SOULS OF CHINA REACTION

Another early reader has this to say about The Souls of China:

Ian Johnson peels back the gleaming surfaces of modern China to reveal a sacred landscape underneath–a web of ritual and tradition, myth and faith, that has sustained Chinese for centuries and is doing so anew. Over a year in the traditional calendar, Johnson takes us on an extraordinarily rich and intimate journey—from pilgrimages on holy mountains, to the thriving Protestant congregations in the nation’s booming cities, to the village farmhouses where Daoist funerals are held and fortunes told. Johnson shows us what is really in Chinese souls and hearts. This vividly written, deeply researched book will be the primary work about religious faith in China for years to come.

– Leslie T. Chang, author of Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China