East Asian religions and spiritual beliefs Books
Columbia University Press Chinas Green Religion
Book SynopsisIn China’s Green Religion, James Miller shows how Daoism orients individuals toward a holistic understanding of religion and nature. Explicitly connecting human flourishing to the thriving of nature, Daoism fosters a “green” subjectivity and agency that transforms what it means to live a flourishing life on earth.Trade ReviewThis book presents a novel interpretation of Daoism as a 'green religion' that can transcend its premodern, Chinese origins and offer to the world a distinctive ecological orientation of wider relevance. Miller is arguably the world's leading scholar of Daoism and the environment, and China's Green Religion makes a striking and important contribution to the field of religion and ecology. -- Bronislaw Szerszynski, Lancaster University This book breaks new ground and may serve as a model for more sophisticated engagements with Daoism in terms of ecology. It is at the cutting edge of Daoist Studies. -- Louis Komjathy, Associate Professor of Chinese Religions and Comparative Religious Studies at the University of San Diego James Miller's book is a rich and deeply informed exploration of the relationships of Daoist religion and philosophy with nature and the environment. Miller discusses Daoist principles in new and exciting ways, often related to current ecological and ecocritical topics. He applies Daoist principles to current problems and possible futures, arguing that Daoism could help us develop not only sustainability but also flourishing. This is an important book with new and exciting ideas for environmentalists and citizens. -- Eugene Anderson, University of California, Riverside There is perhaps no scholar in the West who could have written such a valuable book on the contributions of Daoism to ecological thought and practice in China. Meticulously researched and clearly written, this is a book that will indispensable for academics and policy makers alike who are concerned about China's future. -- Mary Evelyn Tucker, Forum on Religion and Ecology, Yale UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Religion, Modernity, and Ecology 2. The Subjectivity of Nature 3. Liquid Ecology 4. The Porosity of the Body 5. The Locative Imagination 6. The Political Ecology of the Daoist Body 7. From Modernity to Sustainability 8. From Sustainability to Flourishing Notes Bibliography Index
£55.00
Columbia University Press Gender Power and Talent
Book SynopsisJinhua Jia draws on a wealth of previously untapped sources to explain how Daoist priestesses marked themselves as a distinct gendered religious and social group. The first comprehensive study of the lives and roles of Daoist priestesses in Tang China, Gender, Power, and Talent restores women to the landscape of Chinese religion and literature.Trade ReviewAn incredibly important book for both scholars and students, one which will remain for years to come a pivotal resource for classrooms and related studies. * Reading Religion *Gender, Power, and Talent succeeds in demonstrating the breadth of achievement of Daoist priestesses in the Tang. -- Daniel Burton-Rose, Northern Arizona University, USA * Nan Nu *[This] volume presents an impressive wealth of material for historical studies on women as well as on religion. * Religious Studies Review *[Gender, Power, and Talent's] contributions to the scholarship on Chinese religion, literature, and women studies make it a useful reference for scholars and students interested in related areas. Overall, it is a worthy beginning to what we hope will be increased emphasis on women and Daoism, and it should stimulate further research on Daoism and gender studies. -- Yue Wu * Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews *Written by a rising leader in Chinese religious studies applying an interdisciplinary approach that combines religious, literary, and gender studies, and searching through all available sources and recovering many new texts, Gender, Power, and Talent examines both the conventional and ‘unconventional’ roles played by Tang Daoist priestesses in the historical context of the Tang dynasty. -- Nanxiu Qian, Rice UniversityGender, Power, and Talent argues that Daoist women of medieval China played an important role in the religion and in the society of the time; that their emergence as a major social force is unprecedented in Chinese history; and that they developed a new form of identity both as women and as Daoists. The gender-critical perspective of the book together with its meticulous historical research makes it a unique contribution to the field. -- Livia Kohn, Boston UniversityElite Daoist nuns of the Tang dynasty used to have a scandalous reputation. Jinhua Jia does them justice; the gossip is accounted for, but more important elements are added to the picture: the uneasy invention of Daoist monasticism, the debates around female religiosity and poetic expression, and the rise of early modern self-cultivation practices. This gendered history of medieval Daoism is a major addition to our understanding of Chinese religious cultures. -- Vincent Goossaert, Université PSL, École Pratique des Hautes ÉtudesUsing previously unknown mortuary inscriptions, rare Dunhuang manuscripts, and a broad range of received texts, Jia offers a revealing panorama of women's religious practices from medieval China. This study of Tang Daoist priestesses from various backgrounds brings the lives of these many remarkable women out of the shadows. Cultural and social history at its best. -- Paul W. Kroll, University of Colorado, BoulderBy making meticulous use of important new sources and re-viewing older ones with an informed and insightful gender-critical eye, Jinhua Jia has admirably succeeded in finally releasing Tang dynasty Daoist women from the traditional stereotypes, whether romantically idealistic or moralistically censorious, that have so long obscured their significant accomplishments in such diverse areas as scriptural exegesis, ritual practice, medicine, literature, and the arts. -- Beata Grant, Washington University in St. LouisTable of ContentsList of Figures and TablesAcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction1. The Rise of Daoist Priestesses as a Gendered Religio-Social Group2. Destiny and Power of the Ordained Royal Women3. Religious Leadership, Practice, and Ritual Function4. Liu Moran and the Daoist Theory of Inner Cultivation5. Longevity Techniques and Medical Theory: The Legacy of Hu Yin6. The Yaochi ji and Three Daoist Priestess-Poets7. Unsold Peony: The Life and Poetry of the Priestess-Poet Yu XuanjiConclusionAppendix: Du Guangting and the Hagiographies of Tang Daoist WomenNotesBibliographyIndex
£54.40
Columbia University Press In the Land of Tigers and Snakes
Book SynopsisHuaiyu Chen examines how Buddhist ideas about animals changed and were changed by medieval Chinese culture. He explores the entangled relations among animals, religions, the state, and local communities, considering both the multivalent meanings associated with animals and the daily experience of living with the natural world.Trade ReviewThe question of how humans treat, and should treat, non-human animals has become more urgent in the face of biodiversity loss, and we might find some answers by considering how we have lived with animals in other times and places. Huaiyu Chen’s In the Land of Tigers and Snakes. . . provides openings to do so. * The Times Literary Supplement *Huaiyu Chen makes a significant contribution to our understanding of human–animal interactions in medieval China…[He] tells a fascinating story of the changing boundaries between the “wild and untamed” and the “civilized” world. Particularly rich and cohesive…In the Land of Tigers and Snakes would be an excellent reading for either an undergraduate- or a graduate level class in religious studies and Asian history. * Journal of Chinese History *...by learning from the work presented in this book, we can promote deeper conversations and mutual understandings between religions, allowing scholars across multiple disciplines other than religious studies to gain inspiration for their respective fields of study. * Religion *. . . engaging and rich in detail. In all, this is a much-needed addition to the ever-growing field of Chinese animal studies, demonstrating the applicability and range of the “animal lens” in scholarship. * School of Oriental & African Studies *In the Land of Tigers and Snakes is meticulously researched, richly documented, and well contextualized. Chen shows excellent command of his source materials, and I really learned a tremendous amount from reading this book. A must-read for anyone interested in animals and religion! -- Barbara Ambros, author of Bones of Contention: Animals and Religion in Contemporary JapanAn unprecedented survey of some very rich sources, In the Land of Tigers and Snakes is a major contribution to the study of the interactions between the human and animal realms in a pivotal period of Chinese history. -- T.H. Barrett, author of Taoism Under the T'ang: Religion and Empire during the Golden Age of Chinese HistoryIn this fascinating and important study, Huaiyu Chen overturns facile beliefs that Buddhism and Daoism have long promoted ecologically beneficent attitudes and practices toward wild animals. Instead, he shows the complex ways religious leaders and laypeople viewed, controlled, killed, and according to legends, tamed and converted wild animals, in processes producing religious hierarchies, involving interreligious competition, and contributing decisively to the spread of agricultural civilizations at the expense of wildlife and wildlands. Highly recommended. -- Bron Taylor, Author of Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future and editor of the Encyclopedia of Religion and NatureBy learning from the work presented in this book, we can promote deeper conversations and mutual understandings between religions, allowing scholars across multiple disciplines other than religious studies to gain inspiration for their respective fields of study. * Religion *Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Buddhists Categorizing Animals: Medieval Chinese Classification2. Confucians Civilizing Unruly Beasts: Tigers and Pheasants3. Buddhists Taming Felines: The Companionship of the Tiger4. Daoists Transforming Ferocious Tigers: Practical Techniques and Rhetorical Strategies5. Buddhists Killing Reptiles: Snakes in Religious Competition6. Buddhists Enlightening Virtuous Birds: The Parrot as a Religious AgentEpilogueNotesBibliographyIndex
£93.60
Columbia University Press Ades Omagio A Aldo Elegie Clarinette Seule
Book SynopsisHuaiyu Chen examines how Buddhist ideas about animals changed and were changed by medieval Chinese culture. He explores the entangled relations among animals, religions, the state, and local communities, considering both the multivalent meanings associated with animals and the daily experience of living with the natural world.Trade ReviewThe question of how humans treat, and should treat, non-human animals has become more urgent in the face of biodiversity loss, and we might find some answers by considering how we have lived with animals in other times and places. Huaiyu Chen’s In the Land of Tigers and Snakes. . . provides openings to do so. * The Times Literary Supplement *Huaiyu Chen makes a significant contribution to our understanding of human–animal interactions in medieval China…[He] tells a fascinating story of the changing boundaries between the “wild and untamed” and the “civilized” world. Particularly rich and cohesive…In the Land of Tigers and Snakes would be an excellent reading for either an undergraduate- or a graduate level class in religious studies and Asian history. * Journal of Chinese History *...by learning from the work presented in this book, we can promote deeper conversations and mutual understandings between religions, allowing scholars across multiple disciplines other than religious studies to gain inspiration for their respective fields of study. * Religion *. . . engaging and rich in detail. In all, this is a much-needed addition to the ever-growing field of Chinese animal studies, demonstrating the applicability and range of the “animal lens” in scholarship. * School of Oriental & African Studies *In the Land of Tigers and Snakes is meticulously researched, richly documented, and well contextualized. Chen shows excellent command of his source materials, and I really learned a tremendous amount from reading this book. A must-read for anyone interested in animals and religion! -- Barbara Ambros, author of Bones of Contention: Animals and Religion in Contemporary JapanAn unprecedented survey of some very rich sources, In the Land of Tigers and Snakes is a major contribution to the study of the interactions between the human and animal realms in a pivotal period of Chinese history. -- T.H. Barrett, author of Taoism Under the T'ang: Religion and Empire during the Golden Age of Chinese HistoryIn this fascinating and important study, Huaiyu Chen overturns facile beliefs that Buddhism and Daoism have long promoted ecologically beneficent attitudes and practices toward wild animals. Instead, he shows the complex ways religious leaders and laypeople viewed, controlled, killed, and according to legends, tamed and converted wild animals, in processes producing religious hierarchies, involving interreligious competition, and contributing decisively to the spread of agricultural civilizations at the expense of wildlife and wildlands. Highly recommended. -- Bron Taylor, Author of Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future and editor of the Encyclopedia of Religion and NatureBy learning from the work presented in this book, we can promote deeper conversations and mutual understandings between religions, allowing scholars across multiple disciplines other than religious studies to gain inspiration for their respective fields of study. * Religion *Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Buddhists Categorizing Animals: Medieval Chinese Classification2. Confucians Civilizing Unruly Beasts: Tigers and Pheasants3. Buddhists Taming Felines: The Companionship of the Tiger4. Daoists Transforming Ferocious Tigers: Practical Techniques and Rhetorical Strategies5. Buddhists Killing Reptiles: Snakes in Religious Competition6. Buddhists Enlightening Virtuous Birds: The Parrot as a Religious AgentEpilogueNotesBibliographyIndex
£27.00
Indiana University Press Everyday Life in South Asia Second Edition
Book SynopsisAn anthology that provides a view of the lives of ordinary citizens in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. It explores key themes in understanding the region, including gender, caste, class, religion, globalization, economic liberalization, nationalism, and emerging modernities.Trade ReviewEveryday Life in South Asia . . . is extremely accessible and has plenty to offer as introductory material for a wide range of topics. * New Asia Books *[T]he book offers keenly observed ethnographic snapshots, theorized by the authors and contextualized by the engaging section introductions. Indeed, the varied, rich, and sensitive portrayal of the ordinary (and extraordinary) lives of South Asians of vastly diverse backgrounds is just one of the volume's many strengths. * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *Richly informative but accessible and user friendly for classroom use. . . . This excellent volume of essays belongs in many places—on the shelves of specialists and non-specialists alike. * Journal of Asian Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsNote on TransliterationIntroductionMapI. The Family and the Life Course Introduction1. One Straw from a Broom Cannot Sweep: The Ideology and Practice of the Joint Family in Rural North India Susan S. Wadley2. Allah Gives Both Boys and Girls Patricia Jeffery and Roger Jeffery3. "Out Here in Kathmandu": Youth and the Contradictions of Modernity in Urban Nepal Mark Liechty4. Rethinking Courtship, Marriage and Divorce in an Indian Call Center Cari Costanzo Kapur5. Love and Aging in Bengali Families Sarah LambII. GendersIntroduction6. New Light in the House: Schooling Girls in Rural North India Ann Grodzins Gold7. Offstage with Special Drama Actresses in Tamilnadu, South India: Roadwork Susan Seizer8. Breadwinners No More: Identities in Flux Michele Ruth Gamburd9. Life on the Margins: A Hijra's Story Serena Nanda10. Crossing "Lines" of Difference: Transnational Movements and Sexual Subjectivities in Hyderabad, India Gayatri ReddyIII. Caste, Class and CommunityIntroduction 11. Seven Prevalent Misconceptions about India's Caste System12. God-Chariots in a Garden of Castes: Hierarchy and Festival in a Hindu City Steven M. Parish13. High and Low Castes in Karani Viramma, with Josiane Racine and Jean Luc Racine14. Weakness, Worry Illness, and Poverty in the Slums of Dhaka Sabina Faiz Rashid 15. Anjali's Alliance: Class Mobility in Urban India Sara Dickey16. Recasting the Secular: Religion and Education in Kerala, India Ritty LukoseIV. Practicing ReligionIntroduction17. The Hindu Gods in a South Indian Village Diane P. Mines18. The Feast of Love McKim Marriott19. The Delusion of Gender and Renunciation in Buddhist Kashmir Kim Gutschow20. Muslim Village Intellectuals: The Life of the Mind in Northern Pakistan Magnus Marsden21. In Friendship: A Father, a Daughter and a Jinn Naveeda Khan22. Vernacular Islam at a Healing Crossroads in Hyderabad Joyce Burkhalter FlueckigerV. Nation-making Introduction23. Voices from the Partition Urvashi Butalia24. A Day in the Life Laura Ring25. Living and Dying for Mother India: Hindu Nationalist Female Renouncers and Sacred Duty Kalyani Devaki Menon26. Political Praise in Tamil Newspapers: The Poetry and Iconography of Democratic Power Bernard Bate27. Mala's Dream: Economic Policies, National Debates, and Sri Lankan Garment Workers Caitrin Lynch28. Interviews with High School Students in Eastern Sri Lanka Margaret TrawickVI. Globalization, Public Culture and the South Asian DiasporaIntroduction29. Cinema in the Countryside: Popular Tamil Film and the Remaking of Rural Life Anand Pandian30. Dangerous Desires: Erotics, Public Culture, and Identity in Late-Twentieth-Century India Purnima Mankekar31. A Diaspora Ramayana in Southall Paula Richman32. British Sikh Lives, Lived in Translation Kathleen Hall33. Examining the "Global" Indian Middle Class: Gender and Culture in the Silicon Valley/Bangalore Circuit Smitha Radhakrishnan34. Placing Lives through Stories: Second Generation South Asian Americans Kirin Narayan35. Unexpected Destinations E. Valentine DanielReferencesContributorsIndex
£25.19
Indiana University Press Everyday Life in Southeast Asia
Book SynopsisThe peoples and cultures of Southeast AsiaTrade ReviewThe pages [of Everyday Life in Southeast Asia] are packed with useful insight that can infuse the travelers [sic] journey (particularly if they explore areas off the beaten track) with an enlightening understanding of deeply rooted traditions still practiced throughout South East Asia. . . . [I]t is highly readable in both a casual and on-the-go context, and contains facts that will challenge the reader to re-assess their own cultural practices and observe those of others in a new light. * ExpatGoMalaysia.com *This book offers an exceedingly rich conucopia of stories, themes, and analytical insights into contemporary southeast Asia. Moreover, it is a pleasure to read. Many edited collections in the social sciences aim ar at least claim to appeal to an audience beyond specialists. Everyday Life in Southeast Asia is one of the rare collections compiled and written by academics that should indeed speak to a broad audience as an introduction to the societies and peoples of one of the world's most richly diverse regions. Specialists, too, will take pleasure and find insights in this book. * Sojourn *One of the main contributions of this volume is its ability to unite extremely disparate topics under clearly defined theoretical themes. As such, it makes a wonderful textbook, not just for anthropology students, but also for those taking courses in the sociology, history and politics of South East Asia. * South East Asia Research *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsNote on TransliterationMapsIntroduction: Southeast Asia and Everyday LifePart 1. Fluid Personhood: Conceptualizing Identities 1. Living in Indonesia without a Please or Thanks: Cultural Translations of Reciprocity and Respect / Lorraine V. Aragon 2. Toba Batak Selves: Personal, Spiritual, Collective / Andrew Causey 3. Poverty and Merit: Mobile Persons in Laos / Holly High 4. A Question of Identity: Different Ways of Being Malay and Muslim in Malaysia / Judith NagataPart 2. Family, Households, and Livelihoods 5. Maling: A Hanunóo Girl from the Philippines / Harold C. Conklin 6. Marriage and Opium in a Lisu Village in Northern Thailand / Kathleen Gillogly 7. Merit and Power in the Thai Social Order / Lucien M. Hanks, Jr.Part 3. Crafting the Nation-State 8. Recording Tradition and Measuring Progress in the Ethnic Minority Highlands of Thailand / Hjorleifur Jonsson 9. Everyday Life and the Management of Cultural Complexity in Contemporary Singapore / John Clammer 10. Youth Culture and Fading Memories of War in Hanoi, Vietnam / Christina SchwenkelPart 4. World Religions in Everyday Life: Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity 11. The Ordination of a Tree: The Buddhist Ecology Movement in Thailand / Susan M. Darlington 12. Javanese Women and the Veil / Nancy Smith-Hefner 13. Everyday Catholicism: Expanding the Sacred Sphere in the Philippines / Katharine L. WiegelePart 5. Communicating Ideas: Popular Culture, Arts, and Entertainment 14. Cultivating "Community" in an Indonesian Era of Conflict: Toraja Artistic Strategies for Promoting Peace / Kathleen M. Adams 15. The Fall of Thai Rocky / Pattana Kitiarsa 16. Everyday Life as Art: Thai Artists and the Aesthetics of Shopping, Eating, Protesting, and Having Fun / Sandra Cate 17. Eating Lunch and Recreating the Universe: Food and Cosmology in Hoi An, Vietnam / Nir AvieliPart 6. War and Recovery 18. Living with the War Dead in Contemporary Vietnam / Shaun Kingsley Malarney 19. Producing the People: Exchange Obligations and Popular Nationalism / Elizabeth G. Traube 20. The Question of Collaborators: Moral Order and Community in the Aftermath of the Khmer Rouge / Eve Monique ZuckerPart 7. Global Processes and Shifting Ecological Relations 21. When the Mountains No Longer Mean Home / Chris Lyttleton 22. "They Do Not Like to Be Confined and Told What To Do": Schooling Malaysian Indigenes / Robert Knox Dentan, Anthony (Bah Tony) Williams-Hunt, and Juli Edo 23. Narratives of Agency: Sex Work in Indonesia's Borderlands / Michele Ford and Lenore Lyons 24. Just below the Surface: Environmental Destruction and Loss of Livelihood on an Indonesian Atoll / Gene AmmarellReferencesSelected Film ResourcesContributorsIndex
£18.32
MH - Indiana University Press Beyond Nationalist Frames Postmodernism Hindu
Book SynopsisThe political context in which historians of India find themselves is dominated by the advance of the Hindu Right and forms of capitalism, while the historian's intellectual context is dominated by the marginalization of all varieties of Marxism. This title offers a view of how the craft of history should be practiced in this conjuncture.Trade Review" ... a subtle and illuminating critique of 'post-modernist' influences on contemporary Indian historical writing."--Asian Affairs, November 2004Table of ContentsPreliminary Table of Contents: IntroductionI. Colonial Times: Clocks and Kali-yugaII. Identities and Histories: Some Lower-Caste Narratives from Early Twentieth-Century BengalIII. Intimations of Hindutva: Ideologies, Caste, and Class in Post-Swadeshi BengalIV. Two Muslim Tracts for Peasants: Bengal 1909-1910V. Nationalism and "Stri-Swadhinata": The Contexts and Meanings of Rabindranath's Ghare-BaireVI. Postmodernism and the Writing of HistoryVII. The BJP Bomb and NationalismVIII. Christianity, Hindutva, and the Question of ConversionsIX. Hindutva and History
£26.99
Harvard University, Asia Center Steps of Perfection
Book SynopsisDespite Taiwan's rise as an economic force in the world, modernity has not led to a Weberian process of disenchantment or curbed religiosity. To the contrary, other factorssocial, economic, politicalhave stimulated religion. How and why this has happened are central issues in this book.Trade ReviewThis is an excellent study of Taiwanese religious culture. Combining a thorough knowledge of Chinese historical and religious writings with camcorder ethnography, Sutton explores the face painted 'ghostly generals'—the entourage of the Five Emperors/Plague Gods that 'step the void,' dancing cosmic patterns of Daoism in modern Taiwan...This important work proves that Taiwanese culture must be understood as distinct from Mainland China culture. -- F. B. Bessac * Choice *
£32.26
Harvard University, Asia Center Identity Reflections
Book SynopsisThroughout history, Mount Tai has been a magnet for both women and men from all classesemperors, aristocrats, officials, literati, and villagers. This book examines the behavior of those who made the pilgrimage to Mount Tai and their interpretations of its sacrality and history, as a means of better understanding their identities and mentalities.Trade ReviewProbably no one understanding of why the mountain mattered would have been shared by all the pilgrims Dott describes. But all visitors would have been aware that people unlike themselves shared the view that this particular place mattered, and that visitors over the centuries had deposited many different layers of meaning. They would have recognized themselves as part of an ‘us’ for whom Taishan was a crucial site. Understanding that ‘us’ remains an important task for scholars who want to probe the mountain’s significance or paint a general picture of late imperial culture. Scholars interested in either task will benefit greatly from reading this book. -- Kenneth Pomeranz * Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies *
£35.66
Harvard University, Asia Center Ancestral Memory in Early China
Book SynopsisIn this study, the author contends that early Chinese ancestor worship was not merely mechanical and thoughtless. Rather, it was an idea system that aroused serious debates about the nature of postmortem existence, served as the religious backbone to Confucianism, and may even have been the forerunner of Daoist and Buddhist meditation practices.
£35.66
Princeton University Press Changing Gods in Medieval China 11271276
Book SynopsisIn her study of medieval Chinese lay practices and beliefs, Valerie Hansen argues that social and economic developments underlay religious changes in the Southern Song. Unfamiliar with the contents of Buddhist and Daoist texts, the common people hired the practitioner or prayed to the god they thought could cure the ill or bring rain. As the economTable of Contents*FrontMatter, pg. i*CONTENTS, pg. vii*ILLUSTRATIONS, pg. viii*ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, pg. xi*CHAPTER I. Introduction, pg. 3*CHAPTER II. Lay Choices, pg. 29*CHAPTER III. Understanding the Gods, pg. 48*CHAPTER IV. The Granting of Titles, pg. 79*CHAPTER V. Popular Deities in Huzhou, pg. 105*CHAPTER VI. The Rise of Regional Cults, pg. 128*CHAPTER VII. Conclusion, pg. 160*Appendix I: Comparison of The Record of the Listener and a Temple Inscription Recording the Same Miracle, pg. 167*Appendix II: Selected Translations from The Record of the Listener, pg. 171*APPENDIX III. Tables, pg. 176*GLOSSARY, pg. 201*BIBLIOGRAPHY, pg. 217*INDEX TO TEMPLE INSCRIPTIONS, pg. 243*INDEX, pg. 247
£34.20
Cornell University Press War and Shadows
Book SynopsisGustafsson's rich ethnographic research explores the world of spirit possession in Vietnam, focusing on the source of the pain, the physical and mental anguish the spirits bring, and various attempts to ameliorate their anger through ritual offerings.Trade ReviewIn this engrossing account of spirit-possession illness caused by war ghosts in and around Ha Noi, Mai Lan Gustafson demystifies what are often perceived as mystical experiences without reducing them entirely to well-worn conceptual tropes. No doubt the book's greatest strength can be found in the vibrant and sympathetic ethnography of the wide cast of social actors involved in spirit possession. One theme that emerges as the book progresses involves the connections between angry ghosts and their victims as ways for the living to process wartime experiences, whether their own or not, through idioms of kinship, suffering, and social and moral responsibility. War and Shadows is a pleasure to read and a success in its own right. The book is also a clear introduction and guide to many issues salient to Vietnam Studies and would be an excellent teaching resource for lower and upper division courses on Vietnam. -- Allen L. Tran * Journal of Vietnamese Studies *The work is a straightforward discussion of a phenomenon evidently experienced by hundreds of people. The narratives supplied by Gustaffson's informants are allowed to stand on their own, supplemented by contextual information that positions them in the broader framework of contemporary Vietnamese social life...Human relationships and human conflicts are given new meaning by the supernatural, and the presence of spiritual phenomena in daily life forces the engagement of individuals, families, and nations with the very real and very pressing legacies of violence. * Journal of Folklore Research *Table of Contents1. The Problem2. Foundations3. Revelations4. The Living and the Dead5. Afterlives6. Problem Solving7. "Superstition" in a Secular State8. Revivals9. ConclusionEpilogueAppendix 1: Table of SufferingAppendix 2: Chronology oft he WarNotesReferencesIndex
£22.79
Stanford University Press The Way That Lives in the Heart Chinese Popular
Book SynopsisThe Way That Lives in the Heart is a richly textured ethnographic analysis of the practice of Chinese religion in the modern, multicultural Southeast Asian city of Penang, Malaysia.Trade Review"This is an excellent study on Chinese spirit medium and on Chinese popular religion in Malaysia."—Asian Folklore Studies"I wholeheartedly endorse the text; its most powerful quality for me is that it is a superbly crafted piece of ethnography that transcends the merely descriptive capacity. The theorizing is sophisticated and self-reflexive, and it offers for reflection a number of critical questions and problematics about how to theorize the persistence of folk/popular religious practices... in an urban, modern capitalist society."—Pacific Affairs"This richly detailed study of spirit mediums manages at once to portray an ethnically mixed society in the throes of modern change, and to illuminate the millennial role of spirit-medium performance in Chinese popular cultural traditions."—Donald S. Sutton, Carnegie Mellon University"Except for the detailed observations of de Groot made in the southern provinces in the late nineteenth century, few reports of spirit mediumship in modern China have appeared in print Jean DeBernardi now contributed a richly detailed ethnographic analysis of the practice of Chinese popular religion and spirit mediums in Penang, Malaysia. This newly added title regarding Malaysian Chinese spirit mediumship is most welcome, and will be beneficial to both the general reader and the specialist." —Journal of Chinese ReligionsTable of ContentsContents Preface i Introduction 1 Part I Heaven on Earth Introduction to Part I 1. Mending Luck 2. Spiritual Collisions 3. Possessed by the Past Part II Spirit Mediums Introduction to Part II 4. Domesticating the Dead 5. Self-Cultivation and the Dao 6. The Teachings of a Modern Master 7. Drawing on the Dark Side Conclusion Chinese Glossary Bibliography
£98.60
University of Pennsylvania Press Gu Hongmings Eccentric Chinese Odyssey
Book SynopsisKnown for his ultraconservatism and eccentricity, Gu Hongming (1857-1928) remains one of the most controversial figures in modern Chinese intellectual history. A former member of the colonial elite from Penang who was educated in Europe, Gu, in his late twenties, became a Qing loyalist and Confucian spokesman who also defended concubinage, footbinding, and the queue. Seen as a reactionary by his Chinese contemporaries, Gu nevertheless gained fame as an Eastern prophet following the carnage of World War I, often paired with Rabindranath Tagore and Leo Tolstoy by Western and Japanese intellectuals.Rather than resort to the typical conception of Gu as an inscrutable eccentric, Chunmei Du argues that Gu was a trickster-sage figure who fought modern Western civilization in a time dominated by industrial power, utilitarian values, and imperialist expansion. A shape-shifter, Gu was by turns a lampooning jester, defying modern political and economic systems and, at other times, an aveTrade Review"Du's goal is to help us understand the influences that produced such a paradoxical character. In the end, as Du acknowledges, Gu Hongming stubbornly defies analysis. Still, her account of his life is fascinating, particularly for what it reveals about global currents of thought in the early twentieth century . . . The book's real strength is in its exploration of a transnational history of ideas that emphasizes the global nature of circuits of intellectual exchange in the early twentieth-century." * Modern Chinese Literature and Culture *"Gu Hongming matters, as this engaging and sophisticated book shows, because in an age when he has been 'revived as an icon of Chinese nationalism and cultural conservatism', and when 'clash of civilization' essentialisms are grasped at ever more fervently, there is great value in this sort of study of how East and West became 'coconstructed concepts that are fundamentally interactive and mutually transformative', how they are 'imagined together'." * Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies *"Gu Hongming is one of the most controversial and complicated figures in modern Chinese history. Chunmei Du has the broad knowledge, multiple language skills, and keen understanding required to situate Gu and the cultural phenomenon he represented in the international intellectual environment of his time." * Xiaoping Cong, University of Houston *"Gu Hongming's Eccentric Chinese Odyssey is the place to start for anyone interested in intellectual idiosyncrasy or cultural polemics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Gu Hongming, who was born in Penang, educated in Scotland, and made a career out of China, fit no mold except that of his own making, much to the chagrin of his contemporaries and biographers. With concision and clarity, Chunmei Du traces this legendary figure's unique trajectories and legacies, not least as a shape-shifting performer attuned to the enduring allure of cultural authenticity." * Christopher Rea, author of The Age of Irreverence: A New History of Laughter in China *Table of ContentsChapter 1. An Inscrutable Eccentric PART I. INTELLECTUAL JOURNEY Chapter 2. In Search of the Spirit of the Chinese People Chapter 3. The Rise of a Spokesman from the East Chapter 4. Clash of Religions PART II. PSYCHOLOGICAL PASSAGE Chapter 5. How an Imitation Western Man Became a Chinaman Again Chapter 6. Projections on a Chinese Screen Chapter 7. To Reverence the King Chapter 8. A Trickster's Trip on a Möbius Strip Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments
£52.70
Fordham University Press The Still Point
Book SynopsisAn ecumenical exploration of the bases of Zen and Christian mysticism, this book intends to enable Christian and Buddhist to communicate. The author re-thinks basic concepts of Catholic mystical theology in the light of the Zen experience and attempts to encourage contemplative prayer.Trade Review"The book ... has much of great weight to offer not only to the Christian but to the Westerner who wishes to understand Zen better." -Library Journal
£29.45
Fordham University Press Silent Music
Book SynopsisThis work seeks to break down the barriers between science and religion, as well as between religions themselves, in order to extrapolate a comprehensive understanding of the science of meditation. It reveals ways of understanding the mystical and our search for wisdom in the modern world.Trade Review“In a simple, clear, engaging style that nicely balances necessary fact and edifying anecdote, [Johnston] propounds his belief that the greatest problem in the world today ‘is the imperfection of our love; that is to say, our lack of mysticism.’” * —Choice *
£25.19
Fordham University Press The Wounded Stag
Book Synopsis"Draws on sacred scripture and the writings of John of the Cross and other Christian mystics to indicate how one who practices Christian meditation, engaging with the Christ-ministry, is transformed by it."-MonosTrade Review“Draws on sacred scripture and the writings of John of the Cross and other Christian mystics to indicate how one who practices Christian meditation, engaging with the Christ-ministry, is transformed by it.” * —Monos *
£25.19
Fordham University Press The Mysticism of the Cloud of Unknowing
Book SynopsisThe Cloud of Unknowing was the work of an unknown 14th-century English writer with a powerful message of God's unconditional love in the face of despair. Johnston's theological treatment of this and other works by the same writer makes a conscious comparison with Oriental ways of contemplation.Trade Review"Mystics have groped for words in which to account for the supreme reality of this experience... All this is said in classic and unforgettable pages by The Cloud of Unknowing, the work of an anonymous fourteenth-century English writer...Johnston [provides] the first extended and coherent theological treatment ... a most welcome and valuable contribution." -- -Thomas Merton
£27.90
University of Hawai'i Press Definition and Induction A Historical and
Book Synopsis
£16.16
University of Hawaii Press Unruly Gods Divinity and Society in China
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£27.16
University of Hawai'i Press The I Ching in Tokugawa Thought and Culture Asian Interactions Comparisons
Book SynopsisThis study uses the I Ching (Book of Changes) to investigate the role of Chinese learning in the development of thought and culture in Tokugawa Japan (1603-1868). I Ching scholarship reached its apex during the Tokugawa.
£25.12
University of Hawai'i Press Listen to Your Body The Wisdom of the Dao
Book SynopsisThis title shows how you can promote health and natural well-being by modifying everyday actions to improve the flow of qi (the universal principle of energy). Breathing, eating, drinking, resting, and washing, - if carried out in the right way - can result in profound changes in body function.
£18.66
University of Hawai'i Press Karma Dimensions of Asian Spirituality
Book SynopsisKarma has become a household word in the modern world, where it is associated with the belief in rebirth determined by one’s deeds in earlier lives. This belief was and is widespread in the Indian subcontinent as is the word “karma” itself. In lucid and accessible prose, this book presents karma in its historical, cultural, and religious context.Trade ReviewIt provides an elegantly presented, synthesizing tour of “Greater Magadha” and its legacy in Indian religions and philosophies through the lens of theories of karma (the idea that one’s actions determine future rebirths and are thus at the crux of the problem of suffering and its potential remedy). The issues raised are still complex, covering all the major traditions of ancient and classical India, but all the terms are explained, core positions are illustrated with passages from the primary sources, and the “lucid and accessible prose” (as promised on the back cover) smooths the way.- Religious Studies Review
£38.36
University of Hawai'i Press Zhuangzi and the Happy Fish
Book Synopsis
£25.56
Cornell University Press His Kingdom Come
Book SynopsisAnalyzes the ideas and activities of the parish clergy serving in St Petersburg, the capital of imperial Russia, in order to discover how the Russian Orthodox Church responded theologically and pastorally to the profound social, economic, and cultural changes that transformed Russia during the 19th and early 20th centuries.Trade Review"Very readable, substantial... provides a clear and convincing picture of parish religious life and how it changed amidst the redefinition of the pastoral identity and roles." - Gregory L. Freeze, Brandeis University"Table of ContentsTable of Contents Preface Introduction 1: Foundations of the Modern Russian Orthodox Church 2: Bridging the Great Divide: The St. Petersburg Ecclesiastical Academy and the Church's Mission to Society 3: Good Shepherds: Preaching and Pastoral Care in St. Petersburg 4: Church Charity and the Search for Christian Community 5: Teaching, Temperance, and the Expansion of the Church's Mission 6: In the Footsteps of Christ: The Work of Father Grigorii Petrov 7: From Religion to Politics: Father Gapon and the Assembly of Russian Workers 8: Renewing the Church: The Renovationists and Church Reform 9: The Decade of Despair: 1907–1917 Conclusion Appendix: The Union of Zealots for Church Renovation, 1906 Notes Works Cited Index
£97.20
Cornell University Press His Kingdom Come
Book SynopsisJennifer Hedda analyzes the ideas and activities of the parish clergy serving in St. Petersburg, the capital of imperial Russia, in order to discover how the Russian Orthodox Church responded theologically and pastorally to the profound social, economic, and cultural changes that transformed Russia during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The challenges of modernity forced the Orthodox clergy, like other members of educated society, to re-examine their interpretation of the Church''s earthly mission and their own role in fulfilling it. During the mid-nineteenth century, Orthodox theologians began to argue that the church had a responsibility to society as well as to individuals, and to assert that its mission was to lead believers in building a society that manifested the gospel principles of love, mercy, charity, and justice.The idea of creating the kingdom of God on earth inspired many clergymen, who dramatically increased their social outreach work in the last Table of ContentsTable of Contents Preface Introduction 1: Foundations of the Modern Russian Orthodox Church 2: Bridging the Great Divide: The St. Petersburg Ecclesiastical Academy and the Church's Mission to Society 3: Good Shepherds: Preaching and Pastoral Care in St. Petersburg 4: Church Charity and the Search for Christian Community 5: Teaching, Temperance, and the Expansion of the Church's Mission 6: In the Footsteps of Christ: The Work of Father Grigorii Petrov 7: From Religion to Politics: Father Gapon and the Assembly of Russian Workers 8: Renewing the Church: The Renovationists and Church Reform 9: The Decade of Despair: 1907–1917 Conclusion Appendix: The Union of Zealots for Church Renovation, 1906 Notes Works Cited Index
£31.45
MB - Cornell University Press The WheelTurner and His House Kingship in a Buddhist Ecumene
Book SynopsisTraces the archeological and historical record of King Anawrahta (1044-1077) and his seminal position in forming modern Myanmar, based on the few sources that have been recovered.Trade ReviewIn exploring how Anawrahta's reign has been presented or understood over the past several centuries, the author shows the range of historical sources that are available in this kind of endeavor and how they may be read and used in different ways... Recommended. * Choice *Goh has made contributions to the study of Burmese history and, by extension, Burma Studies more widely. * New Mandala *Drawing upon a close critical analysis of extant Burmese sources as well as Chinese-language sources, this work is a significant accomplishment that will be of interest not only to Southeast Asia specialists, but also to historians of any field who are interested in the complex connections between history and memory. * American Historical Review *A must-read for those interested not only in pre-modern Southeast Asia, but also in understanding how the past is reinvented in our time. * Journal of the Siam Society *
£26.40
Association for Asian Studies The Fifty Years That Changed Chinese Religion
Book Synopsis
£19.80
New York University Press The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali
Book SynopsisA brilliant cross-cultural Arabic interpretation of a key text of yoga philosophy The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali is the foundational text of yoga philosophy to this day and is still used by millions of yoga practitioners and students worldwide. Written in a question-and-answer format, The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali deals with the theory and practice of yoga and the psychological question of the liberation of the soul from attachments. This book is a new edition and translation into English of the Arabic translation and commentary on this text by the brilliant eleventh-century polymath al-Biruni. Given the many historical variants of the Yoga Sutras, his Kitab Batanjali is important for yoga studies as the earliest translation of the Sanskrit text. It is also of unique value as an Arabic text within Islamic studies, given the intellectual and philosophical challenges that faced the medieval Muslim reader when presented with the intricacy of composition, interpretation, and allusion that permeates this translation. A bilingual Arabic-English edition.
£26.59
Stanford University Press The Way That Lives in the Heart: Chinese Popular
Book SynopsisThe Way That Lives in the Heart is a richly detailed ethnographic analysis of the practice of Chinese religion in the modern, multicultural Southeast Asian city of Penang, Malaysia. The book conveys both an understanding of shared religious practices and orientations and a sense of how individual men and women imagine, represent, and transform popular religious practices within the time and space of their own lives. This work is original in three ways. First, the author investigates Penang Chinese religious practice as a total field of religious practice, suggesting ways in which the religious culture, including spirit-mediumship, has been transformed in the conjuncture with modernity. Second, the book emphasizes the way in which socially marginal spirit mediums use a religious anti-language and unique religious rituals to set themselves apart from mainstream society. Third, the study investigates Penang Chinese religion as the product of a specific history, rather than presenting an overgeneralized overview that claims to represent a single "Chinese religion."Trade Review"This is an excellent study on Chinese spirit medium and on Chinese popular religion in Malaysia."—Asian Folklore Studies"I wholeheartedly endorse the text; its most powerful quality for me is that it is a superbly crafted piece of ethnography that transcends the merely descriptive capacity. The theorizing is sophisticated and self-reflexive, and it offers for reflection a number of critical questions and problematics about how to theorize the persistence of folk/popular religious practices... in an urban, modern capitalist society."—Pacific Affairs"This richly detailed study of spirit mediums manages at once to portray an ethnically mixed society in the throes of modern change, and to illuminate the millennial role of spirit-medium performance in Chinese popular cultural traditions."—Donald S. Sutton, Carnegie Mellon University"Except for the detailed observations of de Groot made in the southern provinces in the late nineteenth century, few reports of spirit mediumship in modern China have appeared in print Jean DeBernardi now contributed a richly detailed ethnographic analysis of the practice of Chinese popular religion and spirit mediums in Penang, Malaysia. This newly added title regarding Malaysian Chinese spirit mediumship is most welcome, and will be beneficial to both the general reader and the specialist." —Journal of Chinese Religions
£26.99
Three Pines Press Pristine Affluence: Daoist Roots in the Stone Age
Book SynopsisThe golden age of Daoists, rather than being imaginary, closely matches life in the Mesolithic, ca. 9000-5000 BCE, a sedentary form of hunting and collecting before the full development of agriculture and the rise of stratified societies and discriminating consciousness. The book examines fundamental Daoist values, modes of thinking, dietetics, communities, leadership ideals, nonviolence, gender equality as well as methods of self-cultivation in relation to prehistoric patterns. An enlightening account of Daoism in the context of human development since the Paleolithic, Pristine Affluence offers a new vision of the Daoist tradition, Chinese history, and essential human choices.
£27.96
De Gruyter Icons Ornaments and Other Charms of Christian
Book Synopsis
£75.05
The Chinese University Press China: Modernization in the 1980's
Book SynopsisAn internationally recognized authority on Chinese history and a leading innovator in its telling, Cho-yun Hsu constructs an original portrait of Chinese culture. Unlike most historians, Hsu resists centering his narrative on China's political evolution, focusing instead on the country's cultural sphere and its encounters with successive waves of globalization. Beginning long before China's written history and extending through the twentieth century, Hsu follows the content and expansion of Chinese culture, describing the daily lives of commoners, their spiritual beliefs and practices, the changing character of their social and popular thought, and their advances in material culture and technology. In addition to listing the achievements of emperors, generals, ministers, and sages, Hsu builds detailed accounts of these events and their everyday implications. Dynastic change, the rise and fall of national ambitions, and the growth and decline of institutional systems take on new significance through Hsu's careful research, which captures the multiple strands that gave rise to China's pluralistic society. Paying particular attention to influential relationships occurring outside of Chinese cultural boundaries, he demonstrates the impact of foreign influences on Chinese culture and identity and identifies similarities between China's cultural developments and those of other nations.Trade ReviewAn important and original book on a permanently important topic by one of the world's leading historians of China. The writing is lucid, often elegant, and has been beautifully translated into English." —William C. Kirby, director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University"Nothing quite like this exists in the modern literature, and it is especially valuable for readers interested in world/global history." —James L. Watson, Harvard University"Hsu's book is unique in the field, and makes a distinct contribution above the many other grand narratives of Chinese history. Impeccably researched and consistently insightful, this is precisely the sort of book that every serious scholar of China should keep within arm's reach." —Thomas David DuBois, China Journal
£23.96
The Chinese University Press New Life for Old Ideas – Chinese Philosophy in
Book SynopsisMunro was more than an intellectual mentor. He has been an unfailing source of wisdom, inspiration, and support.Over five decades, Donald J. Munro has been one of the most important voices in sinological philosophy. His rapprochement with contemporary cognitive and evolutionary science helped bolster the insights of Chinese philosophers, and set the standard for similar explorations today. In this festschrift volume, students of Munro and scholars influenced by him celebrate Munro’s body of work in essays that extend his legacy, exploring their topics as varied as the ethics of Zhuangzi’s autotelicity, the teleology of nature in Zhu Xi, and family love in Confucianism and Christianity.Trade Review“Munro’s hallmark as a teacher was the absence of an official ideology and an open and welcoming tolerance to differences of opinion.” — Chad Hansen, Professor Emeritus, The University of Hong Kong
£42.00
Self-Realization Fellowship Publishers Autobiografia de un Yogui
Book Synopsis
£14.46
Editorial Kairos El Libro Tibetano de Los Muertos
Book Synopsis
£19.80
Editorial Kairos Los Sufis
Book Synopsis
£23.80
Taylor & Francis Sacred Heritage in Japan
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£128.25
Taylor & Francis Religious Entrepreneurism in Chinaâs Urban House Churches
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£128.25
Taylor & Francis Ltd Education between Speech and Writing Crossing the
Book SynopsisThis unique book explores how graphocentrism affects Chinese education and culture. It moves away from the contemporary educational practices in China of following the Western model of phonocentrism, to demonstrate that each perspective interacts and counteracts with each other, creating a dialogue between Eastern and Western thought.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Prologue: Seeing is Believing? 1. Thinking Education Through the Spoken and the Written Word 2. Chinese Graphocentrism: A Search through Texts 3. Graphocentric Education: The Cultivation of the Writing Subject 4. The Paradox of Graphocentrism: Dao-Logocentrism 5. Post-Graphocentrism: dao-deconstruction 6. Post-Graphocentric Education Epilogue: Playing the Word References
£39.99
Taylor & Francis Religious Entrepreneurism in Chinaâs Urban House Churches
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£41.99
Taylor & Francis Buddhist Modernities
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£39.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd Ceremony and Ritual in Japan
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£137.75
Taylor & Francis Understanding Eastern Philosophy
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£128.25
Taylor & Francis Japanese Religions Religions of the World
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£36.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd Shinto A Short History
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£137.75
Taylor & Francis Ltd Shinto A Short History
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£65.54
Taylor & Francis Ltd Buddhist Hagiography in Early Japan Images of Compassion in the Gyoki Tradition Routledge Studies in Asian Religion
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£128.25
