Abstract: Created and developed in the powerful and prosperous period of the West, the theories of religion were largely based upon the model of Christianity. Because of their west-centrism, they lack universality and cannot properly interpret many religions including indigenous Chinese religions. Over the years, the Chinese academia blindly copied the theories in the West only resulting in creating much misunderstanding in the religious studies in China. Currently, intellectuals in the circle of religious studies in China have realized the necessity of reconstructing a proper system for religious studies. In this backdrop, it is more and more important to discard the west– centrism in the theories of religion with recognition of its harm to national religious research on the one hand and to reconstruct the system of religious studies for future religious studies in China on the other hand.

Key words: religious studies, west-centrism, indigenous Chinese religion, institutionalized religion