Short Course Description
This course will survey the rich and diverse Chinese religious traditions: Buddhism, Daoism, and the amorphous popular religion. We will discuss the issue of religious identity (which in China tends to be less clear-cut than in the Western monotheistic traditions); we will examine the roles of diverse religious professionals: Buddhist monks, Daoist priests, and the spirit-mediums of the amorphous popular religion. Particular attention will be given to the rich world of the Chinese supernatural: Gods, ghosts, ancestors, and various other supernatural beings. We will furthermore examine the intimate connection between ritual and theater in traditional China.
Full syllabus will be available to registered students only
