Secularity and Transformation of the Faith-Based Community: Ethnography of the Religious Charity of Baha’i in Macau
Since the 1970s, religious charities in Chinese communities have gradually become public and rational, transforming from previously raising donations for the temples or disaster relief. Even in mainland China, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam all began to enter the secular society after the 1980s a...
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| Published in: | Religions |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Articles |
| Published: |
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View article (DOI: 10.3390/rel11120652) |
| _version_ | 1877637432235524096 |
|---|---|
| author | Jing, Yanchun Zhu, Jiangang Han, Yongjing |
| author_autocomplete | Jing, Yanchun Zhu, Jiangang Han, Yongjing |
| author_browse | Han, Yongjing Jing, Yanchun Zhu, Jiangang |
| author_facet | Jing, Yanchun Zhu, Jiangang Han, Yongjing Jing, Yanchun Zhu, Jiangang Han, Yongjing |
| author_sort | Jing, Yanchun |
| container_issue | 12 |
| container_issue_str | 12 |
| container_title | Religions |
| container_title_str | Religions |
| container_volume | 11 |
| container_volume_str | 11 |
| description | Since the 1970s, religious charities in Chinese communities have gradually become public and rational, transforming from previously raising donations for the temples or disaster relief. Even in mainland China, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam all began to enter the secular society after the 1980s and gradually merged into local public life by providing public welfare. Little attention has been paid to Baha’i, which originated in Iran in the middle of the 19th century and has become one of the most rapidly expanding new religions in the world. Based upon the ethnography of a Baha’i group in Macau, we first introduce the development of Baha’i, its activities and its charity services. In considering this example, we engage with the following questions. As a new world religion, why would Baha’i carry out these charity events? How did it begin its charity activities in Macau? How do charity activities convey its religious philosophy and religious practice? How should we interpret these religious charity practices? This exploratory research on a religious group in Macau revealed that the modern religion derives publicity and rationalization from its strong driving force for secularization, that the believers are also increasingly emphasizing their social and cultural citizenship, and that the religious organization is also gradually transforming into a networked faith-based community. |
| doi_str_mv | 10.3390/rel11120652 |
| first_indexed | 2026-09-29T04:00:29Z |
| format | Articles |
| genre | Articles |
| genre_facet | Articles |
| id | zotero-FTA49XYA |
| institution | zotero_group |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| last_indexed | 2026-09-29T04:00:29Z |
| latest_content_date | 2026-09-29T04:00:29Z |
| physical | 652 |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateRange | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| record_format | zotero |
| spelling | Secularity and Transformation of the Faith-Based Community: Ethnography of the Religious Charity of Baha’i in Macau Since the 1970s, religious charities in Chinese communities have gradually become public and rational, transforming from previously raising donations for the temples or disaster relief. Even in mainland China, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam all began to enter the secular society after the 1980s and gradually merged into local public life by providing public welfare. Little attention has been paid to Baha’i, which originated in Iran in the middle of the 19th century and has become one of the most rapidly expanding new religions in the world. Based upon the ethnography of a Baha’i group in Macau, we first introduce the development of Baha’i, its activities and its charity services. In considering this example, we engage with the following questions. As a new world religion, why would Baha’i carry out these charity events? How did it begin its charity activities in Macau? How do charity activities convey its religious philosophy and religious practice? How should we interpret these religious charity practices? This exploratory research on a religious group in Macau revealed that the modern religion derives publicity and rationalization from its strong driving force for secularization, that the believers are also increasingly emphasizing their social and cultural citizenship, and that the religious organization is also gradually transforming into a networked faith-based community. Religions Articles 2020 Baha’i China Macau religious charity service Jing, Yanchun Zhu, Jiangang Han, Yongjing |
| spellingShingle | Secularity and Transformation of the Faith-Based Community: Ethnography of the Religious Charity of Baha’i in Macau Jing, Yanchun Zhu, Jiangang Han, Yongjing Baha’i China Macau religious charity service |
| title | Secularity and Transformation of the Faith-Based Community: Ethnography of the Religious Charity of Baha’i in Macau |
| title_autocomplete | Secularity and Transformation of the Faith-Based Community: Ethnography of the Religious Charity of Baha’i in Macau |
| title_full | Secularity and Transformation of the Faith-Based Community: Ethnography of the Religious Charity of Baha’i in Macau |
| title_fullStr | Secularity and Transformation of the Faith-Based Community: Ethnography of the Religious Charity of Baha’i in Macau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Secularity and Transformation of the Faith-Based Community: Ethnography of the Religious Charity of Baha’i in Macau |
| title_short | Secularity and Transformation of the Faith-Based Community: Ethnography of the Religious Charity of Baha’i in Macau |
| title_sort | secularity and transformation of the faith-based community: ethnography of the religious charity of baha’i in macau |
| topic | Baha’i China Macau religious charity service |
| topic_autocomplete | Baha’i China Macau religious charity service |
| topic_facet | Baha’i China Macau religious charity service |