Steps of perfection : exorcistic performers and Chinese religion in twentieth-century Taiwan / Donald S. Sutton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sutton, Donald S.

Series:

Harvard East Asian Monographs ; 218.

Harvard East Asian Monographs ; 218

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion and culture--Taiwan.

Religion and culture.

Taiwan--Religion.

Taiwan.

Taiwan--Religious life and customs.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

Leiden; Boston : BRILL, 2003.

Other Title:

Exorcistic Performers and Chinese Religion in Twentieth-Century Taiwan

Exorcistic performers and Chinese religion in twentieth-century Taiwan

Place of Publication:

Boston : Harvard University Asia Center, 2003.

Summary:

"One part of Taiwan's flourishing religious culture is the elaborate, colorful, and noisy procession of local gods accompanied by troupes of musicians and dancers. Among them are groups of performers with wild, outlandish painted faces portraying underworld generals who serve the gods and punish the living. Through their performances, these troupes claim to exorcise harmful forces from the community." "In conducting fieldwork among these troupes, the author confronted the question of making sense of their claims to a long history when all evidence indicated that the troupes had been insignificant until the 1970s and of their assertions of devotion to an accurate transmission of tradition given the diversity of performances. By concentrating on the stylistic variations in performances, he explains the troupes as organizations shaped by the "market forces" of supply and demand in the culture of religious festivals. By focusing on performances as the nexus of market and art, he shows how bodily performance is the site where religious statements are made and the power of the gods made visible."--Jacket.

Contents:

Preliminary Material / Donalds Sutton

The Festivals of Southern Taiwan / Donalds Sutton

Spaces: Sacred, Ritualized, and Everyday Landscapes / Donalds Sutton

Places: Nine Troupes in Their Local Settings / Donalds Sutton

Meanings: Iconography and Mythology / Donalds Sutton

Rituals: The Making of Divine Warriors / Donalds Sutton

Choreography: Cosmic Variations / Donalds Sutton

History I: From the Five Emperors of Fuzhou to the Five Schools under Japanese Rule (1646-1947) / Donalds Sutton

History II. A New Market for Dancers and Self-Mortifiers under the Guomindang (1947-87) / Donalds Sutton

Festival Performers and Their Changing Audience / Donalds Sutton

The 1781 Stele of the Fuzhou Bailongan (White Dragon Shrine): 1983 Jiayi Copy / Donalds Sutton

On the Extinct Dance of the Five Phases: A Plausible Reconstruction of Third-Century B+C+E+ Yinyang Ritual / Donalds Sutton

The Guomindang Cosmography of Street Names / Donalds Sutton

Notes / Donalds Sutton

Bibliography / Donalds Sutton

Character List / Donalds Sutton

Index / Donalds Sutton

Harvard East Asian Monographs / Donalds Sutton.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [375]-393) and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-68417-378-7

OCLC:

1001953848

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9781684173785 DOI