Ghosts and Religious Life in Early China

Description

For modern people, ghost stories are no more than thrilling entertainment. For those living in antiquity, ghosts were far more serious beings, as they could affect the life and death of people and cause endless fear and anxiety. How did ancient societies imagine what ghosts looked like, what they could do, and how people could deal with them? From the vantage point of modernity, what can we learn about an obscure, but no less important aspect of an ancient culture? In this volume, Mu-chou Poo explores the ghosts of ancient China, the ideas that they nurtured, and their role in its culture. His study provides fascinating insights into the interaction between the idea of ghosts and religious activities, literary imagination, and social life devoted to them. Comparing Chinese ghosts with those of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, Poo also offers a wider perspective on the role of ghosts in human history. Cover Half-title Title Page Copyright Information Contents Preface 1 Ghosts: The Other Side of Humanity 1.1 Talking about Ghosts 1.2 Cross-Cultural Typologies of Ghosts 1.3 Looking for Ghosts in Early China 1.4 The Structure of This Book 2 The Emergence of Ghosts in Early China 2.1 The Meaning and Origin of Gui, or Ghost 2.2 The Image of Ghosts 2.3 The Relationship between Ghosts and Human Beings 2.4 Ritual Acts and Exorcism Funerary Rituals Protective Rituals against Ghosts in Daily Life 2.5 The Religious and Social Background of the Concept of Ghosts 3 Imperial Order and Local Variations 3.1 The Nature of the Qin-Han Official Religion 3.2 Belief in Ghosts in the Qin-Han Period 3.3 The Nuo, or Exorcism 3.4 Ghosts and the Netherworld 3.5 The Changing Image of Ghosts 4 Stories That Reveal the Dark Corner 4.1 Pursuing Ghosts in the Zhiguai 4.2 The Typology of Ghosts Ghosts Who Speak Their Minds Vulnerable Ghosts Female Ghosts Vengeful Ghosts Benevolent Ghosts Ghosts in Need of Help Self-Asserting Ghosts 4.3 The Intentionality of Ghost-Story Writers Justice Morality Humor and Skepticism Proselytizing 4.4 The Religious Significance of Ghost Stories 5 Ghosts in Early Daoist Culture 5.1 The Origin of Ghosts According to Daoist Belief 5.2 Images of Ghosts 5.3 Exorcistic Rituals 5.4 New Ghosts or Old? 6 The Taming of Ghosts in Early Chinese Buddhism 6.1 The Term Gui, or Ghost, in Early Buddhist Texts 6.2 The Taming of Ghosts in Early Buddhism Calling Names and Reciting Sutras Using Sacred Objects and Performing Rituals Monks as Incarnation of Dharma 6.3 Competition with Indigenous Belief Systems 6.4 The Origins of Ghosts in Buddhism Compared 7 Chinese Ghosts in Comparative Perspective Bibliography Primary Sources Secondary Sources Index