The Sinister Way: The Divine and the Demonic in Chinese Religious CultureThe 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. |
Contents
Ancestors Ghosts and Gods in Ancient China | 19 |
The Han Cult of the Dead and Salvific Religion | 45 |
Mountain Goblins | 78 |
Plague Demons and Epidemic Gods | 98 |
The Song Transformation of Chinese Religious Culture | 130 |
From Demon to Deity | 180 |
The Enchantment of Wealth | 222 |
Conclusion | 257 |
Bibliography | 323 |
Glossary | 361 |
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ancestors became Beijing belief bronze Buddhist caishen Canon Celestial Masters century b.c.e. Changshu chenghuang China Chinese religion Chiyou Confucian Daoist dead death deities demonifuge divine Dongyue dynasty Emperor exorcism fangxiang figure Five Fujian ghosts god’s gods Guandi Guanyin Han dynasty Hangzhou Hong Huaguang Huangdi human identified images imperial Jiangnan jing king late Ming lineage Lingbao Lord Monastery mortal Mount Mount Tai mountain Nanjing official one’s plague demons popular punishment Qing Queen Mother religious culture rites ritual rulers ſã sacrifices scriptures Shang Shanghai shanxiao shrines ſº social Song dynasty Song period Southern Song spirit mediums spirit money story Suzhou Tang taotie Thearch Tiantai tion tomb tudi tutelary underworld Wang wealth worship Wufang Wulu Wusheng Wutong cult Wutong spirits Wuxian temple Wuyuan xiansheng xianzhi Yuan Zhang Zhao Gongming Zhenwu Zhong Kui Zhou