計畫簡介
近年來，漸有學者開始注意到中國清朝末年和民國時期宗教傳統的變遷，顯示這是一個值得探討的課題，可惜迄今投入的研究不多。本計畫擬從宗教的視角以透視中國的現代化與現代性，聚焦在浙江省以及其時和它有密切互動關係的上海地區，探討公元1898至1948年間傳統的中國宗教如何轉變成現代全球文化的一部分。
本計畫集中在先前學界較少重視的三個問題之討論：(1)地方民間信仰的轉型。(2)宗教知識的產生。(3)菁英份子的宗教信仰與實踐，以三個主題呈現：
（一）「1898-1948年間的『廟產辦學』運動」，一方面就相關政策進行整體評估，另一方面透過溫州府的個案研究以檢視此一運動對於地方民間信仰的影響。
（二）「1898-1948年間上海宗教知識的性質與轉型─以宗教書籍為中心的討論」，預計透過一個「1898-1948年間上海市宗教書籍資料庫」的建立，並在此基礎上進行討論。
（三）「湖州菁英份子的宗教生活（1898-1948）」，從湖州菁英份子（包括旅旅滬湖州人
）所參與宗教團體和慈善活動的性質和內涵，探討其如何在傳統與現代化之間找到一個平
衡點。
就研究方法而言，本研究將運用極為豐富的文獻資料─包括地方志、檔案、報章雜誌
、宗教書籍（含宗教刊物）、民俗調查、民族誌，並且結合口述歷史，和田野調查以進行研究。整體來說，本計畫係宗教現代化的區域研究，希望藉此拓展現代化研究的新領域。
本計畫不僅和中央研究院近代史研究所近年來的研究方向相當吻合，同時也和近史所的幾個研究群（包括城市史研究群、婦女與性別史研究群、中國近代知識建構與知識傳播研究群）的主題有關，在執行本計畫時，我們將和上述研究群成員積極的連絡，相互激勵
，以期達到相乘的研究成果。
Based on the growing awareness that important processes of change shaped the fate of Chinese religion during the last decade of the Qing empire and the entire Republican period, our joint research project proposes to systematically explore how the fifty years from 1898 to 1948, turned Chinese religion into what it is now: a modern, globalized religious culture. We also intend to place religion at the core of understanding Chinese modernization and modernity by adopting an interdisciplinary approach that enables fieldwork and oral histories to be used alongside written documents such as journals, archives, religious books, local gazetteers and folkloristic studies, etc.
This project takes stock of existing scholarship, but will also try to surpass it by assessing the role of not only intrusive state policies but also the inherent dynamics of social and religious change. In order to reach this level of comprehensiveness, we have decided to focus our investigations on one given region, namely Zhejiang 浙江 province plus the greater Shanghai 上海 area that served at its center during this period. We have identified three major forms of religious change in this region that previous research has overlooked: 1) Mutations of the communal structures of religion; 2) Innovative productions of religious knowledge; 3) New types of elite religiosity. Our research on each of these three themes is comprised of an overall survey and a case study. Each overall survey is grounded on a synthesis of the existing literature and published sources on that theme, so as to formulate coherent questions and analytical frameworks. Each case study consists of an in-depth exploration of precisely defined primary sources in order to answer these questions in a detailed manner.
Theme #1 will be comprised of a general survey of the “build schools with temple property movement” (miaochan banxue 廟產辦學), and a case study at the level of one prefecture, that of Wenzhou 溫州 in southern Zhejiang. Theme #2 will be feature the compilation of a catalog of religious books printed in Shanghai during the 1898-1948 period. Theme #3 centers on the creation of a comprehensive database covering the body of Republican-period local elites in Huzhou 湖州 and among the Huzhou community in Shanghai and beyond, while also tracing their involvement in all types of charitable and religious groups. Thus, our work qualifies as a regional study of modernization -- a key goal of our host institute, the Institute of Modern History (中央研究院近代史研究所) -- but, innovatively, it is a regional study of religious modernization. Our project is also closely related to the scholarship currently being undertaken by the Institute’s leading Research Groups (yanjiuqun 研究群), including those on urban history, women’s history, and the formation of modern knowledge (城市史研究群; 婦女與性別史研究群 ; 中國近代知識建構與知識傳播研究群)