Speaker: Jianbo Huang, Professor of Anthropology, East China Normal University

China is often labeled as the least religious nation in the world, yet its people express a rich tapestry of spirituality. This talk reveals that Chinese citizens engage with a broad spectrum of religious and spiritual traditions—frequently in informal settings and beyond traditional institutional boundaries. These practices are driven by diverse personal motivations and deep-rooted cultural imperatives. Neither political pressures nor the forces of modernization and rationalization have eradicated religious influence in China. Rather, religious life in China endures and adapts, demonstrating that economic or material progress cannot substitute for the profound meaning offered by spiritual practices. Understanding this dynamic interplay is essential for anticipating China’s future trajectory.

Jianbo Huang is Professor of anthropology at East China Normal University (ECNU), director of the Institute of Anthropology, and the Center of Ethnicity and Development. Before joining ECNU in 2014, he was a faculty member of anthropology institute, Renmin University of China since 2005. After receiving his PH.D. in anthropology from Central Minzu University in 2003, he was post-doc fellow at the Institute of Anthropology and Ethnology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in 2003-2005, and at the Institute of Studies of Religion, Baylor University, in 2007-2008. He received numerous funds from both the state social science foundation of China and international funds, and was named as Shanghai Shuguang Scholar in 2015.