Revealing the fundamental continuities that exist between vernacular fiction and exorcist, martial rituals in the vernacular language, Mark Meulenbeld argues that a specific type of Daoist exorcism helped shape vernacular novels in the late Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Focusing on the once famous novel Fengshen yanyi (Canonization of the Gods), the author maps out the general ritual structure and divine protagonists that it borrows from much older systems of Daoist exorcism.

By exploring how the novel reflects the specific concerns of communities associated with Fengshen yanyi and its...