Communism in an Enchanted World

Drawing together decades of research, Steve Smith explores the survival and adaptation of folk beliefs in Mao's China in the face of seismic social change and growing political repression. Bringing an often-neglected aspect of modern Chinese history to the fore, he shows how folk religion maintained a vital presence in everyday life. In myriad ways, through Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism, spirit mediums and spirit healing, divination, geomancy, and the reform of traditional marriage and funeral rites, rituals and beliefs provided resources for adaptation and resistance to the regime. This unique history gives readers a vivid sense of life under Mao Zedong as vibrant, contentious and resilient – a far cry from stereotypes of a secular, regimented and monochrome society.