Synopses & Reviews
This third volume of
Princeton Readings in Religions demonstrates that the "three religions" of China--Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism (with a fourth, folk religion, sometimes added)--are not mutually exclusive: they overlap and interact with each other in a rich variety of ways. The volume also illustrates some of the many interactions between Han culture and the cultures designated by the current government as "minorities." Selections from minority cultures here, for instance, are the folktale of Ny Dan the Manchu Shamaness and a funeral chant of the Yi nationality collected by local researchers in the early 1980s. Each of the forty unusual selections, from ancient oracle bones to stirring accounts of mystic visions, is preceded by a substantial introduction. As with the other volumes, most of the selections here have never been translated before.
Stephen Teiser provides a general introduction in which the major themes and categories of the religions of China are analyzed. The book represents an attempt to move from one conception of the "Chinese spirit" to a picture of many spirits, including a Laozi who acquires magical powers and eventually ascends to heaven in broad daylight; the white-robed Guanyin, one of the most beloved Buddhist deities in China; and the burning-mouth hungry ghost. The book concludes with a section on "earthly conduct."
Review
"Due to the quality and quantity of the contributions, this anthology gives readers--in one volume--a wealth of new material on Chinese religions. Perhaps more importantly, it also offers a reconceptualization of the field."--The Journal of Asian Studies
Review
"Excellent and should be an important help to students of Chinese religions and a new model for the study of religion in general that needs to be aware of the variety of manifestations a particular tradition develops within each culture, through all levels of society and across the centuries."--Journal of Religious Studies
Review
Due to the quality and quantity of the contributions, this anthology gives readers--in one volume--a wealth of new material on Chinese religions. Perhaps more importantly, it also offers a reconceptualization of the field. The Journal of Asian Studies
Review
Excellent and should be an important help to students of Chinese religions and a new model for the study of religion in general that needs to be aware of the variety of manifestations a particular tradition develops within each culture, through all levels of society and across the centuries. Journal of Religious Studies
Synopsis
This third volume of
Princeton Readings in Religions demonstrates that the "three religions" of China--Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism (with a fourth, folk religion, sometimes added)--are not mutually exclusive: they overlap and interact with each other in a rich variety of ways. The volume also illustrates some of the many interactions between Han culture and the cultures designated by the current government as "minorities." Selections from minority cultures here, for instance, are the folktale of Ny Dan the Manchu Shamaness and a funeral chant of the Yi nationality collected by local researchers in the early 1980s. Each of the forty unusual selections, from ancient oracle bones to stirring accounts of mystic visions, is preceded by a substantial introduction. As with the other volumes, most of the selections here have never been translated before.
Stephen Teiser provides a general introduction in which the major themes and categories of the religions of China are analyzed. The book represents an attempt to move from one conception of the "Chinese spirit" to a picture of many spirits, including a Laozi who acquires magical powers and eventually ascends to heaven in broad daylight; the white-robed Guanyin, one of the most beloved Buddhist deities in China; and the burning-mouth hungry ghost. The book concludes with a section on "earthly conduct."
Table of Contents
| Princeton Readings in Religions | |
| Note on Transliteration | |
| Contents by Tradition | |
| Contents by Chronology | |
| Contributors | |
| Introduction | 3 |
1 | Deities and Ancestors in Early Oracle Inscriptions | 41 |
2 | Laozi: Ancient Philosopher, Master of Immortality, and God | 52 |
3 | The Lives and Teachings of the Divine Lord of Zitong | 64 |
4 | City Gods and Their Magistrates | 72 |
5 | The Earliest Tales of the Bodhisattva Guanshiyin | 82 |
6 | A Sutra Promoting the White-robed Guanyin as Giver of Sons | 97 |
7 | Zhu Xi on Spirit Beings | 106 |
8 | The Inner Cultivation Tradition of Early Daoism | 123 |
9 | Body Gods and Inner Vision: The Scripture of the Yellow Court | 149 |
10 | An Early Poem of Mystical Excursion | 156 |
11 | Declarations of the Perfected | 166 |
12 | Seduction Songs of One of the Perfected | 180 |
13 | Answering a Summons | 188 |
14 | Visions of Manjusri on Mount Wutai | 203 |
15 | Ny Dan the Manchu Shamaness | 223 |
16 | Teachings of a Spirit Medium | 229 |
17 | Spellbinding | 241 |
18 | Record of the Feng and Shan Sacrifices | 251 |
19 | The Scripture on the Production of Buddha Images | 261 |
20 | The Purification Ritual of the Luminous Perfected | 268 |
21 | Saving the Burning-Mouth Hungry Ghost | 278 |
22 | The Law of the Spirits | 284 |
23 | Shrines to Local Former Worthies | 293 |
24 | Daoist Ritual in Contemporary Southeast China | 306 |
25 | Calling on Souls and Dealing with Spirits: Three Lahu Ritual Texts | 327 |
26 | A Funeral Chant of the Yi Nationality | 337 |
27 | Abridged Codes of Master Lu for the Daoist Community | 347 |
28 | The Scripture in Forty-two Sections | 360 |
29 | The Scripture on Perfect Wisdom for Humane Kings Who Wish to Protect Their States | 372 |
30 | The Buddhism of the Cultured Elite | 381 |
31 | Buddhist Ritual and the State | 390 |
32 | Biography of a Buddhist Layman | 397 |
33 | The Book of Good Deeds: A Scripture of the Ne People | 405 |
34 | Supernatural Retribution and Human Destiny | 423 |
35 | Stories from an Illustrated Explanation of the Tract of the Most Exalted on Action and Response | 437 |
36 | Record of Occultists | 446 |
37 | Imperial Guest Ritual | 471 |
| Index | 489 |