FORMATION AND CURRENT STATE OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES IN CHINA (IN ASSESSMENTS FROM OUTSIDE AND FROM WITHIN)

Abstract

The present article focuses on the general description and analysis of the present state of Religious Studies in contemporary China. On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed. This was not only the beginning of a new period of the political and social history of the country but also a new stage in the history of Chinese Humanities and Social Studies. The changed political environment cardinally changed the structure and the character of Chinese Humanities. Methodology of philosophical and social studies underwent significant changes. The country changed and the Chinese Religious Studies changed with the country. The way that PRC has passed over the period in almost 70 years has not been easy and simple but it has brought China to impressing results. The same can be said about the Religious Studies in contemporary China. The article presents an analysis of the opinions and assessments of Chinese scholars on the development of Religious Studies in present-day People’s Republic of China, as well as a description of it’s organizational infrastructure...