Negotiated Religious Meaning: Qing and Nationalist Approaches to Religious Superscription

This paper largely serves as a case study comparing the wildly divergent attempts, both in terms of execution and success, of the Qing dynasty and Nationalist regime in using religious symbols to appeal to the Chinese populace. While both attempted to win national support and popularity, religious superscription also reflected attempts to verify the legitimacy of the current government. Differences in the execution of religious superscription reflect the two varying approaches of the Qing and the Nationalists: an emphasis on utilizing tradition to promote imperial authority versus a total disregard of tradition in hopes of rapid change at a national level.