Traditional Religion of Overseas Chinese and Its Modern Transformation

With regard to traditional religion of overseas Chinese, the present work is based on the definition given to it by the governments of Southeast Asian countries concerned and the communities of Overseas Chinese and also on their understanding about it. An analysis is given to its basic characteristics from essence, object and modality of traditional religious belief as well as to the main expreession of modern transformation it experiences in the course of modernization. On this basis, an investigation is made into the trend and prospect of its development. The author strives to illustrate the close correlation between traditional religion of overseas Chinese and modernization.