Handbook of Leaving Religion

its authority over local religious life’? (35). Fourth, are modern communication methods more effective in shaping individual religious views than traditional ones? Is there a more effective approach to depicting the religious world of ‘non-elite’ individuals and their response to modernity? Or is it still much simpler to locate them in a macro narrative (as presented in Chapters 1 and 2)? In sum, readers will only discover more fascinating ideas and find inspiration from the book when they open it for themselves, as our summary and comments here are by no means comprehensive. In addition to being an excellent study of regional religion and its theoretical paradigm, which takes into account religious changes and reconfigurations within the framework of community, knowledge, and religiosity, this volume is unquestionably a milestone in the field, as it serves both as a research overview of Chinese religions in modern transformation and a point of departure for further regional and comparative studies. This work is not to be missed by any scholars of modern Chinese religion, no matter which subfield they are devoted to.