Way and byway : Taoism, local religion, and models of divinity in Sung and modern China

Using a combination of newly mined Sung sources and modern ethnography, Robert Hymes addresses questions that have perplexed China scholars in recent years. Were Chinese gods celestial officials, governing the fate and fortunes of their worshippers as China's own bureaucracy governed their worldly lives? Or were they personal beings, patrons or parents or guardians, offering protection in exchange for reverence and sacrifice? To answer these questions Hymes examines the professional exorcist sects and rising Immortals' cults of the Sung dynasty alongside ritual practices in contemporary Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as miracle tales, liturgies, spirit law codes, devotional poetry, and sacred geographies of the eleventh through thirteenth centuries. Drawing upon historical and anthropological evidence, he argues that two contrasting and contending models informed how the Chinese saw and see their gods. These models were used separately or in creative combination to articulate widely varying religious standpoints and competing ideas of both secular and divine power. Whether gods were bureaucrats or personal protectors depended, and still depends, says Hymes, on who worships them, in what setting, and for what purposes. Frontmatter List of Illustrations (page xi) List of Abbreviations (page xiii) Acknowledgments (page xv) 1. Introduction (page 1) 2. Celestial Heart Taoism (page 26) 3. Hua-kai Mountain and Its Immortals (page 47) 4. The Rise of the Hua-kai Cult (page 76) 5. Explaining the Rise of the Hua-kai Cult (page 114) 6. Taoists, Local Gods, and the Transformation of Wang Wen-ch'ing (page 147) 7. The Bureaucratic Model: A Speculation (page 171) 8. God Worship and the Chiao (page 206) 9. Conclusion: The Two Models (page 261) Appendix. Source Issues (page 271) Notes (page 281) Bibliography (page 329) Glossary of Chinese Characters (page 339) Index (page 349)

"Only Robert Hymes could have produced such a vivid, fascinating portrait of a Taoist mountain, with its immortals, its clergy, and its devotees. Extensive translations of poetry, ghost stories, and canonical sources make it possible for the first time to glimpse the richness of life in a Taoist community in the distant past."—Valerie Hansen, author of The Open Empire: A History of China to 1600