Crazy Ji: Chinese Religion and Popular Literature (Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.25 (931 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0674175638 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 325 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-06-02 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Academic jimsecor Very, very academic and much more interested in religious lit and what he calls popular religious lit than Jigong. Jigong turns out for much of the book to be a vehicle for textual analysis. Most all of the information on Jigong is in the the early sections. There truly are only a few ways to talk of popular religion; it was not necessary for him to beat it to death for the greater portion of the book. Very good references for those of us who want to read even more; unfortunately, most are still in Chinese.. Scholarly analysis of literary sources for a Chinese cult. David K. Jordan Crazy Ji, usually known in modern Chinese as Jigong Huofo, is one of the most colorful figures in modern Chinese folklore. The tattered Song-dynasty monk wandered China and appeared to violate his monastic vows by drinking wine, eating meat, and even (in some accounts) sleeping with women, but (almost) inevitably this would turn out to be in the service of public good and the saving of souls. That, at any rate, is the modern picture of him.In this interesting study, Meir Shahar carefully reviews Crazy Ji's represe. Crazy Ji is an original, scholarly, and fascinating book Crazy Ji: Chinese Religion and Popular Literature is a must for anyone interested in Chinese religion, Chinese fiction, and Chinese popular culture.Shahar's book is the first I know of to demonstrate the crucial role that fiction, drama, and nowadays television and cinema play in spreading deities' cults in China.Crazy Ji is not only meticulously researched, it is also extremely well written, and it is a real pleasure to read.In short: it is highly recommended.
Crazy Ji is the one of the most colorful deities in the pantheon of late imperial and modern China. Shahar demonstrates that vernacular novels and oral literature played a major role in the dissemination of knowledge about deities and the growth of cults and argues that the body of religious beliefs and practices we call "Chinese religion" is inseparable from the works of fiction and drama that have served as vehicles for its transmission.. The author uses the evolution of his cult to address central questions regarding the Chinese religious tradition, its relation to social structure, and the role of vernacular fiction and popular media in shaping religious beliefs
. Meir Shahar is a lecturer in Chinese studies at Tel Aviv University
. About the AuthorMeir Shahar is a lecturer in Chinese studies at Tel Aviv University