In Search of the Folk Daoists of North China

ISBN-13: 9781138065222 / Angielski / Miękka / 2017 / 312 str.

Stephen Jones

Opis

Largely unstudied by scholars of religion, folk Daoist ritual in north China has been a constant theme of Chinese music scholars. Stephen Jones places lay Daoists within the wider context of folk religious practices - including those of lay Buddhists, sectarians, and spirit mediums. Jones describes ritual sequences within funerals and temple fairs, offering details on occupational hereditary lay Daoists, temple-dwelling priests, and even amateur ritual groups. Stressing performance, Jones observes the changing ritual scene in this poor countryside, both since the 1980s and through all the tribulations of 20th-century warfare and political campaigns.

Spis treści

Contents: Preface; A well-kept secret; Part 1 Singing from a Different Hymn-Sheet: North and Central Shanxi: North Shanxi; North-central Shanxi. Part 2 Temple-Lay Connections: South Shanxi and South Hebei, Shaanxi and Gansu: South Shanxi and South Hebei; Shaanxi; Gansu. Part 3 Just Can't Get the Staff: the Central Hebei Plain: Introduction: ritual associations on the Hebei plain; Daxing: the Liangshanpo transmission; Bazhou and Jinghai; The western area: Houshan and the Houtu cult. Conclusion: It's Daoism, but not as we know it; Appendices; Bibliography; Glossary; Index.

O autorze

Stephen Jones has been documenting living traditions of ritual and music in rural China since 1986, going on to hold research posts at SOAS while working as a violinist in London early music ensembles. Apart from his two other Ashgate volumes Ritual and Music of North China, he is also author of Folk Music of China, Plucking the Winds, and Daoist Priests of the Li family.