Communicating with the Gods : spirit-writing in Chinese history and society / edited by Matthias Schumann, Elena Valussi.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1 Introduction to the Volume / Matthias Schumann and Elena Valussi Part 1. Overview Papers 2 Making the Gods Write: A Short History of Spirit-Written Revelations in China, 1000–1400 / Vincent Goossaert
3 Spirit-Writing Practices from the Song to Ming Periods and Their Relation to Politics and Religion / Wang Chien-chuan 王見川
4 Women, Goddesses, and Gender Affinity in Spirit-Writing / Elena Valussi
Part 2. Changing Techniques and Practices
5 Terminology and Typology of Spirit-Writing in Early Modern China: A Preliminary Study / Hu Jiechen
6 The Transcendent of the Plate: The Lingji zhimi 靈乩指迷 (Instructions on the numinous stylus) and the Reform of Spirit-Writing Techniques during the First Half of the Twentieth Century / Fan Chun-wu 范純武
Part 3. Spirit-Writing and the Literati Elites in Late Imperial China
7 Instantiating the Genealogy of the Way: Spirit-Writing in the Construction of Peng Dingqiu’s Confucian Pantheon / Daniel Burton-Rose
8 A Credulous Skeptic: Ji Yun on the Mantic Arts and Spirit-Writing / Michael Lackner
9 The Liu-Han Altar: Between a Literati Spirit-Writing Altar and Popular Religion / Zhu Mingchuan 朱明川
Part 4. Spirit-Writing and Redemptive Societies
10 “Protecting the Dao and Transmitting the Classics”: The New Religion to Save the World and the Confucian Dimension of Spirit-Writing in Republican China / Matthias Schumann
11 Spirit-Writing and the Daoyuan’s Gendered Teachings / Xia Shi
12 The Phoenix Perches in the Land of the Kami: Spirit-Writing from Yiguandao to Tendō / Nikolas Broy
Part 5. Local Communities and Transregional Networks
13 The Nineteenth-Century Spirit-Writing Movement and the Transformation of Local Religion in Western Guangdong / Ichiko Shiga
14 The Rise of Spirit-Writing Cults in Chaozhou: Reassessing the Role of Charitable Halls / Li Guoping 李國平
15 Spirit-Writing Altars in Contemporary Hong Kong: A Case Study of Fei Ngan Tung Buddhism and Daoism Society / Luo Dan 羅丹
16 A Motley Phoenix? On the Diversity of Spirit-Writing Temples and Their Practices in Puli, Taiwan / Paul R. Katz.

Few religious innovations have shaped Chinese history like the emergence of spirit-writing during the Song dynasty. From a divinatory technique it evolved into a complex ritual practice used to transmit messages and revelations from the Gods. This resulted in the production of countless religious scriptures that now form an essential corpus, widely venerated and recited to this day, that is still largely untapped by research. Using historical and ethnographic approaches, this volume for the first time offers a comprehensive overview of the history of spirit-writing, examining its evolution over a millennium, the practices and technologies used, and the communities involved.

Local access dig.pdf. [Communicating with the Gods.pdf]

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