They say all politics is local. The same goes for religion, too, as is made clear by these itineraries of the City God procession in Shanghai in November 1919 and 1920 and April 1924 and 1936. (Look closely and you'll see dotted blue lines along with the red. The red were the day procession, taking the god out of his temple; the blue the evening procession returning to it.) Every step of the way had to be decided. By whom? How? With reference to what needs, precedents, patterns, payments, contingencies, opportunities, godly directives? Religion lives!
YU Zhejun, "Volksreligion im Spiegel der Zivilgesellschaftstheorie:
Gottbegrüßungsprozession in Shanghai während der Republikzeit,"
PhD dissertation Leipzig, 2010, 256-8, 263
