Religions of China in Practice

by Donald S. Lopez Jr.

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."

Genres: China, Nonfiction, Religion, Buddhism, Asia

472 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 1996

About the author

Donald Sewell Lopez, Jr. (born 1952) is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan, in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures.

Son of the deputy director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Donald S. Lopez.

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors present texts of local, popular, or heterodox sects from all over China. We have prayers for the welfare of animals, rites for the burning mouth hungry ghost, commemorations of departed worthies, gnostic-sounding instructions on inner alchemy, spirit-calling formulas, and tales of how Laozi (Lao Tzu) grew from man to god. The book avoids abstractions or generalities, and deals with the actual practices of local people. And however quirky these texts or traditions sound, they seem to vibrate with earnest passion.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primary source from China. Includes discussion of whether the Buddha is eternal or has ceased, a long discussion of where haunts come from and how to deal with them (for an unburied child, it's not bury the child), an autobiographical account of an emperor's sacrifice, a list of exactly how you can count up your merits, a discussion of how to save ghosts in the hells, and more.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book. Students who have a focused mind should put this at the top of their reading list! This is a collection of original documents and essays which define the parameters of Chinese religion. (Note: Readers will need to be familiar with the Classics before reading this; Confucius, Mencius, Daodejing, etc...)

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s interesting to see how Chinese governmental structures influenced Chinese folk religion, among other through lines in this compendium

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Religions of China in Practice Edited by Donald S. Lopez is a truly excellent book. It's a collaboration of many scholars, each picks a text they find significant and translates it from Chinese into English and includes a preface for background, why it's important, and points of interest. (37 texts in total!) So it's a great reference source as well as an interesting read. The book, as Stephen Teiser explains in the introduction is a break away from merely looking at Chinese religions through the "Three Teachings" and instead look at it from a more holistic point of view. The categories they used for division were, The Unseen World, Communicating with the Unseen, Rituals of the Seen and Unseen Worlds and Earthly Conduct. I still have about a 100 pages left to finish but I have to write up a specific two chapters for my class tomorrow so thought I'd include them here in the more generic book review.

The First was by Robert Eno, "Deities and Ancestors in Early Oracle Inscriptions". Because of the nature of the Oracle Bone Inscriptions the works translated here are much shorter, being questions used for divination rituals. However these are can be used to show many of the religious practices of the Shang as often the questions being asked were what type of ritual should be performed. Sometimes the divination can be seen as a formality and sometimes it shows a lack of distrust, as questions will be asked more than once.

The oracle bones also give a detailed description of the Shang pantheon as you can see who was sacrificed to when. The most numerous of the pantheon are the royal ancestors. The secound most important group was cultural heroes, this is interesting as what has been deemed "Chinese Popular Religion" throughout the imperial age saw many cults to fallen heroes, these cults were often seen as both "excessive" and "heterodox" and were often the victim of imperial persecution. The third group of deities were the nature spirits who also received sacrifices. As well as the Shang Deity Di who the Zhou incorporated into their ideal of Heaven.

Stephen Bokenkamp wrote on "The Record of the Feng and Shan Sacrifices". He translated an eye witness account, that of a minor official, of the imperial sacrifices from 56 CE. These sacrifices were considered to be some of the most important Imperial sacrifices performed. Though there are actually only records of them being performed 6 times in the 2000 years of Imperial history. The rite described here was the 3rd time that the sacrifices were performed. Bokenkamp describes little of the context or the history of the rites, for that I would recommend Matthew Lewis' essay "The Feng and Shan sacrifices of Emperor Wu". While Lewis is looking at an earlier performance of the rites he has a great deal of insight into the Han period and what people were arguing about at that time.

[Scott Feero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential