01538nas a2200217   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002653001600043653001900059653001900078653000800097653001500105653002000120100001400140245004800154856011800202300001200320490000700332520096100339022002001300                                       d10afolk belief10aFolklorization10aheritagization10aICH10aLegitimacy10aReligionization1 aXing Zhou00aFolk Belief and Its Legitimization in China  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85021157763&partnerID=40&md5=416097a59bc1fc23294c0581a62e87b7  a151-1650 v763 aIn China, "world religions" (or institutionalized religions)- Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism-as well as the Chinese indigenous Daoism are recognized by the government as "religions. " As long as these religions are practiced within the acceptable range of rules set by the government, the government will view them as legitimate religions and will protect them. However, there are many folk beliefs in a great variety of locales in China that are not officially recognized or treated as religions. The question of their legitimacy has been a long-standing problem that has perplexed Chinese society. This paper focuses on the issue of the legitimacy of folk beliefs and argues that three paths have been followed to legitimize folk beliefs in contemporary China: folklorization, religionization, and cultural Rentage. It then examines the ways that the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) movement has transformed folk beliefs into "cultural heritage. ".  a0043373X (ISSN)