The state of religions in China post-Mao is a rather opaque area. Two recent books shed some much-needed light.
The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao by Ian Johnson was published in 2017, based on interviews by the author conducted in China from 2011 to 2017, in particular in 2012.
Johnson is a China hand. As he is a foreign correspondent for the NYT, he is thus able to write with flair. This book is a joy to read.
Religious Change in Post-Mao China by Sun Yan Fei (published in 2026) was just released in late Dec 2025.
It is based on 2 decades of fieldwork and covers the explosive growth of Protestantism in China. Other religions covered are Catholicism, Chinese popular religions like local deities, and new religious movements like Falun Gong and Buddhism.
Surprisingly, Taoism is left out. The author does not explain this surprising omission. For this reason, this book, greatly anticipated by me, is a disappointment.
LWH, 1 Jan 2026
Agree, religion is not prohibited by the Chinese gov after Mao. No persecution, but watched closely to ensure it’s not anti gov in the guise of religion, as speculated in the case of falongong. Yes, it’s intriguingand disappointing that Taoism is left out in any important discourse about religion in China, unless the author erroneously treated it as part of ancestral worship..