hong Kong.