Surveying digital religion in China: Characteristics of religion on the Internet in Mainland China

Abstract

ABSTRACT China’s distinct development of the Internet has provided religious populations within its mainland access, allowing them to create practices and resources related to the development of religion online. Yet this phenomenon has been understudied both within the current Chinese research on the Internet and international studies of digital religion online. This article provides an overview of digital religion in the Chinese context by identifying and exploring the main characteristics of Buddhism, Islam, and Protestantism manifest online. This is done by providing an overview of current research and profiling the development of different forms of digital religious expression found in China. Through this we show how the concept of digital religion is manifest in China and how this compares to Western understandings of such practices, and we highlight the unique characteristics defining the Chinese religious digital landscape.