Shamanism and Christianity: Models of Religious Encounters in East Asia

Abstract

When exploring interactions between Christianity and other religions in East Asia, the place given to the shamanic tradition remains ambiguous and marginal. This article analyzes the religious encounters between shamanism and Christianity in East Asia through specific and representative case studies. This article is divided into three main parts. Section 1 introduces the core terms “shamanism” and “diffusionism”, explaining their general meanings and the specific ways they are used in this study, and provides a regional overview of the cases analyzed in this paper. Sections 2–4 present the historical context and analysis of religious encounters in regions such as Siberia, Mongolia, China (including Taiwan, Southwest China, and Northeast China), Korea, etc. Sections 5 and 6 seek to demonstrate that shamanism operates according to two models: the first characterized by “segregation” and the second by “diffusion”, noting that these models exist on a dynamic continuum. In most historical situations, this study argues that shamanism initially encountered Christianity in a segregation mode, often leading to significant conflicts between the two. Over time, as shamanism’s religious attributes weakened, it paradoxically adapted to a diffusion model, integrating its ethos into other religions, including Christianity. The diffusion model has thus become an appropriate way to understand the current existent form of shamanism in East Asia.

1. Introduction

The main aim of this article is to explore how East Asian shamanistic communities and beliefs have evolved within the context of modernization and post-colonization, shaped by the impact of war and colonization, by the collisions between foreign and indigenous cultures, and by forced integration into globalization. As human societies collectively entered the narrative of modernization, a dualistic structure of “center–periphery” emerged as the dominant framework. Within this structure, shamanism, along with the regions where it once thrived or is still practiced, undoubtedly occupies a peripheral position. However, a focus on its marginalization is far from sufficient when giving an account of its positioning and influence.

Before going further, we need to clarify the meaning we give to two key terms, “shamanism” and “diffusionism”, explaining our understanding of them and their connotations in the context of this study.

The core of “shamanism” is generally considered to be found in its religious practitioners, the “shamans”, described as individuals who, in one way or another, “ally” with deities. Through initiations and rituals, they are granted the ability to communicate with gods and to traverse two worlds that are otherwise disconnected (Zhang 1986; Bilik 2021). Etymologically, the term “shamanism” first referred to the system of religious practices of the indigenous Siberian peoples, particularly the Tungus peoples. Within the hunting societies of Siberia, the form of exchange between shamans and spirits was commonly manifested in the following fashion: shamans were offering themselves to the gods through marital alliance in exchange for game (in other words, shamans were seen as putative husbands for the daughter of the spirits having control over animals and nature) (Hamayon 1993, 1998, 2016; Francfort et al. 2001), leading to a horizontal interpretation of the relationship between society and nature (Boileau 2002, p. 378).

As these societies transitioned from hunting to pastoralism, the alliance between shamans and spirits became more commonly established through bloodline inheritance. Consequently, the concepts and rituals proper to ancestor worship emerged within shamanism or were borrowed from other traditions and mixed with it.

With the advancement of shamanistic studies, shamanic religious practices have been identified across various regions and ethnic groups. Even though the names and forms of shamans and shamanism vary across different traditions, it remains, in essence, a universal religious phenomenon within human civilization (Vitebsky 2001).

On one hand, shamanism lacks a centralized institution or coherent doctrines, embedding itself into the complex of societies through “shaman–client” interpersonal relationships. It continues to exist in a diffused, scattered, and fluid form. On the other hand, it is overtly or covertly associated with terms like “superstition”, “ignorance”, and “backwardness”. Within the progressive expectations of evolutionary narratives, it is often described as a religious form destined for extinction.

Another characteristic common to the forms of shamanism discussed in this article deserves consideration: for its adherents, shamanism is not merely a lived religion, a ritual-centered religious system, but also an unofficial, indigenous, and traditional faith closely tied to the history and origins of specific ethnic groups. For its believers, shamanism serves as a means of self-preservation and self-affirmation, maintaining identity in ways that resist the erasure imposed by the “center–periphery” narrative structure (Vermander 2011).

As to diffusionism, I approach it as an anthropological theory emphasizing the spread of cultural traits between societies as a key driver of development. Emerging in the early 1900s, it suggests that cultural elements like technology, beliefs, and art are transmitted through interaction rather than originating independently within societies. Diffusionists prioritize the ability of cultures to adapt and adopt external influences over internal innovation. Their focus lies in understanding the movement and geographical distribution of cultural phenomena over time (Goldenweiser 1925; Blaut 1987; Padden 1973; Farahmand 2024). Although diffusionism is rarely addressed in contemporary anthropological research, its concept continues to persist in the form of cultural areas (Farahmand 2024) and has been subtly reinforced by the prevalence of globalization theories (Hahn 2008; Pieterse 2019).

Diffusion not only represents the tradition of diffusionism in anthropological studies but is also closely associated with an important term in the study of Chinese folk religion, namely, diffused religion: “Diffused religion is conceived of as a religion having its theology, cultus, and personnel so intimately diffused into one or more secular social institutions that they become a part of the concept, rituals, and structure of the latter, thus having no significant independent existence…while diffused religion functions as a part of the secular social institutions” (Yang 1961, pp. 294–95).

The term “diffused religion” was proposed by C. K. Yang to highlight the characteristics of Chinese folk religion, with the primary aim of distinguishing Chinese folk religion from universal religions (Yang 1961, p. 295), such as Buddhism, emphasizing the integration of diffused religion with secular social institutions. The essence of diffused religion lies in its form of distribution within society rather than being tied to a specific religious type.

The diffusion model proposed in this article is built upon the concepts propounded by both the diffusionism school and the “diffused religion” perspective, suggesting a process that transitions from the dynamic spread of culture to the static distribution forms of religion. This model describes how, after the unilateral introduction of a foreign religion, interactions and encounters occur between the indigenous and foreign religions, gradually shifting from the conflict-prone segregation model to the integrative diffusion model. In this process, Christianity acts as a catalyst. This article places great emphasis on how the religious encounter between shamanism and Christianity transforms the role and form of shamanism within local communities.

The issue of religious encounters is crucial in the study of religion. This article focuses specifically on the religious encounters between Christianity and shamanism in East Asia for two reasons. On the one hand, Christianity is currently the largest religion in the world in terms of the number of adherents, the breadth of its global distribution, and its significant influence. Shamanism is a spontaneously developed religion that is widely distributed or has remnants worldwide. There is considerable geographic overlap between the two religions, and numerous encounters have occurred and continue to occur. However, previous scholars studying religious encounters in East Asia have primarily focused on the interactions between Christianity and Confucianism or Buddhism. The study of religious encounters between Christianity and shamanism in East Asia has been marginal in religious studies and has not received the attention it deserves. On the other hand, previous research on the religious encounters between Christianity and shamanism in East Asia has generally been conducted on a relatively small scale, focusing on specific countries or regions, such as Korea (Kendall 1981, 1996; A. E. Kim 2000a, 2000b; Kister 2006, 2008, 2010; Oak 2010; K. Kim 2017), where the religious encounters are relatively straightforward. In contrast, in China, where the religious phenomena are more complex with a much larger territory, religious encounters can be further subdivided into areas such as Taiwan (Lardinois 2004, 2008; S. Tung 2008; Lardinois and Vermander 2008; Hu and Liu 2010; De Busser 2013; Fang 2016; Vermander 2017), Northeast China (Lindgren 1930, 1938; Tang 2021), and Southwest China (Han 2000; Vermander 2004; Ban 2010; Ma 2011; Névot 2019). In other words, when it comes to the religious encounters between Christianity and shamanism in East Asia, no scholar has yet adopted a comprehensive “East Asian” perspective in their research, nor have they recognized the commonality of these religious encounters across East Asia and the distinctiveness of religious encounters in East Asia from other regions.

This article is organized into three main parts. Section 1 introduces the core terms of the study, explores the general meanings of shamanism and diffusionism, clarifies how they are used in this context, and provides a regional overview of the cases analyzed. Section 2, Section 3 and Section 4 examine the historical context and religious encounters in Siberia, Mongolia, China (including Taiwan, Southwest China, and Northeast China), and Korea. Section 5 and Section 6 argue that shamanism operates through two models: one characterized by “segregation” and the other by “diffusion”, emphasizing that these models exist on a dynamic continuum. The diffusion model has become a defining feature of shamanism in East Asia.

2. Northern Asia: Reimagined and Reconstructed Shamanism

Shamanism is widely recognized as originating from Northern Asia, especially in Siberia and Mongolia, where it was once considered the most typical form of shamanism (Eliade 1964). However, in this “sacred land of shamanism”, the tradition—or rather, traditional shamanism—was forgotten, abandoned, and even banned for almost 70 years from the 1920s to the 1990s. There are two main reasons for this phenomenon. The first is circumstantial: due to the atheistic religious policies implemented by the Soviet Union, state violence forced believers of shamanism to stop performing shamanic rituals. The second reason is structural: compared to other religions (such as Buddhism and Orthodox Christianity), shamanism has always been marginalized, even in its place of origin.

Starting in the mid-1980s, a shamanic revival emerged in Siberia and later spread to Mongolia following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Indigenous peoples reclaimed the shamanic traditions of their ancestors from the distant past. They began openly relying on shamanistic practices and sought out authentic shamans to perform rituals. Why did shamanism experience such a revival? How should we analyze this new trend of shamanism in Northern Asia? What role did Orthodox Christianity play in this process? Addressing these questions will reveal the dynamic history of Northern Asian shamanism.

2.1. A New Choice Under Conflicts and Competition

Two typical cases of religious encounters in Northern Asia will be discussed in this section. The first one is Siberia. I do not focus here on earlier encounters but rather on what happened when shamanism encountered a new Christianity in Siberia from the mid-1980s onward. Conflicts and competition have characterized this period of renewed encounter. On the one hand, in this period of religious renewal after the end of a long period of suppression by atheist policies, shamans either completely rejected and repudiated Christianity or fully abandoned shamanism to convert to Christianity (Bulgakova 2008, p. 158). On the other hand, Orthodox Christianity still held the idea that any adoption of shamanism should be regarded as heresy and a threat to doctrinal integrity (Bulgakova 2008, p. 160).

For indigenous peoples, Orthodox Christianity was identical to the “Russian religion” (Bulgakova 2008, p. 149), while shamanism meant the traditional religion of the ancestors (Bulgakova 2008, p. 151). Under such an either-or situation, no middle ground was left for double religious identities. Believing and practicing two religions at the same time was unacceptable. It was not the first time that the religious encounter of shamanism and Orthodox Christianity took place in Siberia. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Altai people in southwestern Siberia, to survive under Russian colonial hegemony, had converted to Orthodox Christianity, as “a demonstration of formal affiliation with imperial spiritual and political power (Znamenski 1998, p. 126)”.

By the mid-1980s, the competition and conflict between Orthodox Christianity and shamanism had moved away from the context of colonialization, but the dilemma for indigenous peoples of religious affiliation remained the same. The question of which religion one adhered to went beyond the realm of faith and was closely tied to more sensitive and contentious issues such as ethnicity and state power. At this time, the religious choice of indigenous peoples was turned around completely. To position their identity, they had to carry on the spiritual legacy of their ancestors and practice shamanism again.

The second case is the one of Mongolia. For the Buryats in Mongolia, the impact of the atheist policy did not end until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Afterward, the revival of shamanism spread among the Mongolian Buryats. This revival had a profound impact: for several decades, Buryats had failed to hold burials and traditionally mourn for their ancestors. According to shamanic beliefs, the spirits of ancestors could be transformed into origin spirits after appropriate rituals. The origin spirits are ancestral or supernatural entities embodying disrupted lineage and history, manifesting through possession in shamanistic rituals to reconnect with suppressed cultural memories (Buyandelgeriyn 2007, p. 128). Without such rituals, they were to become incomplete origin spirits, uheer (Buyandelgeriyn 2007, p. 135). Neglecting the worship and mourning of ancestors seemed to provide a fitting explanation for the aftershocks of the collapse of the socialist state—namely, material poverty and an unstable life. Additionally, Mongolian Buryat shamanism, much like Siberian shamanism, was also marginalized in religious competition with other religions, especially the Christian missionaries from the west and the Buddhist missionaries from the south (Buyandelgeriyn 2007, p. 128). From the 1990s, to propitiate their ancestors and to escape from their marginality, the Buryats became eager to seek out true shamans and held numerous shamanic rituals (Buyandelgeriyn 2007; Buyandelger 2013).

Thus, in these two cases, the reasons behind the revival of shamanism among the indigenous peoples of Siberia from the mid-1980s and the Mongolian Buryats from the mid-1990s are complex. First, this Shamanic revival required a key precondition: a free religious market (Stark and Finke 2000). The end of atheistic policies meant that people could once again practice religion. Second, the reason for which shamanism became the preferred religion for these two peoples is that shamanism provided them with a sense of ethnic identity independent of the state power. It offered the possibility of reconnecting with their ancestors and, at times, symbolized hope for a better future and a prosperous life.

However, traditional shamanism lacks independent organizations and institutions, as well as recognized authorities and leaders. In traditional shamanism, there may be renowned and powerful shamans, but this does not imply a hierarchical order between them and other shamans. In most cases, shamanic lineage is passed down through bloodlines, and even if two generations of shamans are not direct relatives, they at least come from the same small clan, which means that shamanism faces a high risk of extinction if its transmission is interrupted. Given that shamanism was already on the margins compared to Orthodox Christianity and Buddhism, combined with the suppression of atheistic policies over the past seventy years, elder shamans with the knowledgeable mentality of shamanism and tradition struggled to find suitable successors, and new shamans’ legitimacy and authenticity could not be guaranteed. The shamans emerging during this period of shamanic revival often find themselves embroiled in debates over whether they are authentic shamans (Sundström 2012, p. 381). In the fractured, turbulent, and impoverished conditions of the indigenous Siberians in the mid-1980s and the Mongolian Buryats in the 1990s, they reimagined and reconstructed a new form of shamanism as they sought to reclaim and reconnect with their past. No specific term is used to refer to this revival of traditional shamanism. In some related studies, this form of shamanism, which is different from traditional shamanism, is simply referred to as “new shamanism” (Sundström 2012, p. 365) or “the neo-traditional shamans of Siberia” (Sundström 2012, p. 363), or “the resurgence (vozrozhdeniye) of shamanism” (Zhukovskaya and Humphrey 2000, p. 25).

2.2. The Integration That Was Not

I adopt the concept of “new shamanism” to describe the shamanic revival movement that has emerged in Northern Asia since the mid-1980s. This movement is understood as a reconstruction and practice of ancestral and ethnic history by indigenous peoples, shaped by their subjective intentions within the framework of traditional shamanism. A key distinction between new shamanism and traditional shamanism lies in the institutionalization of the former (Sundström 2012, p. 363). This institutionalization is particularly evident in southern Siberian regions, such as Tuva and Buryatia, where shamanism, alongside Buddhism and Russian Orthodoxy, has been officially recognized as a state-sanctioned religion (Sundström 2012, p. 369). Specific institutionalization measures include the blending of shamanic practices with secular careers, the establishment of a Shamanic Association, shamans’ participation in popular media events, their efforts to voice their perspectives within academic settings, and the contemporary elevation of shamanism to the status of a world religion (Zhukovskaya and Humphrey 2000; Sundström 2012).

It is worth noting that in the 1980s, besides the revival of traditional shamanism, a wave of belief in “neo-shamanism” (thus to be distinguished from “new shamanism”) emerged in major Soviet cities such as Moscow and Leningrad (Sundström 2012, p. 375). From a literal perspective, the relationship between neo-shamanism and traditional shamanism appears to be closer than that with Orthodox Christianity. The term “neo-shamanism” gives the impression that it is the legitimate successor of traditional shamanism. However, the truth is quite the opposite. Not only is neo-shamanism not the successor of traditional shamanism, but its relationship with Christianity and the Western belief system is far deeper than its connection with traditional shamanism (Znamenski 1999; Hutton 2007). Neo-shamanism has been adapted by “people within modern Western belief systems” from its birth, emphasizing rituals and non-shamanic activities, and incorporating elements of neo-paganism and New Age. It draws from traditional shamanism but idealizes the shaman as a mystical, earth-guarding figure within a “primitive” ethos. This romanticized view seeks spiritual guidance from indigenous peoples (Walter and Fridman 2004, pp. 51–55). For example, the Siberian neo-shamans recognized themselves as white shamans, which meant good shamans, while black shamans meant evil shamans. These neo-shamans claimed that they were equal to Christian priests, even if there was no distinction between so-called black and white shamans in traditional shamanism (Bulgakova 2008, p. 155; Sundström 2012, p. 373). Siberian neo-shamans believed only “white” (good) shamans could match the status of Christian priests, reflecting their closeness and admiration for Christianity, which they saw as a model presiding over traditional shamanism.

Moreover, the ethos of Siberian neo-shamanism was largely borrowed from Christianity, rather than from traditional shamanism, though neo-shamans were unaware or unwilling to acknowledge this. The commandments of Neo-shamanism are like “Do not steal; do not kill; do not commit any barbarian actions; do not rob; do not commit adultery and do not drink; if you have drunk, sit at home, and do not come in sight of people” (Bulgakova 2008, pp. 155–56). The use of the imperative mood in the commandments and the virtues they promote are more aligned with the Bible than with traditional shamanism. Since traditional shamanism lacks sacred texts and places little emphasis on written language, the presence of commandments is inconsistent with its practices. Thus, the way neo-shamanism relates to traditional shamanism can be extremely convoluted, even nominal, consisting more in an assertion of genealogical continuity than in a genuine filiation.

Although some scholars do not strictly differentiate between new shamanism and neo-shamanism when referring to contemporary shamanic phenomena in the Northern Asian region (Zhukovskaya and Humphrey 2000; Bulgakova 2008), these two types of shamanism indeed originate from distinct traditions, and their relationship is quite subtle. On one hand, neo-shamanism was excluded from both traditional shamanism and Orthodox Christianity. It should not be regarded as a “synthesis of paganism with Christianity”, providing indigenous peoples with a third religious option, as Bulgakova (2008, p. 157) suggests. First, traditional shamanism remains marginalized and is reduced to having only a nominal connection with neo-shamanism. Furthermore, while neo-shamanism shares certain affinities with Christianity and Western belief systems, Orthodox Christianity perceives it as a form of new paganism. In such a context, efforts at integration were destined to fail. On the other hand, over time, new shamanism and neo-shamanism formed a subtle symbiotic relationship in the Northern Asian region. In the vocabulary of new shamanism, terms such as “energies”, “aura”, “chakra”, and “karma”—borrowed from Western New Age terminology—can often be found (Sundström 2012, p. 376).

The evolving trends of shamanism in Northern Asia demonstrate that shamanism and Christianity in the region have diverged onto separate paths. Summing up, there is no integration of shamanism and Christianity in Northern Asia, which reflects the dominant pattern of religious encounters in the region from the mid-1980s and 1990s onwards.

3. A Territorial Triangle: Religious Encounters in the Chinese World

Geographically, Taiwan, Southwest China, and Northeast China form a giant triangle. These three regions exhibit significant differences in geographical environment, historical traditions, national policies, and religious beliefs. However, they are also highly representative, effectively encapsulating the characteristics of religious encounters within the Chinese world.

3.1. Taiwan: A History of Conversion and Indigenization

The evangelization of Christianity in Taiwan began in the mid-17th century during the Dutch colonial period. Still, its significant growth did not start until the mid-20th century, after the end of the Japanese colonial period (1895–1945). This section focuses on the encounters between shamanism and Christianity in Taiwan during this period. Taiwan may be the best spot for observing how shamanism meets with Christianity in China. A complete chain of religious encounters can be dragged out of abundant fieldwork data in indigenous communities.

3.1.1. Religious Hybridity: Identities and Practices

Religious hybridity is considered a modern expression of the New Age movement of the mid-to-late twentieth century, and it places great emphasis on individual autonomy in the choice and practice of religious beliefs (Cornille 2021). Catherine Cornille identifies several types of religious hybridity, including those arising from pluralistic social and cultural contexts, interreligious marriages and family relationships, and temporary religious hybridity caused by moments of crisis (Cornille 2021, p. 9).

In this section, I intend to address a distinct type of religious hybridity, mixing religious identities and practices of shamanism and Christianity in specific and historical contexts. The cases in this section represent a model where religious hybridity occurs after a foreign religion encounters an indigenous religion, through the process of entering a relatively isolated and homogeneous community.

In the early stages of religious encounter, the religious hybridity reflected in the conversion experiences of Taiwan’s indigenous shamans typically carries dual significance in terms of both identity and practice. Shamans, as traditional ritualists and religious experts, often represent the first group to convert to Christianity. After converting to Christianity, the shamans’ religious affiliation transferred to Christianity. However, in practice, they continued to perform shamanistic rituals. The fluidity and hybridity of two heterogeneous religions were embodied in these indigenous shamans. People of the same indigenous community were aware of the shamans’ change in affiliation, yet they still acknowledged the efficacy and authority of their shamanistic rituals. In this sense, religious hybridity is not only about an individual’s free choice between two or more religions, but when it involves ritualists and religious experts in terms of identity and practice, changes in a broader social context; this type of hybridity may be constructed through how these others perceive their change in religious affiliation and respond to it.

One typical case is provided by the Tao people on Orchid Island. There have been two sects of Christianity in Orchid Island, one is Protestant Christianity from May 1951, and the other is the Catholic Church from April 1954 (S. Tung 2008, p. 139). Sinantazaziaw and Siapenmanlivon, two shamans of Orchid Island, were the first to convert to Presbyterianism (S. Tung 2008, pp. 133–34). An obvious paradox can be seen in them: they had only a bit of the knowledge necessary to be a Christian; they attended village preachings anytime and anywhere, regardless of Christian commandments; they continued communicating with ghosts and spirits and practicing healing rituals but with Christian vocabulary. Similar situations could also be seen in other indigenous peoples, such as the Paiwan people (C.-f. M. Tung 1984; Tan 2003, p, 192), the Seedeq people (Chien 2004), the Sediq and Truku peoples (Simon 2021), and so on.

The historical and social causes of this religious hybridity are clear, but from the perspective of religious encounter, how should we understand this religious hybridity between shamanism and Christianity? It may be helpful to borrow another concept proposed by C. K. Yang, which stands in contrast to the idea of diffused religion: “For the purpose of this study, institutional religion in the theistic sense is considered as a system of religious life having (1) an independent theology or cosmic interpretation of the universe and human events, (2) an independent form of worship consisting of symbols (gods, spirits, and their images) and rituals, and (3) an independent organization of personnel to facilitate the interpretation of theological views and to pursue cultic worship. With separate concept, ritual, and structure, a religion assumes the nature of a separate social institution, and hence its designation as an institutional religion” (Yang 1961, p. 294).

As an institutional religion, Christianity clearly and distinctly identifies the affiliations of its adherents. However, this capacity—or the explicit demands regarding religious affiliation—is less defined within the system of shamanism, apart from the shamans themselves. Consequently, Christian identity and shamanistic practices are, to some extent, not inherently conflicting. There are instances where converted shamans, encouraged by the pastor, continue to perform shamanistic rituals to help restore indigenous traditions and maintain social stability (Lardinois 2008, p. 234). In other words, shamans in indigenous communities keep acting as a “safety valve” (Širokogorov 1935, p. 376) after conversion to Christianity. Therefore, religious hybridity in these cases was tacitly accepted by almost all members of the indigenous community, including missionaries (Christian ritualists), shamans who converted to Christianity (shamanistic ritualists), and ordinary indigenous people (non-ritualists/clients).

3.1.2. Indigenization in Language and Spirituality

For four centuries, Taiwan’s indigenous people lived in an isolated environment that preserved their shamanistic traditions intact (Chien 2004). However, during the Japanese colonial period, policies forced indigenous communities into “globalization”, disrupting these practices (Chien 2004, p. 8). This led to a period of spiritual vacuum (Lardinois 2004, p. 93), and after 1949, the mass conversion of indigenous peoples to Christianity suggests that Christianity filled this spiritual vacuum. However, this miracle of conversion in the 20^th century was likely influenced by the potential for integration between shamanistic traditions and Christianity. Here, shamanism represents not just indigenous beliefs, but an ethos inherited from ancestors, encompassing a comprehensive set of religion, culture, social norms, and survival practices among indigenous communities.

One typical case is about the conversion experience of the Tukutaya group of the Seedeq branch in Meihsi Village, Jen’Ai District, Nantou County. The massive conversion in this indigenous community began from the missionary activities of the Taiwan Presbyterian Church in 1945. As an indigenous person, the first missionary Kumu Losin used the Seedeq language to incorporate traditional religious terms and concepts, making the Gospel easy to accept and leading to swift conversions (Chien 2004, p. 16). For example, the traditional belief in “Utux Balo” (the ancestral spirit) is equated with the Christian belief in God. In 1953, the missionary activities of the Catholic Church started here. When the first group of indigenous catechists returned from training, the preaching could be done by the Seedeq people in the Seedeq language, so the Seedeq massively converted to the Catholic Church because this sect was more familiar and approachable (Chien 2004, p. 16).

The involvement of indigenous languages was minimal in the experience of indigenous conversions to the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, but it increased dramatically in conversions to Catholicism, leading many indigenous people who had previously converted to the Presbyterian Church to switch to Catholicism. This suggests that indigenous languages played an important role as a tool for communication and integration in the encounter between indigenous religions and Christianity. In turn, through evangelism and preaching in indigenous languages, Christianity has also contributed to the preservation of these languages, with the Bunun language being one such example (De Busser 2013).

However, language is ultimately the expression of a worldview. The fundamental reason for the large-scale indigenous conversion to Christianity during a period of spiritual vacuum lies in the commonality between Christianity and indigenous religions. Take the Seedeq branch in Meihsi Village as an example again: the core of their traditional beliefs was featured by the gaya system, which is like a series of social rules to regulate relationships and associated with periodic festivals. In essence, Christianity was much like the traditional gaya system, so it was seen as a foreign system of gaya. Additionally, the gaya system was equated with the Ten Commandments: “Of the Ten Commandments, the first three are concerned with Utux and the last seven were all to be found in traditional gaya. In fact, traditional gaya were even more strict than the Ten Commandments, so the acceptance of Christianity not only did not imply a conflict with gaya, rather it reinforced gaya” (Chien 2004, p. 12). A similar process of integration and syncretism can be detected in other indigenous communities, such as the Bunun (Fang 2016), the Paiwan (Tan 2002), and others.

3.2. Southwestern China: The Interplay of Three Forces

The shamanism of the Yi people in southwestern China is another religious phenomenon worth examining, with the Yi shamanism in Yunnan province, Guizhou province, and the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan as representative examples.

The Christian missionary work amongst the Yi people of Liangshan, Sichuan, was not very successful. For example, in 1903, despite British Methodist missionary Samuel Pollard’s good relationship with the Yi people, his mission ultimately failed (Pollard 1921; Dong 2003; Ban 2010). Before 1949, in Yunnan and other parts of China, missionary activities greatly weakened the vitality and significance of local minorities’ religions (Vermander 2004, p. 21). However, when it comes to Yi shamanism in Liangshan, the religious resilience and adaptation process were much more marked than in other territories, to the extent that Yi shamanism in Liangshan could be seen as a form of “civic religion” (Vermander 2004, p. 24). The process might be still unraveling: “Being a Nuosu and practicing Nuosu religion could become more and more one and the same thing, not only in an implicit way as is the case now but explicitly as well.” (Vermander 2004, p. 22) Shamanic rituals in Liangshan are of high plasticity and Yi shamanism in Liangshan remains integrated into everyday life. With such a diffusion tendency, not only is the survival of Yi shamanism in Liangshan guaranteed, but it also can be a factor of cultural and even social stability.

Christianity had a more profound and lasting impact in the Yi ethnic regions of Yunnan and Guizhou and one typical case can be found in Shilin Yi Autonomous County in Yunnan. In addition to the ground of theistic beliefs, the spiritual similarities between shamanism and Christianity, and the stress put on indigenous specificities in missionary work (Han 2000; Chen 2010; Zhao 2015), the special aspect of religious encounters in this region lies in the differences between Yi shamanism and shamanism in other areas: the tradition of writing is particularly valued in Yi shamanism and used to be associated with lineage-based transmission (Vermander 2004, 2008, p. 70; Névot 2019; Swancutt 2015, 2016a, 2016b, 2022). In other words, for a long time, the Yi shaman (Bimo) identity was passed down through bloodlines, with descendants from specific lineages learning the ritual language writing from their ancestors.

However, the unity of writing and blood in Yi shamanism has been gradually decoupled from the 19th century, featured by three critical historical events. In 1864, a “bimo school” was opened by Bimo C.’s great-great-grandfather in Shilin to compete with the Han civilization, where disciples of other shamanistic lineages or men not belonging to any shaman’s lineage could learn shamanistic writing (Névot 2019, pp. 208–9). In the 1890s, the French missionary Paul Vial started the Christian school and taught children, regardless of their blood lineage, the bimo writing he had previously learned from Bimo C.’s great-grandfather (Névot 2019, pp. 209–10). Since the 1980s, Yi shamanism has been experiencing a revival after the end of the Cultural Revolution. The bimo have been transmuted into official shamans, collaborating with the Bureau of Religious Affairs and teaching disciples in an officially recognized shamanic capacity. As a result, the bimo writing has become fixed and standardized (Névot 2019, pp. 217–18). It is noteworthy that, unlike in Siberia and Taiwan, Christian missionary activity in this region began before a prolonged period of religious prohibition.

When stressing the importance of the writing factor in Yi shamanism, we also draw attention to the interplay between three forces: the indigenous shamanistic tradition, foreign Christian missionaries, and the unifying cultural authority of the Chinese state. The relationships among these forces are complex and fluid: Christian missionaries learned the bimo writing and used it for proselytizing, which paradoxically helped preserve the tradition of Yi writing: the 1984 Yi–Han Abridged Dictionary originates from a Yi dictionary compiled by Vial in 1909 (Névot 2019, p. 217). The group of official bimo believe that the standardized and fixed bimo writing taught by the Bureau of Religious Affairs aids in preserving Yi traditional culture. Yi shamanism writing gradually broke free from the exclusive control of bloodlines, developing in three phases marked by key events. Christian missionary activities played a crucial role in the second phase. Although the connection between Yi shamanism writing and blood has almost entirely dissolved, in southwest China, Yi shamanism, Christianity, and the Han civilization continue to intertwine in a diffuse and integrated manner.

3.3. Northeastern China: The Vacuum of Political and Ethnic Identity

Scholars (Ling 1990; Liu and Ding 1990; Fu and Meng 1991; Guan and Wang 1998; Meng 2000; Guo 2001; Guo and Wang 2001; Wang 2002; Guan 2003; Meng 2009; Se 2011; Wu 2014) widely agree that northeastern China, home to ethnic minorities like the Evenki and Oroqen, is “the homeland of shamanism in China” (Qu 2024), with some of the most ancient and typical shamanic traditions. Anthropologists in the 1930s referred to these groups as Tungus (Širokogorov 1929, 1935; Lindgren 1930, 1938). This section examines the religious interactions between Orthodox Christian Cossacks and Shamanistic Reindeer Tungus in the Ergun River and the upper part of the Heilongjiang River from 1870 to 1965, starting with their frequent trade in 1870 (Lindgren 1938, p. 609) and ending with the Ewenki’s relocation to Genhe in Inner Mongolia in 1965 (Tang 2021).

A “religious duality” (Lindgren 1938, p. 618) characterized the religious encounter between shamanism and Orthodox Christianity. As previously mentioned, the term proposed by Lindgren can be understood as a specific type of religious hybridity. The Evenki nominally converted to Orthodoxy in the early 19th century and incorporated Christian elements into their rituals. For instance, they held baptisms and weddings in a Russian church, paying annual “church dues” (Lindgren 1938, p. 615), and they integrated Orthodox icons into shamanistic god puppets (神偶) to pray together. Additionally, their funerals changed from wind burials (风葬) to earth burials (土葬) after the arrival of Orthodox Christianity, with a few traces of shamanism remaining (Tang 2021, pp. 123–24).

Unlike the situation in Northern Asia, shamanism and Orthodox Christianity were not incompatible here. In turn, the Ewenki shamans continued to practice shamanistic rituals undisturbed. They held an important role in their community and the Cossacks maintained a respectful and open attitude towards Ewenki shamanism. They would even gather around to watch the shamans’ ceremonies and became shamans’ clients when necessary (Tang 2021, p. 125). Moreover, Lindgren also pointed out that the “superstitious” content of the Cossacks’ religion resembled the shamanistic beliefs (Lindgren 1938, p. 619).

In the previously discussed cases, the interaction between shamanism and Christianity often followed a similar chronological narrative: shamanism, as the indigenous religion, experienced a prolonged period of spiritual vacuum caused by political and military upheavals, during which Christianity, as an external and later-arriving religion, rapidly gained prominence. However, from 1870 to 1965, there was no spiritual vacuum in this region of Northeast China. Instead, what existed was a vacuum of political and ethnic identity. Both the Ewenki and the Cossacks were hunter–gatherer communities, practicing hunting within almost the same hunting grounds. Their economic and cultural levels were comparable, and they mainly engaged in regular trade interactions each year without conflicts (Lindgren 1930, 1938). Therefore, this case adds another possibility to the comprehensive study of the encounters between shamanism and Christianity: the relationship between the adherents of shamanism and Christianity is one of equality and synchronicity, without a linear temporal narrative chain. In the case of religious encounters in Northeast China, two ethnic groups with different religious beliefs did not equate religious faith with ethnic identity or political stance. Thus, we might say that the interaction between shamanism and Christianity could take an extremely simple form. When considerations of values and stances are removed, religious encounters are more likely to engage in dialogue in a non-confrontational state.

4. Korea: Shamanism and Christianity in a Modern Narrative

In previous analyses of religious encounters in Siberia and China, my article’s focus has often been on the historical transformation of the religious beliefs of certain indigenous (minority) peoples in the region. In Korea, however, the interaction between shamanism and Christianity is better understood through the lens of tensions and contradictions between pre-modernity and modernity (Walraven 1993; A. E. Kim 2000a; Oak 2010). This distinction is not merely temporal but reflects an evolutionary tendency that began as early as the 15th and 16th centuries when Confucianism, Korea’s dominant religion, degraded and stigmatized shamanism. This situation continued into the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reaching its peak during conflicts between shamanism and the newly dominant religion, Christianity. For example, this period saw widespread practices such as burning shamanistic idols, pictures, and fetishes in shrines (Oak 2010, pp. 99–101). At the same time, some Korean shamans (mudang) converted to Christianity and practiced Christian exorcism (Oak 2010, pp. 116–17). In Kendall’s analysis of Korean shamanism, this tendency suggests an implicit connection: pre-modernity is associated with the indigenous, traditional, irrational, and female, while modernization is linked to the foreign, modern, rational, and male (Kendall 1981, p. 177). Nevertheless, the religious encounter between Korean shamanism and Christianity has carried the potential for mutual integration and interpenetration from the beginning. I will analyze this through the lens of secularization in rituals and structural homologies in beliefs.

4.1. Worldliness

The missionary activities of Korean Protestantism were closely tied from the very beginning to the missionaries’ emphasis on and integration of the affinity between Protestantism and Korean shamanism. For example, Hanănim (a supreme “god of Heaven” in Korean shamanism) was identified with the Christian God in the early missionary context (Oak 2010, p. 107). On the one hand, this deliberate connection of monotheism, as an “invented tradition” (Baker 2000), helped Koreans to smoothly embrace the new faith as another “magical religion” (A. E. Kim 2000b, p. 122), seeing it as “an extension or continuation of Korean religious tradition” (A. E. Kim 2000b, p. 117). On the other hand, the shamanistic worldview also shaped Korean Christianity. The Protestant missionaries adopted the Korean shamanistic beliefs on spirits and agreed with the possibility that magical phenomena could take place. Once beliefs change, rituals also transform accordingly. These early Protestant missionaries performed Christian healing and exorcism rituals for their patients, including burning fetishes and communal prayers (Oak 2010, p. 120). Such syncretic rituals continued in the Korean Protestant Church. In the 1980s, the pastors of Korean leading churches performed healing and exorcism rituals, such as hypnotism, chanting in tongues, and speaking to the evil spirits supposedly residing in the afflicted person (A. E. Kim 2000b, p. 126).

Many scholars have summarized this affinity. Kim refers to it as “material wishes” (A. E. Kim 2000a, p. 116) and “emphasis on this-worldly life” (A. E. Kim 2000b, p. 119); Kendall describes it as “material success” (Kendall 2003, p. 48) and “material advancement” (Kendall 2003, p. 52); Oak terms it “worldly fortune and personal prosperity” (Oak 2010, p. 122). Based on the statements of these scholars, I would like to use “worldliness” to summarize the core affinity between Korean shamanism and Christianity. The concern for health and wealth in this world transcends the boundaries between different religions, leading to a syncretic ritual practice aimed at “worldliness”. For example, in the latter half of the 20th century, the prosperity theology that was prevalent in South Korea was also criticized for its excessive focus on materialism and its similarities to shamanism (K. Kim 2017, pp. 4–5). This is a theological compromise and a process of Protestant Koreanization. Yet, the indigenization of Protestantism is not merely a means of proselytization. In this mutual relationship, both Korean shamanism and Christianity are reshaped.

4.2. Transcendental Empathy

In addition to the practical integration and influence, some scholars have noted abstract similarities between Korean shamanism and Christianity. Kister highlights parallels between shamanistic and Christian rituals, noting that both are employed during times of crisis and transition (Kister 2008, p. 172). In the shamanistic context, the clients of a Korean shaman (mudang) sponsor shaman rituals (kut) to address rancor (han) through appeals to gods and ancestors during events such as birth, illness, misfortune, and death. In the Christian context, Christians turn to God and perform rites like baptism, confirmation, Sacrament of the Sick, marriage, ordination, and the Eucharist celebrated at a Requiem Mass during analogous life stages (Kister 2008, p. 172). These rituals, though rooted in different traditions, serve as rites of passage, offering distinct methods to achieve similar goals.

Additionally, Korean shamanistic ritual language expresses resonance with Christianity. Korean shamans represent deceased family members during rites, temporarily bridging the otherworld and the living. In contrast, priests act as themselves, remaining in the living world with their clients. Despite these role differences, both rituals share a linguistic system rooted in compassion. Kister pointed out that Korean shamans’ words, such as “Don’t worry” or “I’ll be with you” are like a priest’s words in the confessional (Kister 2008, p. 174). This goes beyond mere semantic similarity or coincidental language use in the two religious ceremonies. Instead, it reflects a transcendental empathy in religious encounters.

In Korea, the spread of Christianity marked the beginning of modernization. It was not merely a religion but also a symbol of comprehensive “progress” in economics, technology, society, and even the level of civilization. However, without the initial integration of Christianity with Korea’s indigenous religion—shamanism—the success of its propagation and subsequent development in Korea would have been far less significant. On the one hand, the aspects of Korean Christianity influenced by shamanism—or rather, reshaped, transformed, and blended with it—represent the remnants of shamanism as Korea’s most core indigenous religion. These remnants reflect how shamanism continues to persist in Korean society in a diffused form, signifying a new mode of development within the context of modernization. On the other hand, in the context of modernization, shamanism plays a dual role: it serves as a cultural heritage opposing foreign influences, while also being shaped by Korea’s economic and social developments. For instance, the 1997 Korean economic crisis led to shamanic rituals either being canceled due to a lack of sponsorship or having their main concerns overshadowed by the effects of the IMF (Kendall 2003).

Since the 1960s, following the end of Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945) and the Korean War (1950–1953), Protestantism in South Korea experienced rapid growth, becoming the nation’s largest religion. Meanwhile, Korean shamanism gradually shed its long-standing stigma and came to be regarded more as part of Korea’s cultural heritage, aligning with the waves of ethnic nationalism, exemplified by the Korean Revival in 1907 (K. Kim 2017, pp. 5–10) and The Popular Culture Movement from the 1990s (Walraven 1993; Kendall 2003), etc. In 1962, the South Korean government launched its first Five-Year Plan, ushering in a period of rapid economic growth and initiating the nation’s development and modernization process (Kendall 2003, pp. 40–41). Within this new narrative of modernization, a mutual relationship characterized by integration and diffusion emerged between Korean shamanism and Christianity. These three seemingly unrelated terms—Korean shamanism, Christianity, and modernization—became deeply intertwined within the changing cultural landscape.

5. Models of Religious Encounters

5.1. A Synthesis of Our Case Analysis

I have examined several cases of religious encounters between shamanism and Christianity in North and East Asia. As previously discussed, each case is embedded in a complex historical context, showcasing the diverse possibilities of religious encounters. In this section, I will continue using a geographic framework to conduct a comprehensive analysis and summary of the case studies.

In Siberia, Mongolia, and China, the fact of looking for a form of assimilation between ethnic identity and religious belief shapes the religious encounters that have taken and continue to take place. In these regions, shamanism represents not only a religion but also a cultural tradition, a set of rituals, and even social norms. Conflicts between shamanism and Christianity are foreseeable when Christianity enters this relatively closed and isolated system. In Siberia and Mongolia, the revival of traditional shamanism highlights the pursuit of indigenous peoples to affirm their identity and cultural traditions, and the prevalence of neo-shamanism also leads to a more complex and pluralistic belief system under the contemporary contexts.

In contrast, in the Chinese world, shamanism remains closely tied to indigenous ethnic identities and geographic regions—being both an ethnic and a regional religion. Yet, the spread of Christianity among indigenous communities in Taiwan reveals a distinctly different trend. The large-scale Christian conversion movements in Taiwan can be attributed to two main reasons: first, the religious hybridity of identities and practices, and second, the indigenization of Christianity, a powerful point of attraction for indigenous peoples during its early introduction. This indigenization strategy also played a significant role in the widespread development of Protestant Christianity in Korea.

In Korea, the religious encounter between shamanism and Christianity is more closely related to the ruptures and progress brought about by modernization. Christianity is closely associated with modernity, while shamanism often evokes nostalgia, symbolizing “something in another time”. Nonetheless, many scholars (A. E. Kim 2000a, 2000b; Lee 2009; K. Kim 2017) prove that the affinity between Korean Christianity and shamanism was crucial to the success of Christian missions. Both religions reshaped each other in their mutual relationship, ultimately leading to a complex intertwining of shamanism and Christianity in the Korean religious narrative, where they coexist within the framework of modernity.

In Northern Asia, Taiwan, and southwestern China, narratives of spiritual vacuums and religious revivals have emerged in their historical contexts, largely influenced by colonialism, politics, and ideological transformations. In Northern Asia, these narratives directly connect to the significant historical event of the Soviet Union’s collapse. Yet the religious encounter between shamanism and Christianity is not always framed by macro-level politics or war. For instance, in northeastern China, the religious duality (Lindgren 1938) between the shamanist Evenki people and the Orthodox Cossacks reflected a simple, perhaps pre-modern, coexistence between different ethnic and religious groups.

In both North and East Asia, shamanism’s role as an intangible cultural heritage of nations and ethnicities is often emphasized in the official discourse of modern nation-states. Two scenarios emerge. Firstly, suppose shamanism aligns with the ethnic identity of indigenous peoples. In that case, the state’s recognition and promotion of shamanism as a traditional culture can integrate it into a unified national narrative, as seen with the Yi people’s shamanism in southwestern China. Secondly, to resist the evolutionist and Western-centric ideologies underlying globalization and modernization, states may emphasize shamanism’s indigenous and ethnic characteristics. However, this approach risks overgeneralizing or misusing the term “shamanism,” as seen in the case of Korean shamanism.

5.2. Segregation and Diffusion Revisited

It is evident that each tradition of shamanism has undergone processes of interactions with Christianity in various regions, and this dynamic of religious encounter could always be interpreted in a dualistic structure. Based on numerous cases spanning from Northern Asia to East Asia, a hypothesis regarding models of religious encounters between shamanism and Christianity begins to take shape. This hypothesis outlines a continuum of two phases: what I call the segregation model and the diffusion model. The segregation model is characterized by conflicts and contradictions and is a phenomenon most prominently observed in Siberia and Mongolia and during the early stages of religious encounters in East Asia. Over time, the religious encounters gradually transition into the diffusion model, in which shamanism, with its religious attributes significantly weakened, becomes integrated and incorporated into later-arriving foreign religions.

The dominant multi-religious belief system in East Asia is largely the product of religious encounters and integration. Within this evolving diffusion model, the widespread unilineal spread of Christianity into East Asia stands out as the most prominent flow in the long and macro-scale cultural exchange that took place after humanity entered modern civilization.

Although the cases discussed earlier may seem to suggest a linear temporal narrative from the segregation model to the diffusion model, as if these two models of religious encounter imply that when a foreign religion enters a relatively closed system originally dominated by indigenous religions, the two religions would inevitably begin with conflicts and contradictions, eventually transitioning over time into a diffusion model of mutual integration. However, this simplistic narrative structure does not align with cases from regions such as Siberia, Mongolia, Southwest China, and Northeast China. Furthermore, it represents a misinterpretation of the relationship between these two models.

The sequential relationship between the two models is merely one possible scenario, and its emergence is fundamentally rooted in specific historical and cultural trajectories. Empirically, this sequence may indeed represent the transformation process that religious encounters between shamanism and Christianity often follow in most cases. However, from a theoretical perspective, the relationship between these two models is dynamic and fluid, and they may even occur simultaneously. Thus, both models are essential and cannot be dismissed when examining the phenomenon of religious encounters, given that shamanism and Christianity have also maintained separate and exclusive relationships in many cases. In this sense, the segregation model remains significant, as extreme exclusivists or sectarians have existed in both religions.

The diffusion model proposed in this article reflects two aspects of the diffusionism school and diffused religion, representing both the dynamic nature of religious interactions and the static distribution of religious forms. Therefore, the significance of this model lies in its approach to examining the development trends of shamanism as a religion, starting from the broader context of religious encounters between shamanism and Christianity. Starting from the most likely empirical facts, it explores how the introduction of foreign religions, like Christianity, leads to interactions with indigenous religions, gradually shifting from conflict (segregation model) to integration (diffusion model). Christianity is framed as a catalyst in this process, with a particular focus on how its encounters with shamanism reshape the role of shamanism within indigenous communities.

According to the genealogy of institutional religion and diffused religion (Yang 1961), one of the fundamental differences between Christianity and shamanism lies in the ease of determining the identity of religious adherents. Within the system of shamanism, shamans themselves are relatively easy to identify. Yet, to what extent do the clients of shamans consider themselves shamanists? There is a partial decoupling between the practitioners of shamanism and the identity of shamanic adherents. It is acknowledged that shamanism is now perceived as a culture, a tradition, and even a way of life. It seems that shamanism can be anything but a religion. This gives rise to a paradox: how is intrareligious dialogue possible when a religion is not recognized as a religion?

As previously discussed, the religious practices of shamanism and the religious identity of Christianity are not inherently in conflict within specific contexts, forming a type of religious hybridity that has yet to gain widespread attention. This article focuses on the religious interactions between shamanism and Christianity, and through this lens, it becomes clear that, in colonial and post-colonial societies, shamanism has developed a distinct form of existence. Due to ideological and/or historical factors, shamanism is rarely recognized as a religion in East Asia; instead, it is often viewed either negatively as a form of superstition or positively as a cultural heritage (Qu 2024). Regardless of how national discourse positions shamanism, it remains deeply embedded as a foundational, subconscious, and structural regional religion, intricately woven into networks of national, political, ethnic, and historical relations. Therefore, while shamanism lacks a centered institution or coherent doctrines, this does not negate its nature as a religion. On the contrary, the diffused trend of shamanism in East Asia provides an alternative model for understanding religious form. Viewing shamanism through the diffusion model may offer a more appropriate framework.

6. Conclusions

Since the nineteenth century, theorists have proposed various perspectives on the broad issue of communication and interaction between cultures. Starting with diffusionism, which emphasizes the spread of culture across regions, a series of terms have successively emerged from different contexts and viewpoints: acculturation (Szapocznik et al. 1978; Berry 2005, 2008), appropriation (Rogers 2006; Sanders 2015), creolization (Hannerz 1987; Stewart 2011), hybridity (Stewart 2011; Bhabha 2012), syncretism (Peel 1968; Stewart 1999; Leopold and Jensen 2016), globalization (Pieterse 2019), and glocalization (Roudometof 2016). Amid the evolution of these terms and concepts, we observe two competing forces defined by geographical boundaries: one originating from the indigenous context and the other from external influences. Within the narrative of modernity, the indigenous forces of typically non-Western regions, such as Northern Asia and East Asia, have been relegated to the periphery. This study focuses on the religious encounters between shamanism and Christianity in East Asia. However, this issue can be situated within a broader framework of the exchange and interaction of heterogeneous cultures. The central theme and thread running through the cases analyzed in this paper lie in examining how indigenous forces have offered complex, fluid, and sometimes even contradictory responses within a temporal and spatial context that has not rejected “globalization” and its modes of narration.

By analyzing interactions between shamanism and Christianity in Northern Asia and East Asia, this article hypothesizes two models of religious encounters: the segregation model and the diffusion model. From the perspective of the most likely empirical facts, this study argues that shamanism initially encountered Christianity in a segregation mode, often leading to significant conflicts between these two religions. Over time, as religious attributes of shamanism weakened, it paradoxically adapted to a diffusion model, integrating its ethos into other religions, including Christianity. Thus, the diffusion model has become an appropriate way to understand the existing form of shamanism in East Asia.

The limitation of this study lies in the limited case scope, which is closely related to the lack of large-scale quantitative analysis in relative research. For the theme of this study, if historical data analysis is used to provide a more detailed historical context and a visualized transformation of religious encounters in East Asia, and if the religious encounter phenomena in other countries and regions of East Asia not mentioned in this study, such as Japan and Vietnam, are incorporated, it would be beneficial to conduct a more comprehensive and solid research.