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Top university sets up religious studies institute

By Pierre Chen: 0 Comments Print E-mail China.org.cn, December 29, 2010

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Beijing Normal University (BNU), one of China's top colleges, has added humanities and religion to its list of disciplines.

Beijing Normal University establishes Institute for Advanced Study of the Humanities and Religion on December 27. [Pierre Chen / China.org.cn]

The Institute for Advanced Study of the Humanities and Religion (IASHR) was established to bolster the relatively weak presence of religious studies and research in Chinese higher education.

The relative poverty of religious studies is all the more striking given China's rich religious history. It is the birthplace of Confucianism and Taoism, and imported religions including Christianity, Buddhism and Islam are strongly represented across the country.

Confucianism and Taoism originated in China more than two thousand years ago, and Buddhism took root not much later. These three religions are the governing ideologies that have influenced the Chinese nation over the centuries, and all three have had a profound influence on the thinking and conduct of ordinary Chinese people.

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