Along with Jones’ moving film “Li Manshan: Portrait of a Folk Daoist” —watch here: https://vimeo.com/155660741—this engaging and original book describes a hereditary family of household Daoist priests in rural north China. It traces the vicissitudes of their lives—and ritual practices—over...
Joining the life of a small Daoist community temple, the author examines its structure, inhabitants, surrounding community, and gods. She outlines the individual’s choices, training, and path, then discusses the greater Daoist community in terms of pseudo-kinship structures and gender...
Empowered Writing explores the inherent powers of Chinese talismans, petitions, registers, and holy scriptures, presenting a systematic study of their exorcistic and apotropaic properties. The book divides into three parts: tallies, petitions, and scriptures—all inherently empowered since they originate from...
This book supplements the main work, Cosmos and Community, by providing additional translations of texts on Daoist rules in five groups: 1. Materials pertaining to the early communities of the Celestial Masters. 2. Works addressed mainly to lay followers, linked...
Cosmos and Community is the first English study of Daoist religious ethics. Based on original translations of primary sources, it presents a thorough comparative analysis of various kinds of Daoist rules, divided into four major kinds: prohibitions, admonitions, injunctions (behavioral...
