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I just finished the second book recommended to me by Professor Ebrey on early Chinese religion. Chinese Ideas of Life and Death by Michael Loewe. The book was written 20 years ago, and while a few copies are existing on ABE books, I ended up getting it from the library, though I think I will have to break down and get one of the cheaper copies.
The book looks at different ideas on religion philosophy and statecraft. Each chapter is fairly self contained just looking at one aspect. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Omens and Miracles, Shamans and Intermediaries and Services to the Dead.
While the debate of Shamanism actually existing in early China still continues, mostly what he meant by Shamans is now translated as spirit-specialists, (or something similar). While it is not known if there were any specific shamanistic beliefs, there is plenty of evidence for a group of professionals who acted as intermediaries between the normal and spirit world. One interesting practice that I had not been aware of before was from Shantung peninsula, where the eldest daughter of a family was not allowed to marry, but instead became responsible for the religious rites conducted on behalf of each family. Very much in opposition to the standard view that you need male heirs to offer the sacrifices to the ancestors. I'm now very curious to see if more hasn't been found out about this tradition. I'm hoping to be able to look at the way religion affects women's lives. My profesor mentioned that Buddhism when it came into China was the first time a woman had the opportunity to do anything other than become a wife. I'm thinking she must mean more universally as I don't think she can be wrong about anything. But their definitely seems to be a tradition of women among the spirit specialists of Han times and earlier.
A lot of the material in the book was already familiar to me, but he did a nice concise presentation of the material. He didn't go into huge textual proofs of his ideas, as did Puett, rather he took his ideas from more general ideas, mythology and secondary sources. The two things he quoted the most were Huai-nan-Tzu and then the "skeptical" scholar Wang Ch'ung. Of course the book was written when people still used Wade Giles transliteration so got a little confusing at times. Still the use of myth and legend gave the book a more rounded feel than Puett's. It seemed to be a more balanced approach of what the general outlook was, rather than at specific development in intellectual thought over time. The other book I've read by Michael Loewe is Everyday Life In Early Imperial China. I think his knowledge of a more social outlook of life helped keep his book out of the more esoteric realms.
The book looks at different ideas on religion philosophy and statecraft. Each chapter is fairly self contained just looking at one aspect. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Omens and Miracles, Shamans and Intermediaries and Services to the Dead.
While the debate of Shamanism actually existing in early China still continues, mostly what he meant by Shamans is now translated as spirit-specialists, (or something similar). While it is not known if there were any specific shamanistic beliefs, there is plenty of evidence for a group of professionals who acted as intermediaries between the normal and spirit world. One interesting practice that I had not been aware of before was from Shantung peninsula, where the eldest daughter of a family was not allowed to marry, but instead became responsible for the religious rites conducted on behalf of each family. Very much in opposition to the standard view that you need male heirs to offer the sacrifices to the ancestors. I'm now very curious to see if more hasn't been found out about this tradition. I'm hoping to be able to look at the way religion affects women's lives. My profesor mentioned that Buddhism when it came into China was the first time a woman had the opportunity to do anything other than become a wife. I'm thinking she must mean more universally as I don't think she can be wrong about anything. But their definitely seems to be a tradition of women among the spirit specialists of Han times and earlier.
A lot of the material in the book was already familiar to me, but he did a nice concise presentation of the material. He didn't go into huge textual proofs of his ideas, as did Puett, rather he took his ideas from more general ideas, mythology and secondary sources. The two things he quoted the most were Huai-nan-Tzu and then the "skeptical" scholar Wang Ch'ung. Of course the book was written when people still used Wade Giles transliteration so got a little confusing at times. Still the use of myth and legend gave the book a more rounded feel than Puett's. It seemed to be a more balanced approach of what the general outlook was, rather than at specific development in intellectual thought over time. The other book I've read by Michael Loewe is Everyday Life In Early Imperial China. I think his knowledge of a more social outlook of life helped keep his book out of the more esoteric realms.