During the past few years the study of Chinese religions has been blessed by the publication of a series of pioneering studies by Vincent Goossaert and David A. Palmer, Yoshiko Ashiwa and David Wank, Rebecca A. Nedostup, Adam Yuet Chau, and David A. Palmer, Glenn Shive and Philip L. Wickeri, to name a few. The Companion both reflects the astounding growth of this field and also helps make its recent achievements more easily accessible to the general reader. Expertly edited by Randall Nadeau, this volume features well-written essays by a group of leading scholars which introduce readers to the historical development and contemporary manifestations of the core traditions that comprise the Chinese religious world as we know it, including Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and communal religious traditions (generally referred to, including in this volume, as “popular religion”). The result is a work that will be of great benefit to students and mentors alike.

One key feature of the Companion is its multifaceted structure, which consists of three parts with a total of 20 chapters. Part one (Historical Survey) introduces the growth of Chinese religions from ancient times to the late imperial era. Part two (The Traditions) contains innovative analyses of the six core traditions mentioned above. Part three (Critical Terms for the Study of Chinese Religions) focuses on beliefs and practices that have shaped the history of Chinese religious life, and continue to do so today.

The team of scholars that joined forces to produce the Companion deserves great credit for its conceptual sophistication, including sensitivity to the problem of how Western scholars have conceptualized and categorized Chinese religions, as well as awareness of the need to stress indigenous terminology and exegesis. All the chapters are clearly written and coherently organized, which will enhance this book's overall impact. Some of the most stimulating efforts are those about Islam (James D. Frankel), Christianity (Ryan Dunch) and sacred texts (Thomas Jansen). Of particular note are the chapter by Philip Clart on popular religion, which clarifies the nature of this term as a heuristic concept encompassing a wide scope of beliefs and practices, as well as the chapter on gender by Beata Grant, which contains provocative discussions of largely overlooked yet culturally vital phenomena such as female shamans and a dizzying kaleidoscope of goddess cults.

Regrettably, the Companion does suffer from its share of weaknesses. To begin with, despite claims of its featuring the “most up-to-date” and “latest” research on Chinese religions, most of the scholarship cited in individual chapters was published prior to 2010, while the most “recent” work in the Introduction dates from 2006 (the circumstances under which this book was produced are not explained in the prefatory materials). Moreover, one cannot help but notice the presence of rather outdated assertions such as attempting to equate “superstition” with Confucianism (pp. 6, 12–13), or the neglect of the massive body of scholarship on Daoism after the “late medieval period” (the work of scholars like Vincent Goossaert, Liu Xun, Mori Yuria and Monica Esposito comes to mind). It is also most surprising that the Historical Survey lacks a chapter on the modern era, especially since contemporary issues are often among the first things inquiring student minds want to know. In this respect, the Companion compares rather unfavourably with the temporal scope of recent works like Chinese Religious Life. The chapters on individual practice are full of fascinating information, but tend to centre on more extreme forms such as asceticism and self-inflicted violence, overlooking core practices such as qigong, the martial arts, and meditation. Finally, it is a pity that not a single illustration is included, especially in a work largely destined for instructional use.

These flaws in no way diminish the Companion’s overall contribution, however, which is to provide a systematic overview of Chinese religions that will be of great utility to the scholarly community in terms of both its intellectual import and pedagogical value.