Exploring Cultural, Religious, and Ideological Influences in Tibet and Xinjiang: Shaping Collective and Individual Identities in East Asia

Abstract

This research seeks to identify and analyze critical questions of cultural difference by attending to the intersections of culture, religion, and political ideology in Tibet and Xinjiang, two focal regions of East Asian cultural politics. Concentrating on Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet and Islam in Xinjiang, the dissertation explores how the two religions define people's personal and group identities, particularly in conditions of expanded state control. Based on literature sources and religious and ethnographic materials, the study focuses on how people of different localities keep their faith and cultural identity alive despite political constraints such as the Sinicization policy and state control. The project is also concerned with the historical contexts that inform the people's religious experiences and how governance strategies shape culture and religion. Analyzing the investigation results, which were conducted with the help of cultural anthropology, religious studies, and political history, the study provides a complex understanding of how religion is paramount to identity work in these areas and considers the general significance of East Asian culture. Therefore, this study adds to the growing literature on accommodating and contesting cultural and religious minorities in politically sensitive contexts. It also advances a hermeneutical understanding of the complex relations between governance, religion, and minority cultures in contemporary East Asia.