UID:
edocfu_9959226758202883
Format:
1 online resource (401 p.)
Edition:
1st ed.
ISBN:
9786612356834
,
0-520-92877-6
,
1-282-35683-6
,
1-59734-901-1
Content:
The most striking feature of Wutong, the preeminent God of Wealth in late imperial China, was the deity's diabolical character. Wutong was perceived not as a heroic figure or paragon of noble qualities but rather as an embodiment of humanity's basest vices, greed and lust, a maleficent demon who preyed on the weak and vulnerable. In The Sinister Way, Richard von Glahn examines the emergence and evolution of the Wutong cult within the larger framework of the historical development of Chinese popular or vernacular religion-as opposed to institutional religions such as Buddhism or Daoism. Von Glahn's study, spanning three millennia, gives due recognition to the morally ambivalent and demonic aspects of divine power within the common Chinese religious culture.
Note:
Description based upon print version of record.
,
Ancestors, ghosts, and Gods in ancient China -- The Han cult of the dead and salvific religion -- Shanxiao: mountain goblins -- Plague demons and epidemic Gods -- The song transformation of Chinese religious culture -- Wutong: from demon to deity -- The enchantment of wealth.
,
English
Additional Edition:
ISBN 0-520-23408-1
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1525/9780520928770
