Contemporary Northeast Chinese Shamanism in the Interaction Between Public Heritage and Private Belief
Xiaoshuang Liu
Religions May 30, 2025 DOI: 10.3390/rel16060706 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Fieldwork and historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Northeast Chinese shamanism |
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Keywords | Belief system Aesthetics Archaeology Ethnology |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key points | Argues that a bidirectional interaction between public heritage and private belief in Northeast Chinese shamanism challenges the notion that heritagization leads to the decline of faith. |
Abstract
Since China’s accession to the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2004, private shamanism, centered around the sacred belief of “connecting heaven and earth”, has for the first time been incorporated into the national heritage management system with legal legitimacy, becoming regulated public heritage on the condition of avoiding religious attributes. Through fieldwork and historical analysis, this paper examines the interaction between public heritage and private belief in contemporary Northeast Chinese shamanism. The research reveals the mutual influence between the public and private domains of shamanic ritual practices, with a new synthesis or symbiotic relationship emerging across these domains, which is manifested in two main aspects: first, the “generation of the public from the private”, exemplified by the emergence of the public heritage associated with shamanism, and second, the “promotion of the private by the public”, where the sacred private belief expands its existential space with the assistance of newly recognized public heritage. This bidirectional interaction model challenges the conventional notion that “heritagization leads to the decline of faith”, offering a novel interpretive framework for understanding the contemporary transformation of ritual systems.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cognitive Neuroscience, Shamanism and the Rock Art of Native California | 1998 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From Culture to Experience: Shamanism in the Pages of the Soviet Anti-Religious Press | 2020 | Historical analysis | |
| Anthropology, Shamanism, and Alternate Ways of Knowing–Being in the World: One Anthropologist's Journey of Discovery and Transformation | 2010 | Reflective essay or personal narrative |
Citations in the library
Cites 4
- The Evolution of Chinese Shamanism: A Case Study from Northwest China Religions December 4, 2018
- The Double Identities of the Shaman and the Dualistic Attitudes of the State: An Exploration of Contemporary Organizational Shamanism in Northeast China Religions March 28, 2024
- Shamanic Culture’s Reconnection of Earth and Heaven (Xu Ditiantong) in the New Era in China: The Dialectical Relationship between Material Civilization and Cultural Intimacy Religions April 5, 2023
- Shamanism, history, and the state 1994