Excerpt from Researches Into Chinese Superstitions, Vol. 5: First Part; Superstitious Practices Much of the tree of religion in China is native, but a mighty branch of foreign origin has been grafted on the old stock. The metaphysical religion of Sakyamuni was added to the moral doctrines of Confucius. Modern Taoism has also borrowed much from Bud dhism Among the three religions, there is thus a process of grafting and dovetailing, which has resulted in an endless medley of errors, and a pantheon peopled with countless gods. The reader will, therefore, find in this calendar State Gods, such as the God of Agriculture and the Soil; the God of War, Kwan-ti [35 fifi'; the God of Literature, 'wen-ch'ang y g; Confucian sages and worthies; Taoist patriarchs, genii and Immortals the impersonal and fictitious gods of Buddhism: Amitab/ia, Dipamhara, Samantabliadra, Manjusri. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This comprehensive study of the traditional Chinese craft of paper sculpture documents the ancient craft as it exists today in Taiwan.

Lijiang, a once-sleepy market town in southwest China, has become a magnet for tourism since the mid-1990s. Drawing on stories about taxi drivers, reluctant brides, dogmeat, and shamanism, Emily Chao illustrates how biopolitics and the essentialization of difference shape the ways in which Naxi residents represent and interpret their social world. The vignettes presented here are lively examples of the cultural reverberations that have occurred throughout contemporary China in the wake of its emergence as a global giant. With particular attention to the politics of gender, ethnicity, and historical representation, Chao reveals how citizens strategically imagine, produce, and critique a new moral economy in which the market and neoliberal logic are preeminent.

This classic guide to Chinese jade is of great interest to art collectors and casual readers alike. First published in 1936 and since then a collector's item of increasing rarity, Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages comprises a review of the characteristics, decorations, folklore, and symbolism of this esteemed mineral that has always held a proud place among gems of the world. The book presents a full descriptive account of the significance and meaning of the carvings produced in this prize stone by Chinese craftsmen from the earliest times, through the Chou and succeeding dynasties, down to the twentieth century. The text is illustrated with a magnificent series of more than 350 reproductions in color, black and white, and line drawings of choice pieces selected from the chief Asian, European, and American collections. In addition the Chinese art history book explains no only the wealth of symbolic designs used in the decoration of jade but also a large number of the marks and devices by which collectors identify the origin and the date of valued pieces.