Society and the Supernatural in Song China

Society and the Supernatural in Song China is at once a meticulous examination of spirit possession and exorcism in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and a social history of the full panoply of China's religious practices and practitioners at the moment when she was poised to dominate the world economy. Although the Song dynasty (960-1276) is often identified with the establishment of Confucian orthodoxy, Edward Davis demonstrates the renewed vitality of the dynasty's Taoist, Buddhist, and local religious traditions. He charts the rise of hundreds of new temple-cults and the lineages of clerical exorcists and vernacular priests; the increasingly competitive interaction among all practitioners of therapeutic ritual; and the wide social range of their patrons and clients.

Author: Edward L. Davis
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Published: 06/01/2001
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.11lbs
Size: 8.96h x 5.96w x 0.92d
ISBN: 9780824823986

Review Citation(s):
Choice 02/01/2002 pg. 1100
Reference and Research Bk News 11/01/2001 pg. 12