The Sinister Way : The Divine and the Demonic in Chinese Religious Culture.
Title:
The Sinister Way : The Divine and the Demonic in Chinese Religious Culture.
Author:
von Glahn, Richard.
ISBN:
9780520928770
Personal Author:
Edition:
1st ed.
Physical Description:
1 online resource (401 pages)
Contents:
Cover -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Ancestors, Ghosts, and Gods in Ancient China -- 2. The Han Cult of the Dead and Salvific Religion -- 3. Shanxiao: Mountain Goblins -- 4. Plague Demons and Epidemic Gods -- 5. The Song Transformation of Chinese Religious Culture -- 6. Wutong: From Demon to Deity -- 7. The Enchantment of Wealth -- Conclusion -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Glossary -- A -- B -- C -- D -- F -- G -- H -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- W -- X -- Y -- Z -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z.
Abstract:
The most striking feature of Wutong, the preeminent God of Wealth in late imperial China, was the deity's diabolical character. Wutong was perceived not as a heroic figure or paragon of noble qualities but rather as an embodiment of humanity's basest vices, greed and lust, a maleficent demon who preyed on the weak and vulnerable. In The Sinister Way, Richard von Glahn examines the emergence and evolution of the Wutong cult within the larger framework of the historical development of Chinese popular or vernacular religion-as opposed to institutional religions such as Buddhism or Daoism. Von Glahn's study, spanning three millennia, gives due recognition to the morally ambivalent and demonic aspects of divine power within the common Chinese religious culture.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
Genre:
Added Author:
Electronic Access:
Click to View