Rats, Cats, Rogues, and Heroes reveals China's history and culture through the eyes of ordinary men and women using an interdisciplinary perspective that incorporates history, anthropology, folk studies, and literature to examine the sociocultural and symbolic worlds of gangsters, sorcerers, and prostitutes in late imperial and modern China.

One of the most magnificent and enduring themes in Chinese painting history can be found depicted in Daoist temples from the local village up to the very capital, viz., the paintings of the Heavenly Court (chaoyuan tu). Surprisingly, its images have remained largely unstudied in Western scholarship. Drawing on a comparative study of four complete sets of wall paintings dating back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries (the oldest examples), and their related images, painting criticism, stele inscriptions, and Daoist ritual manuals, the author offers the first comprehensive study of the historical development, iconography, ritual context, methods of mural design, and the personalisations made by patrons of the four Heavenly Court paintings.

Suitable for use in courses on ethnic studies or gender studies Rethinks interaction between Han Chinese and non-Han cultures Considers how religion has adapted to the challenges of modern Chinese history Describes rituals and ritual specialists largely unknown to Western readers Combines historical and ethnographic methodologies

This handbook offers a comprehensive exploration of the dynamics of religious conversion, which for centuries has profoundly shaped societies, cultures, and individuals throughout the world.

Traveling in China today and walking about in various cities, it is easy to observe the continued unbridled construction of huge, megalithic high-rise complexes in vast stretches of the country, complete with the untrammeled despoiling of nature and intensification of pollution, as well as the ever increasing vibrancy of the Chinese people, glued to their cell phones and actively connected online, always moving about and hustling for yet another deal. At the same time, using the internet without a VPN and talking to academics at various universities, it becomes obvious that there is a massive increase in repressive measures by the state, the tightening of the intellectual control of both content and expression, the fluctuating inaccessibility of information sources that used to be perfectly fine. What, the question arises, is going on here? Where China stands today and where is it headed from here? And what, in all of this, is the role and place of Daoism? These sixty vignettes on "Daoist China" present different aspects of life in China, in each case describing the current situation and connecting it to the role and changing facets of Daoism today, focusing in turn on dimensions of governance, economics, and culture.

The Routledge Companion to World Literature and World History is a comprehensive and engaging volume, combining essays from historians and literary academics to create a space for productive cross-cultural encounters between the two fields. In addition to the 27 essays, the Companion includes general introductions from two of the leading scholars of history and literature, David Damrosch and Patrick Manning, as well as personal testimonies from artists working in the area, and editorials asking provocative questions. The volume includes sections on: People – with essays looking at World Literature, Intellectual Commerce, Religion, language and war, and Indigenous ethnography Networks and methods – examining maps, geography, morality and the crises of world literature Transformations – including essays on race, colonialism, and the non-human Interdisciplinary and groundbreaking, this volume brings to light various ways in which scholars of literature and history analyse, assimilate or reveal the intellectual heritage of the past, at the same moment as they try consciously to deal with an unending amount of new information and an awareness of global connections and discrepancies. Including work from leading academics in the field, as well as newer voices, the Companion is ideal for students and scholars alike.