Daoist Ritual, State Religion, and Popular Practices: Zhenwu Worship from Song to Ming (960-1644)
Daoist Ritual, State Religion, and Popular Practices: Zhenwu Worship from Song to Ming (960-1644)
by Shin-Yi Chao
This book is one of the best scholarly books I've read this year. I was half way through it when I checked amazon to see if there was a reasonably priced copy availble. It was £80! But someone was selling a copy for £20 the next cheapest was £65 so I grabbed it! I'm so glad I did.
The book looks at Zhenwu worship and is deceptively thin but contains so much. It looks at the way different gods are appropriated and changed over time. How religious practice and rituals are changed to accommodate new gods and ideas. There are detailed descriptions of thunder magic, possession and exorcisms. There is a detailed description of pilgrimages to Wudang in the Song dynasty and how Taoists priests manipulated the myths already in existence to accommodate Zhenwu. It ends with the way Zhenwu is represented in miracle tales.
Zhenwu is a god I've come across before but never seen in a study this detailed. The writing is very strong and the author makes their point very convincingly with great attention to detail. You get a real sense of both the history of the god and the way his religion changed over time and why it changed the way it did. Definitely one I would recommend to people interested in Taoist religion and one I am looking forward to reading again. I know it is one I will refer to many times in the future.
by Shin-Yi Chao
This book is one of the best scholarly books I've read this year. I was half way through it when I checked amazon to see if there was a reasonably priced copy availble. It was £80! But someone was selling a copy for £20 the next cheapest was £65 so I grabbed it! I'm so glad I did.
The book looks at Zhenwu worship and is deceptively thin but contains so much. It looks at the way different gods are appropriated and changed over time. How religious practice and rituals are changed to accommodate new gods and ideas. There are detailed descriptions of thunder magic, possession and exorcisms. There is a detailed description of pilgrimages to Wudang in the Song dynasty and how Taoists priests manipulated the myths already in existence to accommodate Zhenwu. It ends with the way Zhenwu is represented in miracle tales.
Zhenwu is a god I've come across before but never seen in a study this detailed. The writing is very strong and the author makes their point very convincingly with great attention to detail. You get a real sense of both the history of the god and the way his religion changed over time and why it changed the way it did. Definitely one I would recommend to people interested in Taoist religion and one I am looking forward to reading again. I know it is one I will refer to many times in the future.