Topic of this publication is "popular belief in contemporary China". It focuses on the positions of participants in the Chinese language discourse rather than taking the current state of research in the Western world as the starting point for its exploration. This study lays open the discursive thread in the People's Republic of China about indigeneity and the critical reception by Chinese academics of Western research approaches. Many Chinese authors have begun to question the ability of Western theories to adequately explain phenomena in China. This book also deals with discursive strategies of Chinese academics aimed at the legitimation of popular belief and in support of a scientific treatment of popular belief in the People's Republic of China. The author gives a comprehensive overview of the broad range of positions within this rapidly unfolding social and academic sphere.

Monika Gaenssbauer is currently a fellow at the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg and Honorary Professor at the Open University of Hong Kong. From 2009-2015 she was Deputy Chair of Chinese Studies at the Institute for Near Eastern and East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Erlangen. She completed her M.A. in Chinese Studies and political science, earned her PhD in 1996 at Bochum University and her post-doctoral degree (Habilitation) in Chinese Studies 2008 at the University of Erlangen.