Religious Experience and Lay Society in T'ang China

Description

The remains of Tai Fu's lost collection Kuang-i chi (The great book of marvels) preserve three hundred short tales of encounters with the other world. This study, the first of its kind, develops a style of close reading through which those tales give access to the lives of individuals in eighth-century China. Through the eyes of a mid-century county official emerges the picture of a complex lay society, served by a mixed priesthood of ritual practitioners, whose members' lives at all levels were profoundly shaped by their perceived experience of contact with the other world. It was a society embarking on fundamental change, and this book uses the sharp historical focus of Tai Fu's collection to study the dynamics of that change. Mixed in with reflections of ephemeral events and clear evidence of long-term continuity, it discovers signs of a transition from the beliefs and institutions of early mediaeval China towards those we now recognize as modern.

First Sentence

The voice that will open this book belonged to a young provincial woman of the eighth century: A girl of T'ung-lu named Wang Fa-chic has served the spirit of a young man since early in life.

Excerpt

The voice that will open this book belonged to a young provincial woman of the eighth century: A girl of T'ung-lu named Wang Fa-chic has served the spirit of a young man since early in life.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Religious experience and lay society in T'ang China: a reading of Tai Fu's Kuang-i chiCambridge University Press1995-01-01
• Religious Experience and Lay Society in T'ang ChinaPaperbackCambridge University Press2002-06-20
• Religious Experience and Lay Society in T'Ang ChinaCambridge University Press2010-01-01
• Religious Experience and Lay Society in T'ang ChinaCambridge University Press2011-01-01