"Those who came with their dreams": Chinese religiosity in western Canada

Abstract

In what variations do the religious practices of China continue in the foreign milieu of Western Canada? It is the purpose of this thesis to show indeed that Chinese religiosity is in tension within the diaspora community and with the majority traditions in Western Canada. I will examine Chinese-Canada literature as a means to address these questions. While general discussion of religion are often conspicuously absent from literature, Buddho-Daoism in particular is frequently ignored in sociological, anthropological, literary and cultural studies. This thesis will expand upon the work of previous scholars in sociology, literary criticism and move then into domain of religious studies to augment the discourse. The earliest Chinese migrants to Canada were isolated communities of young men without elders, without leaders, without clan or family, without women and the hearth, without children, without priests and holy men. They came seeking the prosperity of Jinshan; in such a foreign milieu where would they find their religious selves fulfilled?