Early Chinese Religion, Part One: Shang through Han (1250 BC-220 AD)

by John Lagerwey (Editor), Marc Kalinowski (Editor)

Together, and for the first time in any language, the 24 essays gathered in these volumes provide a composite picture of the history of religion in ancient China from the emergence of writing ca. 1250 BC to the collapse of the first major imperial dynasty in 220 AD. It is a multi-faceted tale of changing gods and rituals that includes the emergence of a form of "secular humanism" that doubts the existence of the gods and the efficacy of ritual and of an imperial orthodoxy that founds its legitimacy on a distinction between licit and illicit sacrifices. Written by specialists in a variety of disciplines, the essays cover such subjects as divination and cosmology, exorcism and medicine, ethics and self-cultivation, mythology, taboos, sacrifice, shamanism, burial practices, iconography, and political philosophy.

Produced under the aegis of the Centre de recherche sur les civilisations chinoise, japonaise et tibétaine (UMR 8155) and the École Pratique des Hautes Études (Paris).

Genres: History, Religion, Philosophy, China

1280 pages, Hardcover

First published November 27, 2008

About the author

Currently at the Centre for East Asian Studies; The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Shatin , NT, Hong Kong. Education: 1992--Diploma of Habilitation for the direction of doctoral theses, University of Paris-VII (Jussieu); 1975-77--Post-doctoral study of Taoism under professors Max Kaltenmark and Kristofer Schipper, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris-Sorbonne); 1975--Ph.D. Chinese Literature, Harvard University

Reviews

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first two essays in this book were written by scholars that I greatly admire. Michael Puett looked at mortuary rights and the rights that were to help the grieved and were for the ghost at the grave and those that were to honour the dead, for the spirit at the tablets. I think this may be the first time I've read a scholarly work that actually discusses how the rites are there to help the bereaved person. Michael Nylan's essay looked at the myth of Confucianism and classics within the Han period. It was an interesting look at revisionist history that swept aside previous preconceptions and looked at the actual evidence. State and local cults in Han religion by Marian Bujard was excellent and I will have to track down more by this historian. She covered all the things I am really interested in from Feng and shan sacrifices to the cult of immortality. Joachim Gertz's essay looked at the changing Gongyang tradition. Unfortunately this was a topic that I didn't find terribly interesting as it focused more on the textual and philosophical side of religion. Roel Sterckx's essay on The economics of religion was most excellent. It looked at the financial impact of ritual sacrifice on Han and Qin communities. One example that sticks with me was a community of 1000 that was established to take care of the sacrifices on one mountain. It was very interesting economic and social history that looked at the impact of religion on everyday life. It also covered women spirit mediums and looked at the changing role of women in religion. (860) It was fascinating. Liu Tseng-Kuei's essay, Taboos an aspect of belief looked at many different inauspicious beliefs from the Qin and the Han. He drew mainly on newly discovered archaeological evidence, in the form of day books. He included much of the original Chinese as well as translations which was very helpful. He outlined the taboos on the natural world, birth, marriage, death, the body, food and drink, homes, travelling, language, and gods. The work was very informative, but because it was a new area of study contained little analysis. I would have liked to know how these beliefs fit in with other religious and ritual beliefs. It seemed that most of the taboos were based on either yin-yang theory or the five phases. I look forward to reading more about this topic. Michele Pirazzoli-T'Serstevens essay, Death and the dead, practices and images in the Qin and the Han, looked at tomb images, (funerary archaeology) and combined this with texts to look at Han ideas about death. Included were a lot of beautiful plates, including some of xiwangmu and immortals. K.E. Brashier's essay on commemorative stele looked at how this practice was developed and gave examples of the stele (and commemorative poem) of a man, woman and child. It was interesting to see this development in biography, particularly having studied religious hagiography of a later period. I found some of the poetry particularly moving, particularly lines from the woman's Xianzhang, Hu Guang's wife. Why did she abandon us by dying? Our distressed hearts are alarmed and agitated Our insides are twisted and cut up too. (1052 will add Chinese original later) One of the nicest things about this part was both the original Chinese was included as well as the translation. Gregoire Espesset wrote a wonderful description of the Eastern Han's religious movements looking at how they fit in with what we perceive as the starting of the Taoist religious movement. He talked about all the main groups, the red eyebrows, the yellow turbans, the five pecks of rice, etc. There wasn't an awful lot that was unfamiliar to me having studied this area quite thoroughly in my MA. But I would definitely recommend this essay as a good introduction to the topic. The last essay was by Li Jianmin and was called, They shall expel demons. It looked at the way attitudes towards demons and ghosts causing illness changed from the pre Han to the period of disunion. It was an interesting and different look at ghosts and demons taking a medical/healing perspective rather than purely a religious or social one. Li questioned the simplistic argument that the underworld simply reflected the known world with judges and legal contracts. This was overall a most excellent collection. I wish I could have a copy of all the articles in here. I think it will definitely be of interest to scholars of early Chinese religion and an excellent reference for students