A Transnational Movement: Colonial Transformation of Asian Religions in the 19th and 20th Centuries

The modernization of Asia cannot often be considered without the concept of colonialism, for politics, economics and culture of Western civilization flew into the Eastern nations by the social policy of imperialism. The advanced technology, medicine, education, navigation, and printing passed the humanistic philosophies onto the Asian continent which is the homeland of global religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Sikhism, Shamanism, Islam and Shintoism). The enterprising ideology of European world progressively caused the change of social structure and Asian religions. Then, how did local religious communities response against the socio-colonial transformation? How was Christianity (a new religion to Asians) introduced and settled down in the cross-cultural and multi-ethnic land? This paper will not only explore the tendency of indigenous religions through illustrations of Hong Kong, China, Korea, Japan, India, Nepal, Tibet, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, but also argue that the colonial environment was the historical moment where the old religions as well as new religions were able to launch their transnational expansion into each mission field of West and East.