ChinaFile Presents | The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao

At a moment when observers of contemporary China devote their attention to the country’s fast-changing economy and politics, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Ian Johnson has spent much of the past decade immersing himself in a transformation of a very different sort: China’s massive spiritual revival. Following a century of attacks on religious life, a country once held together by tradition and ritual is again teaming with temples, mosques, cults, sects, holy mountains pilgrims, fortunetellers, and politicians trying to harness them.

ChinaFile and The New York Review of Books are pleased to cohost the launch of Johnson’s forthcoming book, The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao, with a discussion moderated by Ian Buruma.

Ian Johnson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who works out of Beijing and Berlin, where he also teaches and advises academic journals and think tanks. Johnson has spent more than half of the past thirty years in the Greater China region, first as a student in Beijing from 1984 to 1985, and then in Taipei from 1986 to 1988. In addition to winning a Pulitzer for his coverage of China, Johnson is also the recipient of Stanford University’s Shorenstein Journalism Award for his body of work covering Asia.

Ian Buruma is a journalist, writer, and academic. He is the Paul W. Williams Professor of Human Rights and Journalism at Bard College. Buruma spent much of his early writing career reporting from all around Asia. He now writes about politics and culture for a variety of major publications, including The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Corriere della Sera, The Financial Times, and The Guardian.











When: Thu., Apr. 13, 2017 at 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Where: Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Ave.
212-288-6400
Price: $10 Students/Seniors; $12 Nonmembers
Buy tickets/get more info now
See other events in these categories:

At a moment when observers of contemporary China devote their attention to the country’s fast-changing economy and politics, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Ian Johnson has spent much of the past decade immersing himself in a transformation of a very different sort: China’s massive spiritual revival. Following a century of attacks on religious life, a country once held together by tradition and ritual is again teaming with temples, mosques, cults, sects, holy mountains pilgrims, fortunetellers, and politicians trying to harness them.

ChinaFile and The New York Review of Books are pleased to cohost the launch of Johnson’s forthcoming book, The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao, with a discussion moderated by Ian Buruma.

Ian Johnson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who works out of Beijing and Berlin, where he also teaches and advises academic journals and think tanks. Johnson has spent more than half of the past thirty years in the Greater China region, first as a student in Beijing from 1984 to 1985, and then in Taipei from 1986 to 1988. In addition to winning a Pulitzer for his coverage of China, Johnson is also the recipient of Stanford University’s Shorenstein Journalism Award for his body of work covering Asia.

Ian Buruma is a journalist, writer, and academic. He is the Paul W. Williams Professor of Human Rights and Journalism at Bard College. Buruma spent much of his early writing career reporting from all around Asia. He now writes about politics and culture for a variety of major publications, including The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Corriere della Sera, The Financial Times, and The Guardian.

Buy tickets/get more info now