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Mysticism and Kingship in China by Julia Ching promised to be quite an interesting read. Her premise for the book was that the idea that "shamanistic ecstasy created the aura for the office of kingship, giving it a sacred, even a priestly character." I am quite fascinated by the use of shamanism in early Chinese civilization, unfortunately often the arguments in it's favor are less than convincing.
Ching's chapter on the "ecstatic" tradition of Kingship were also not as well documented. While she clearly showed there was a religious role to the position of King in the Shang dynasty, such as divination and ritual sacrifice there was no evidence presented about any ecstatic or shamanistic behavior. Most of her evidence came from later sources, particularly writing's of the Zhou period. I found these sources to be less than reliable, being written around 500BCE and talking about events 500 years or a 1000 years prior seems to be more the realm of myth than of fact. However as none of the Shang sources supported her argument she went to the later sources to get what she needed. She also seemed to argue from the point of antiquity, meaning that her arguments about how the ancients did things and they way these habits developed were taken from the Shang, Zhou and even Han without too much differentiation. This is a period of around 2000 years and seems far too broad to be making such assertions.
The second chapter focused more on the Zhou idea of the Mandate of Heaven and the transfer of power. Her sources being closer to the time under discussion the work seemed a bit more convincing, however she had moved from her original point of ecstatic shamanism by this point, and was just talking about ritual and the relationship with heaven. She did also spend time analyzing the myths recorded in the Zhou, however instead of looking at what these myths said about the Zhou she tried to extrapolate what these myths were actually referring to.
A bit disappointing though quite interesting at times. I found that there were too many references to the West and comparisons with other cultures. At times it seemed she was simply trying to make the ideas of the Chinese people fit into the same categories as those the reader would have been familiar with. I found myself asking if there were any Chinese dragons that breathed fire. I think as a native born Chinese with a western education Julia Ching may see herself as a bridge between the two and trying harder than necessary to explain things to "a western audience".
We did only have to read the first two chapters for my course, and I only was able to check the book out on a 24 hour loan so I didn't finish it. Though I think if I have time I would like to check it out again, I'm particularly interested to see what she says about Taoism and the sage king ideal.
Ching's chapter on the "ecstatic" tradition of Kingship were also not as well documented. While she clearly showed there was a religious role to the position of King in the Shang dynasty, such as divination and ritual sacrifice there was no evidence presented about any ecstatic or shamanistic behavior. Most of her evidence came from later sources, particularly writing's of the Zhou period. I found these sources to be less than reliable, being written around 500BCE and talking about events 500 years or a 1000 years prior seems to be more the realm of myth than of fact. However as none of the Shang sources supported her argument she went to the later sources to get what she needed. She also seemed to argue from the point of antiquity, meaning that her arguments about how the ancients did things and they way these habits developed were taken from the Shang, Zhou and even Han without too much differentiation. This is a period of around 2000 years and seems far too broad to be making such assertions.
The second chapter focused more on the Zhou idea of the Mandate of Heaven and the transfer of power. Her sources being closer to the time under discussion the work seemed a bit more convincing, however she had moved from her original point of ecstatic shamanism by this point, and was just talking about ritual and the relationship with heaven. She did also spend time analyzing the myths recorded in the Zhou, however instead of looking at what these myths said about the Zhou she tried to extrapolate what these myths were actually referring to.
A bit disappointing though quite interesting at times. I found that there were too many references to the West and comparisons with other cultures. At times it seemed she was simply trying to make the ideas of the Chinese people fit into the same categories as those the reader would have been familiar with. I found myself asking if there were any Chinese dragons that breathed fire. I think as a native born Chinese with a western education Julia Ching may see herself as a bridge between the two and trying harder than necessary to explain things to "a western audience".
We did only have to read the first two chapters for my course, and I only was able to check the book out on a 24 hour loan so I didn't finish it. Though I think if I have time I would like to check it out again, I'm particularly interested to see what she says about Taoism and the sage king ideal.