In Search of the Folk Daoists of North China

by Stephen Jones

The living practice of Daoist ritual is still only a small part of Daoist studies. Most of this work focuses on the southeast, with the vast area of north China often assumed to be a tabula rasa for local lay liturgical traditions. This book, based on fieldwork, challenges this assumption. With case studies on parts of Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces, Stephen Jones describes ritual sequences within funerals and temple fairs, offering details on occupational hereditary lay Daoists, temple-dwelling priests, and even amateur ritual groups. Stressing performance, Jones observes the changing ritual scene in this poor countryside, both since the 1980s and through all the tribulations of twentieth-century warfare and political campaigns. The whole vocabulary of north Chinese Daoists differs significantly from that of the southeast, which has so far dominated our image. Largely unstudied by scholars of religion, folk Daoist ritual in north China has been a constant theme of music scholars within China. Stephen Jones places lay Daoists within the wider context of folk religious practices - including those of lay Buddhists, sectarians, and spirit mediums. This book opens up a new field for scholars of religion, ritual, music, and modern Chinese society.

312 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

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Stephen Jones has been documenting living traditions of ritual and music in rural China since 1986, going on to hold research posts at SOAS while working as a violinist in London early music ensembles. He is also author of Folk Music of China, Plucking the Winds, Ritual and Music of North China (2 vols., with DVDs), and In Search of the Folk Daoists of North China.

Reviews

[Mel]

This book was good but it wasn't what I was hoping for. It contained much more description and much less analysis than I was hoping for. For me the most interesting parts were the appendix. It was interesting to see how Taoism had survived that period of Maoism and come back to flourish and how the differences between the lay practitioners and the official temples. Despite being not quite what I was looking for I'd definitely still recommend it though as it was an interesting read and contained lots of detailed research.