Institutionalized Growth Of The New Religion Of The Republic

There was an emergence of many new religious groups in Europe and America at the end of the 19th century. It then has become a New Religious Movement by the 1960s. Similar development occurred in the early 1920s in China. The rise of a large number of new religious groups with Fuji activities was observed in the early 1920s. Some of them had rapid development attracting a multitude of government officials, gentries and merchants. We must ask why those new religious groups expand so quickly? Moreover, what institution have they formed in practice?To solve the above problems, one religious group named World Red Swastika Society was selected for a case study. The Red Swastika Society was the largest new religious group of its time. By reference to the development of the new religious groups in the western countries, the author wants to-(explore?) the inner logic among the development of the new religious groups in the period of the Republic of China. Moreover, four issues will be examined in the history of the Red Swastika Society:the origin of the society, the institutionalization of Fuji activities, the establishment of the trans-regional network of its charity activities and the relationship between the single-party government and the society.In this article, the author argues that there was a close relationship between the rise of the new religious groups and the wish of the ruling class at the beginning of the Republic of China. In order to maintain social stability, the Bei Yang government officials and gentries supported and actively participated in the religious groups. They made use of those groups to educate the masses. The participation of the elites also resulted in the institutionalization of the new religious groups. However, the institutionalization process was not completed due to the then political climate and the limited capability of the government to deploy social resources.