Description
Book SynopsisThis new paperback title in Brill’s Scholars’ List presents a thorough investigation into the phenomenon of the Chinese Triads, their ritual and mythological lore, and their meanings and functions. On the foundations of a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, among which also recent Chinese scholarship, the author interprets Triad myth and ritual in their Chinese religious context.
Trade Review"…an important academic breakthrough in the specialty regarding the Chinese Trials… this book is a watershed in the research field on Chinese secret societies in general and the Triads in particular, because it lays the foundation for scholars to use a sociological perspective to explore a topic which has previously been investigated solely by East Asian historians. Ter Haar, by giving socialists an excellent example of interdisciplinary research, deserves to get an encore from both East Asian historians and sociologists." – Hua-Lun Huang, in: Crime, Law & Social Change, 2004 "This massive, exhaustive, one-of-a-kind scholarly masterpiece is truly a tour de force, a work so impressive in its scope and attention to fine detail as to be indispensable to libraries and scholars in the field of sinology." – Michael Saso, in: China Review International, 2004 "Barend J. ter Haar’s latest book is a breathtaking work of scholarship, charting new directions in the study of Chinese secret societies by grounding them in a sophisticated understanding of local popular and religious culture. If it is hardly the last word on this complex topic, no future work on secret societies, sectarian religion, or popular movements can afford to ignore this volume." – David Ownby, in: Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 2000
