Title: Materializing Magic Power: Chinese Popular Religion in Villages and Cities (Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series)
Publisher: Harvard University Asia Center
Publication Date: 2015
Language: English
ISBN 10: 0674504364
ISBN 13: 9780674504363
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Materializing Magic Power paints a broad picture of the dynamics of popular religion in Taiwan. The first book to explore contemporary Chinese popular religion from its cultural, social, and material perspectives, it analyzes these aspects of religious practice in a unified framework and traces their transformation as adherents move from villages to cities.

In this groundbreaking study, Wei-Ping Lin offers a fresh perspective on the divine power of Chinese deities as revealed in two important material forms―god statues and spirit mediums. By examining the significance of these religious manifestations, Lin identifies personification and localization as the crucial cultural mechanisms that bestow efficacy on deity statues and spirit mediums. She further traces the social consequences of materialization and demonstrates how the different natures of materials mediate distinct kinds of divine power.

The first part of the book provides a detailed account of popular religion in villages. This is followed by a discussion of how rural migrant workers cope with challenges in urban environments by inviting branch statues of village deities to the city, establishing an urban shrine, and selecting a new spirit medium. These practices show how traditional village religion is being reconfigured in cities today.

About the Author

Wei-Ping Lin is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at National Taiwan University.

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