NEW PUBLICATIONS IN 2005

 

Abraham, Terry and Priscilla Wegers. "Respecting the Dead: Chinese Cemeteries and Burial Practices in the Interior Pacific Northwest." In: Sue Fawn Chung & Priscilla Wegers, eds. Chinese American Death Rituals. Lanham: AltaMira Press, 2005. Pp.147-173.

 

Ackerman, Susan E. "Falun Dafa and the New Age Movement in Malaysia: Signs of Health, Symbols of Salvation." Social Compass 52(2005) 4: 495-511.

Abstract: Falun Dafa entered Malaysia in the mid-1990s as a spiritual movement for the mind-and-body development market that attracts middle-class consumption-oriented Malaysians. Its self-presentation as a New Age product tends to obscure its connections with Chinese popular religion. The movement's similar profile to other Chinese sectarian groups is accompanied by claims to absolute difference from these groups. Development of Falun Dafa during the phase of persecution and exile since 1999 has involved an ongoing encounter with new symbols and signs. The symbols of human rights, democracy and salvation are transacted with the Western media and the signs of New Age lifestyle products. These address identity needs within the diverse Malaysian Chinese community. (Source: article)

 

Aijmer, Göran. "A Family Reunion: The Anthropology of Life, Death and New Year in Soochow." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 15(2005)2: 199-218.

 

Arnold, Lauren. "Folk Goddess or Madonna? Early Missionary Encounters with the Image of Guanyin." In: Xiaoxin Wu [ed.], Encounters and Dialogues: Changing Perspectives on Chinese-Western Exchanges from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries. Sankt Augustin: Institut Monumenta Serica & The Ricci Institute of Chinese-Western Cultural History, 2005. Pp. 227-238.

 

Betty, Stafford. "The Growing Evidence for "Demonic Possession": What should Psychiatry's Response Be?" Journal of Religion and Health 44(2005)1: 13-30. [Note: Author draws (among other sources) on a description of an exorcistic ritual observed by Peter Goullart in the 1920s.]

 

Campany, Robert F. "Eating Better than Gods and Ancestors." In Roel Sterckx [ed.], Of Tripod and Palate: Food, Politics, and Religion in Traditional China. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Pp. 96-122.

 

Chace, Paul G. "On Dying American: Cantonese Rites for Death and Ghost-Spirits in an American City." In: Sue Fawn Chung & Priscilla Wegers, eds. Chinese American Death Rituals. Lanham: AltaMira Press, 2005. Pp.47-79.

 

Chan, Selina Ching. “Temple-building and Heritage in China.” Ethnology 44.1 (2005): 65-79.

Abstract: Building Huang Da Xian temples in Jinhua, in the Lower Yangtze Delta, is a "heritage" process, an interpretation, manipulation, and invention of the past for present and future interests. Local memories of the saint Huang Da Xian were awakened by Hong Kong pilgrims, and the subsequent construction of temples enacted the politics of nationalism with a transnational connection. The process of remembering the saint and constructing temples creates, mediates, and invents relationships between the locals in Jinhua and Chinese living in mainland China and elsewhere. The multiple meanings of temple- building arc examined for mainland Chinese, Chinese in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the nation state. While the mainlanders treat new temples as places to perform religious activities, attract tourists, and develop the local economy, temple construction for the overseas Chinese is a nostalgic search for authenticity and roots. The state has utilized Huang Da Xian as a symbol of nationalism to reinforce a Chinese identity among mainlanders and all other Chinese. [Source: journal]

 

Chau, Adam Yuet. "The Politics of Legitimation and the Revival of Popular Religion in Shaanbei, North-Central China." Modern China 31(2005)2: 236-278.

Abstract: From the early 1980s onward, popular religion has enjoyed a momentous revival in Shaanbei (northern Shaanxi province), as in many other parts of rural China. But despite its immense popularity, popular religion still carries with it an aura of illegality and illegitimacy. Not properly Daoism or Buddhism, which are among the officially recognized religions, popular religion in theory constitutes illegal, superstitious activities. This article addresses questions of the legality and legitimacy of popular religion by analyzing the case of the Black Dragon King Temple in Shaanbei and its temple boss. It examines how not just popular religiosity but the actions of local elites and local state agents have enabled the revival of popular religious activities, focusing particularly on the legitimation politics engaged in by temples and their leaders. [Source: journal]

 

Chen, Chiung Hwang. "Framing Falun Gong: Xinhua News Agency's Coverage of the New Religious Movement in China." Asian Journal of Communication 15 (2005)1: 16-36.

 

Chung, Sue Fawn & & Priscilla Wegers, eds. Chinese American Death Rituals. Lanham: AltaMira Press, 2005.

Abstract: [...] Chinese American Death Rituals examines Chinese American funerary rituals and cemeteries from the late nineteenth century until the present in order to understand the importance of Chinese funerary rites and their transformation through time. The authors in this volume discuss the meaning of funerary rituals and their normative dimension and the social practices that have been influenced by tradition. Shaped by individual beliefs, customs, religion, and environment, Chinese Americans have resolved the tensions between assimilation into the mainstream culture and their strong Chinese heritage in a variety of ways. [...] [Source: publisher's website.]

 

Chung, Sue Fawn, Fred B. Frampton, and Timothy W. Murphy. "Venerate These Bones: Chinese American Funerary and Burial Practices as Seen in Carlin, Elko County, Nevada." In: Sue Fawn Chung & Priscilla Wegers, eds. Chinese American Death Rituals. Lanham: AltaMira Press, 2005. Pp.107-145

 

Chung, Sue Fawn & Reiko Neizman. "Remembering Ancestors in Hawai'i." In: Sue Fawn Chung & Priscilla Wegers, eds. Chinese American Death Rituals. Lanham: AltaMira Press, 2005. Pp.175-194.

 

Clark, Hugh [translator]: Fang Lüe, "Inscription for the Temple of Auspicious Response." In: Mair, Victor H.; Steinhardt, Nancy S.; Goldin, Paul R., eds. Hawaii Reader in Traditional Chinese Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005. Pp. 392-398.

 

Clart, Philip. "Generals, Pigs, and Immortals: Views and Uses of History in Chinese Morality Books." Journal of Ritual Studies 19(2005)1: 99-113.

 

Cook, Constance A. "Moonshine and Millet: Feasting and Purification Rituals in Ancient China." In Roel Sterckx [ed.], Of Tripod and Palate: Food, Politics, and Religion in Traditional China. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Pp. 9-33.

 

Coplin, James R. "The Confucian Vitality in an Anti-Confucian Movement: Revisiting the Taiping Rebellion." Wittenberg University East Asian Studies Journal 30 (2005): 1-35.

 

Crowder, Linda Sun. "The Chinese Mortuary Tradition in San Francisco Chinatown." In: Sue Fawn Chung & Priscilla Wegers, eds. Chinese American Death Rituals. Lanham: AltaMira Press, 2005. Pp.195-240.

 

Deeg, Max. “Zwischen kultureller Identität und universalem Heilsanspruch. Chinesische religiöse Diaspora-Gemeinden im Wandel moderner gesellschaftlicher Verhältnisse: Das Beispiel der »Mile-dadao (Yiguan-dao)«- und »Foguang-shan«-Gruppen in Wien,” in: Hartmut Lehmann (ed.), Migration und Religion im Zeitalter der Globalisierung. Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2005. Pp. 49–63.

 

DuBois, Thomas David. The Sacred Village: Social Change and Religious Life in Rural North China. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005.

Abstract: Until recently, few villagers of rural North China ventured far from their homes. Their intensely local view of the world included knowledge of the immanent sacred realm, which derived from stories of divine revelations, cures, and miracles that circulated among neighboring villages. These stories gave direction to private devotion and served as a source of expert information on who the powerful deities were and what role they played in the human world. The structure of local society also shaped public devotion, as different groups expressed their economic and social concerns in organized worship. While some of these groups remained structurally intact in the face of historical change, others have changed dramatically, resulting in new patterns of religious organization and practice.

The Sacred Village introduces local religious life in Cang County, Hebei Province, as a lens through which to view the larger issue of how rural Chinese perspectives and behaviors were shaped by the sweeping social, political, and demographic changes of the last two centuries. Thomas DuBois combines new archival sources in Chinese and Japanese with his own fieldwork to produce a work that is compelling and intimate in detail. This dual approach also allows him to address the integration of external networks into local society and religious mentality and posit local society as a particular sphere in which the two are negotiated and transformed. [Source: publisher's website]

 

Durand-Dastès, Vincent. "Le hachoir du juge Bao: Le supplice idéal dans le roman et le théâtre chinois en langue vulgaire des Ming et des Qing." In: Antonio Dominguez Leiva & Muriel Détrie [eds.], Le supplice oriental dans la littérature et les arts. Neuilly-les-Dijon: Éditions du Murmure, 2005. Pp.187-225.

 

Edelman, Bryan; Richardson, James T. "Imposed Limitations on Freedom of Religion in China and the Margin of Appreciation Doctrine: A Legal Analysis of the Crackdown on the Falun Gong and Other 'Evil Cults'." A Journal of Church and State 47(2005)2: 243-267.

 

Fang Ling. "Inscription pour la stèle de restauration de la salle principale du palais de repos et de la scène d'opéra couverte du temple du roi des Remèdes (Pékin, Yaowang miao, 1806)." Sanjiao wenxian: Matériaux pour l'étude de la religion chinoise 4(2005): 82-90.

 

Getz, Daniel A. "Popular Religion and Pure Land in Song-Dynasty Tiantai Bodhisattva Precept Ordination Ceremonies." In: William M. Bodiford [ed.], Going Forth: Visions of Buddhist Vinaya. Essays Presented in Honor of Professor Stanley Weinstein. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005. Pp.161-184.

 

Gildow, Douglas. "Flesh Bodies, Stiff Corpses, and Gathered Gold: Mummy Worship, Corpse Processing, and Mortuary Ritual in Contemporary Taiwan." Journal of Chinese Religions 33(2005): 1-37.

 

Goossaert, Vincent. L'interdit du boeuf en Chine. Agriculture, éthique et sacrifice. Paris: Collège de France, 2005. Bibliothèque de l'Institut des Hautes Études Chinoises, vol. XXXIV.

Abstract: L'interdit du boeuf (ne pas tuer de bovin, ne pas manger leur chair) se forme entre le 9e et le 13e siècle, en même temps que la religion chinoise moderne dont il est indissociable. Si la justification de cette nouvelle règle éthique se place d'abord au niveau de l'économie agricole -- les bovins, symboles fragiles de la civilisation céréalière chinoise, sont nos compagnons de travail -- la très abondante littérature (traités, poèmes, romans, théâtre, révélation ...) qui exhorte les lecteurs à ne pas tuer et manger les animaux les plus proches de l'homme relie cet interdit à de multiples enjeux: les règles de pureté rituelle (est-il nécessaire d'être végétarien pour être pur?), le choix des animaux sacrificiels (que mangent les dieux?), l'éthique du respect de la vie (tous les animaux sont-ils égaux?). Certains respectent l'interdit, des activistes en faisant même une croisade morale; d'autres le bravent, se démarquant par là-même du reste de la société. L'interdit du boeuf se révèle ainsi comme une perspective inédite et fascinante pour comprendre certains modes de fonctionnement de la société chinoise à la fin de la période impériale: qui dicte les règles éthiques et rituelles: les lettrés, les religieux bouddhistes et taoïstes, les leaders des communautés locales? Finalement, en Chine comme ailleurs, tuer et manger contribuent à ordonner la société. [Source: publisher's website]

 

Goossaert, Vincent. "The Beef Taboo and the Sacrificial Structure of Late Imperial Chinese Society." In Roel Sterckx [ed.], Of Tripod and Palate: Food, Politics, and Religion in Traditional China. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Pp. 237-248.

 

Goossaert, Vincent. "Les reliques en Chine." In Les objets de la mémoire, ed. Philippe Borgeaud & Youri Volokhine. Bern: Peter Lang, 2005. Pp. 181-191 (Studia Religiosa Helvetica 2004/2005).

 

Greenwood, Roberta S. "Old Rituals in New Lands: Bringing the Ancestors to America." In: Sue Fawn Chung & Priscilla Wegers, eds. Chinese American Death Rituals. Lanham: AltaMira Press, 2005. Pp.241-262.

 

Guo, Qitao. Ritual Opera and Mercantile Lineage: The Confucian Transformation of Popular Culture in Late Imperial Huizhou. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005.

Abstract: This book analyzes Confucian ideology as culture and culture as history by exploring the interplay between popular ritual performance of the opera Mulian and gentrified mercantile lineages in late imperial Huizhou. Mulian, originally a Buddhist tale featuring the monk Mulian's journey through the underworld to save his mother, underwent a Confucian transformation in the sixteenth century against a backdrop of vast socioeconomic, intellectual, cultural, and religious changes. The author shows how local elites appropriated the performance of Mulian, turning it into a powerful medium for conveying orthodox values and religious precepts and for negotiating local social and gender issues altered by the rising money economy. The sociocultural approach of this historical study lifts Mulian out of the exorcistic-dramatic-ethnographic milieu to which it is usually consigned. This new approach enables the author to develop an alternative interpretation of Chinese popular culture and the Confucian tradition, which in turn sheds significant new light upon the social history of late imperial China. [Source: publisher's website]

 

Haas, Robert, "Chinas Zivilisation des Todes (XII). Ahnenkult und mehr: Die Essenz einer Kultur." China heute 24(2005)1-2: 50-56.

 

Haas, Robert, "Chinas Zivilisation des Todes (XIII). Ahnenkult und mehr: Die Essenz einer Kultur." China heute 24(2005)3: 104-108.

 

Haas, Robert, "Chinas Zivilisation des Todes (XIV). Ahnenkult und mehr: Die Essenz einer Kultur." China heute 24(2005)4-5: 167-174.

 

Haas, Robert, "Chinas Zivilisation des Todes (XV). Ahnenkult und mehr: Die Essenz einer Kultur." China heute 24(2005)6: 242-249.

 

Ho Yuk-ying. "Bridal Laments in Rural Hong Kong." Asian Folklore Studies 64(2005)1: 53-87.

 

Hong, Keelung & Stephen O. Murray. Looking through Taiwan: American Anthropologists' Collusion with Ethnic Domination. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005. [See chapter 8: "A Taiwanese Woman Who Became a Spirit Medium: Native and Alien Models of How Taiwanese Identify Spirit Possession."]

 

Huntington, Rania. "Chaos, Memory, and Genre: Anecdotal Recollections of the Taiping Rebellion." Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews 27(2005): 59-91.

 

Katz, Paul R. "Festivals and the Recreation of Identity in South China: A Case Study of Processions and Expulsion Rites in Pucheng, Zhejiang." Journal of Ritual Studies 19(2005)1: 67-85.

 

Katz, Paul R. "Governmentality and Its Consequences in Colonial Taiwan: A Case Study of the Ta-pa-ni Incident of 1915." Journal of Asian Studies 64(2005)2: 387-424.

 

Katz, Paul R. When Valleys Turned Blood Red: The Ta-pa-ni Incident in Colonial Taiwan. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005.

Abstract: When Valleys Turned Blood Red tells the story of colonial policies and their tragic impact on local communities. The Ta-pa-ni Incident of 1915 was the largest single act of Han Chinese armed resistance during the fifty years of Taiwan's colonial era. More than a thousand villagers and Japanese were killed during the fierce fighting and thousands more were later arrested and made to stand trial.

Based on detailed archival research, interviews with survivors, painstaking demographic analysis, and a thorough reading of secondary scholarship in all of the relevant languages, Paul Katz examines the significance of the Ta-pa-ni Incident by focusing on what Paul Cohen terms history's "three keys": event, experience, and myth. Katz provides a vivid description of events surrounding the uprising as well as the ways in which it has been mythologized over time. His primary emphasis, however, is on the experiences of the men and women who were caught up in the flow of history. [Source: publisher's website]

 

Kleeman, Terry. "The Evolution of Daoist Cosmology and the Construction of the Common Sacred Realm." Taiwan Journal of East Asian Studies 2 (2005) 1: 89-110.

 

Knapp, Keith Nathaniel. Selfless Offspring: Filial Children and Social Order in Medieval China. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005.

Abstract: Both Western and Chinese intellectuals have long derided filial piety tales as an absurd and grotesque variety of children's literature. Selfless Offspring offers a fresh perspective on the genre, revealing the rich historical worth of these stories by examining them in their original context: the tumultuous and politically fragmented early medieval era (A.D. 100-600). At a time when no Confucian virtue was more prized than filial piety, adults were moved and inspired by tales of filial children. The emotional impact of even the most outlandish actions portrayed in the stories was profound, a measure of the directness with which they spoke to major concerns of the early medieval Chinese elite. In a period of weak central government and powerful local clans, the key to preserving a household's privileged status was maintaining a cohesive extended family.

Keith Knapp begins this far-ranging and persuasive study by describing two related historical trends that account for the narrative's popularity: the growth of extended families and the rapid incursion of Confucianism among China's learned elite. Extended families were better at maintaining their status and power, so patriarchs found it expedient to embrace Confucianism to keep their large, fragile households intact. Knapp then focuses on the filial piety stories themselves--their structure, historicity, origin, function, and transmission--and argues that most stem from the oral culture of these elite extended families. After examining collections of filial piety tales, known as Accounts of Filial Children, he shifts from text to motif, exploring the most common theme: the "reverent care" and mourning of parents. In the final chapter, Knapp looks at the relative burden that filiality placed on men and women and concludes that, although women largely performed the same filial acts as men, they had to go to greater extremes to prove their sincerity. [Source: publisher's website]

 

Kühner, Hans. "Weltanschauliche Toleranz oder staatliche Verfolgung von Heterodoxien? Ein Fall aus dem späten chinesischen Kaiserreich." In: Konrad Meisig [ed.], Chinesische Religion und Philosophie: Konfuzianismus - Mohismus - Daoismus - Buddhismus. Grundlagen und Einblicke. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005. Pp. 155-174. [Note: Deals with the persecution of the Taigu school/sect in 1866.]

 

Lang, Graeme; Selina Chan & Lars Ragvald. "Temples and the Religious Economy." In: Fenggang Yang & Joseph B. Tamney [eds.], State, Market, and Religions in Chinese Societies. Leiden: Brill, 2005. Pp.149-180. [Note: Case-examples are Wong Tai Sin/Huang Daxian temples in Zhejiang and Guangdong.]

 

Law Pui-lam. "The Revival of Folk Religion and Gender Relationships in Rural China: A Preliminary Observation." Asian Folklore Studies 64(2005)1: 89-109. [Note: On revival of religious practices in the Pearl River Delta.]

 

Liao, Hsien-huei. "Exploring Weal and Woe: the Song Elite's Mantic Beliefs and Practices." T'oung Pao 91(2005)4-5: 347-395

 

Ling, Chi-shiang. "Morality Books and the Moral Order: A Study of the Moral Sustaining Function of Morality Books in Taiwan." In: Fenggang Yang & Joseph B. Tamney [eds.], State, Market, and Religions in Chinese Societies. Leiden: Brill, 2005. Pp.203-227.

 

Lu, Yunfeng. "Entrepreneurial Logics and the Evolution of Falun Gong." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 44(2005)2: 173-185.

 

Lu, Paul Yunfeng. "Helping People to Fulfill Vows: Commitment Mechanisms in a Chinese Sect." In: Fenggang Yang & Joseph B. Tamney [eds.], State, Market, and Religions in Chinese Societies. Leiden: Brill, 2005. Pp.181-201. [Note: The sect in question is Yiguan Dao; data were collected during fieldwork in Taiwan in 2002.]

 

Morgan, Carole. "I've Got Your Number. Hong Kong's Medical Prescription Slips." Sanjiao wenxian: Matériaux pour l'étude de la religion chinoise 4(2005): 1-81.

 

Moses, Paul. "The First Amendment and the Falun Gong." In: Claire H. Badaracco [ed.], Quoting God: How Media Shape Ideas about Religion and Culture. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2005. Pp. 67-77.

 

Moskowitz, Marc L. "Magic Tricks, Midnight Grave Outings, and Transforming Trees: Performance and Agency in Taiwanese Religion." Journal of Ritual Studies 19(2005)1: 19-29.

 

Olles, Volker. Der Berg des Lao Zi in der Provinz Sichuan und die 24 Diözesen der daoistischen Religion.Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005. Asien- und Afrika-Studien 24.

Abstract: Der Berg des Lao Zi (Laojun Shan) in der Provinz Sichuan ist eine heilige Stätte des Daoismus, die auf eine lange Geschichte zurückblicken kann und auch in der heutigen Zeit als florierender Tempelstandort und regionales Zentrum der einheimischen Religion Chinas bekannt ist. Die Bedeutung und das Erscheinungsbild des Laojun Shan in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart, die Grundlagen seiner spirituellen Legitimation in kanonischen Schriften und Überlieferungen, der traditionelle Tempelkomplex und das religiöse Leben auf dem Berg werden in diesem Buch umfassend dargestellt. Die Studie ist das Ergebnis von Forschungen an mehreren Lokalitäten in Sichuan, die zu den Stützpunkten des Himmelsmeister-Daoismus (Tianshi Dao) in der Östlichen Han-Zeit (25-220) gehörten. Diese Orte, die sich auf oder in unmittelbarer Nähe von Bergen bzw. Hügeln befanden, sind als ã24 Diözesen" (ershisi zhi) in den daoistischen Schriften aufgelistet. In vielen Fällen können diese Stätten auch heute noch identifiziert werden. Der Laojun Shan, das ehemalige Zentrum der Diözese Chougeng (Chougeng Zhi), wurde im Verlauf der Geschichte zum Standort eines Tempels zu Ehren von Lao Zi, der in dieser Religion als kosmische Gottheit und Verkörperung des Dao verehrt wird. Als heiliger Raum überdauerte der Berg die Jahrhunderte, und heute beherbergt der Tempelkomplex auf dem Laojun Shan eine Klostergemeinschaft von Daoisten, die zur Schule der Vollkommenen Verwirklichung (Quanzhen) gehören. Als erste Monographie zu diesem Berg bietet die Studie einen Einblick in Erscheinungsformen und Bedeutungen des heiligen Raumes innerhalb der chinesischen Religiosität und zeichnet zugleich ein lebendiges Bild der daoistischen Kultur von Sichuan.

The twenty-four dioceses (ershisi zhi) of early Celestial Master Daoism (Tianshi Dao) appear as a system of religious geography in various texts of the Daoist canon (Daozang). They were religious administrative spheres of an early Daoist movement and as such played an important role in the founding process of China's native religion. These administrative spheres were centered around mountains or hills surrounded by fertile farmland. From the beginning, their function was of a spiritual nature, and after the vanishing of the early Daoist movement these mountains became locations for temples and monasteries. Mt. Laojun (Laojun Shan), the Mountain of Lord Lao, is located in Xinjin County, south of the Sichuanese capital of Chengdu. This mountain has been identified as the center of the former diocese Chougeng (Chougeng Zhi) and, furthermore, has a long history as sanctuary for the worship of Laozi. The temple on Mt. Laojun is today a very active and flourishing institution that belongs to the Dragon Gate (Longmen) order of Complete Realization (Quanzhen) Daoism. This study is the first comprehensive monograph that illustrates Mt. Laojun's past and present in order to provide an insight into the nature and meaning of Daoist sacred space. [Source: publisher's website.]

 

Ownby, David. "The Falun Gong: A New Religious Movement in Post-Mao China." In: James R. Lewis & Jesper Aagaard Petersen [eds.], Controversial New Religions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Pp. 195-214.

 

Palmer, David A. La fièvre du Qigong: guérison, religion et politique en Chine, 1949-1999. Paris: Éditions de l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, 2005.

Abstract: Dérivé des pratiques chinoises traditionnelles d'entraînement corporel et mental, le qigong ou " travail du souffle " a suscité un engouement de masse en Chine au cours des décennies 1980 et 1990, au point d'entraîner ses adeptes dans un conflit religieux et politique jusqu'à la répression en 1999 du Falungong, secte issue du mouvement.
Qu'y avait-il derrière cette gymnastique du souffle pour qu'elle aspire dans sa gestuelle des dizaines de millions de Chinois ? Comment une pratique d'abord reconnue et encouragée par les chefs du Parti communiste chinois comme méthode de guérison et comme nouvelle révolution scientifique a-t-elle pu devenir le foyer d'une explosion religieuse de masse, puis déclencher une confrontation politique?
Le qigong moderne, fruit d'une volonté politique de séculariser les formes traditionnelles de guérison, est créé par l'État chinois dans les premiers temps de la République populaire. Mais dans les années 1980, le qigong devient le véhicule d'un mouvement de religiosité populaire légitimé par une idéologie qui se réfère aussi bien à la tradition antique qu'à la Science. Dans les années 1990, plusieurs stratégies s'affrontent, visant au contrôle des milliers de maîtres et des millions d'adeptes ainsi qu'à la gestion du potentiel symbolique, économique et politique du mouvement. C'est une radicalisation idéologique, religieuse et politique qui l'emporte, avec le militantisme du Falungong et sa répression par l'État.
[...] Il y a quelques années, Falungong ébranlait la cité interdite. Bien des observateurs de l'après-Mao ne s'attendaient pas non plus à voir surgir, non point dans de lointaines campagnes, mais au coeur urbain du "miracle" économique, dans un monde réputé matérialiste, individualiste et banalement sécularisé, un pan oublié de la vieille Chine, une révolte sectaire allumée à la face du pouvoir! On voulut trop vite classer l'affaire en concluant au retour d'une tradition engouffrée dans le vide spirituel laissé par l'abandon du communisme et en jugeant qu'entre la secte et le néo-empire, l'altérité était complète et l'affrontement inévitable. Heureusement, quelques années plus tôt, à Chengdu, au coeur du Sichuan, David Palmer avait entrepris une enquête minutieuse qui prouve le contraire et nous oblige, maintenant que la fièvre est retombée sous les coups de la répression, à ne pas oublier Falungong, à le comprendre comme un phénomène de recomposition religieuse propre au monde d'aujourd'hui tout en repensant la société des réformes post-maoïstes et l'histoire du régime communiste qui en ont permis le développement. [Source: publisher's website.]

 

Palmer, David A. "Religion and Chinese Society." Quest 4(2005)2: 142-154.

 

Penny, Benjamin. "The Falun Gong, Buddhism and 'Buddhist Qigong'." Asian Studies Review 29 (2005) 1: 35-46.

 

Puett, Michael. "The Offering of Food and the Creation of Order: The Practice of Sacrifice in Early China." In Roel Sterckx [ed.], Of Tripod and Palate: Food, Politics, and Religion in Traditional China. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Pp. 75-95.

 

Rhee, Hen Dong. “The Taiping and the Tonghak Rebellions as Millenarian Movements in Global Context: Historical and Philosophical Reflections.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 2005.

Abstract: Millenarian movements have been mainly studied from a monotheistic perspective. Traditional explanations for millenarian movements may not be applicable to Asian cases, since Asian millenarian views of salvation differ from non-Asian ones. This study re-examines the Taiping and the Tonghak movements in nineteenth century Asia using a much wider range of sources than have been used by scholars in the past. It seeks to understand the movements as an expression, in part, of deeply-rooted Asian spiritual ideas. It also offers historical and philosophical reflections on what studies of Asian millenarianism can contribute to the comparative study of millenarianism. Author defines history as self struggle. In Asian thought, there are two types of self: material and selfless. Material self means that one's material body is real. Selfless means that one's material body is not real. Material self struggle often manifests itself in violent millenarian movements, while selfless struggle ideally produces peaceful inner mind activities. In Western societies, the self struggles of millenarian movements were typically based on the idea of "spirit within material body." In contrast, many Asian millenarian movements, inspired by the notion of "selfless" struggle, sought to avoid overt violence, although such movements frequently attracted elements associated with material self-struggle. Beliefs about salvation may be grounded in the wisdom of God, in intuition, or in reason. Scholars of millenarianism need to liberate themselves from explanatory models based on only one of these approaches. One needs instead to employ a comprehensive research strategy that draws on evidence from religion, culture, and the sciences. In reexamining the conceptual foundations of Asian millenarianism, the author explores ideas about "the end of the world" that are shared by major religions and natural scientists. He shows how Asian millenarian thought is related to I-jing and chi energy theory, linked to intuitive wisdom. The concluding section offers a philosophical view on higher civilization, government, democracy, and great freedom leading to Great Peace.

 

Rouse, Wendy L. "'What We Didn't Understand': A History of Chinese Death Ritual in China and California." In: Sue Fawn Chung & Priscilla Wegers, eds. Chinese American Death Rituals. Lanham: AltaMira Press, 2005. Pp.19-45.

 

Rouse, Wendy L. "Archaeological Excavations at Virginiatown's Chinese Cemeteries." In: Sue Fawn Chung & Priscilla Wegers, eds. Chinese American Death Rituals. Lanham: AltaMira Press, 2005. Pp.81-106.

 

Scott, Gregory. "Heterodox Religious Groups and the State in Ming-Qing China." M.A. thesis, University of Toronto, 2005.

Abstract: The present paper looks at two texts relating to 'White Lotus' sectarian religious groups in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties and examines how they illuminate the relationship between heterodox cults and the state during this period. Huang Yupian's A Detailed Refutation of Heresy demonstrates how the government viewed the heretical teachings presented in sectarian scripture, while the Chuxi baojuan is an example of a scripture that expresses orthodox moral values while criticizing the contemporary society and government.Based on the selected translations provided of the two texts, as well as the research and scholarship of other researchers in the field, it is argued that the key factors behind the conflict between religious groups and the state are still influencing present-day Chinese society, as evidenced by the fate of the Falun Gong group in the People's Republic. [Source: thesis]

 

Shen Hsueh-man. "Body Matters: Manikin Burials in the Liao Tombs of Xuanhua, Hebei Province." Artibus Asiae 65(2005)1: 99-141.

 

Strickmann, Michel. Chinese Poetry and Prophecy: The Written Oracle in East Asia. Edited by Bernard Faure. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005.

 

Szonyi, Michael. "The Virgin and the Chinese State: The Cult of Wang Yulan and the Politics of Local Identity on Jinmen (Quemoy)." Journal of Ritual Studies 19(2005)1: 87-98.

 

Tong, James W. "Publish to Perish: Regime Choices and Propaganda Impact in the Anti-Falungong Publications Campaign, July 1999-April 2000." Journal of Contemporary China 14, no.44 (2005): 507-523.

 

Yu, Anthony C. State and Religion in China: Historical and Textual Perspective. Chicago & LaSalle, IL: Open Court, 2005.

Abstract: In State and Religion in China, Anthony Yu takes a fresh look at Chinese religion and its relation to politics. He argues, against those who claim that Chinese politics has been traditionally secular, or even that the Chinese traditionally had no religion, that religion has deep roots in the Chinese past, and that the Chinese state has from its creation always interfered in religious matters.

Professor Yu criticizes the common western view that ancestor worship was merely an exaggerated form of respect for the departed, and shows that it was a genuine manifestation of religion devotion. Both Daoism and Buddhism presented challenges to traditional religion, and both at times have been brutally persecuted by the Chinese state.

With its highly specific concept of "normal religion," the present Chinese government is "using religion to police and regulate religion," just as Chinese governments have done for millennia. If western commentators fail to understand this, their attempts at dialogue with Chinese rulers will be fruitless.