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Communism in an enchanted world : Chinese folk religion under Mao Zedong / S.A. Smith
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Smith, S. A. (Stephen Anthony), 1952- author.
- Series:
- Cambridge studies in the history of the People's Republic of China
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Folk religion--China--History--20th century.
- Folk religion.
- Folk religion--China--History--21st century.
- China.
- Genre:
- History
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource
- Place of Publication:
- Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026
- Summary:
- "Drawing together decades of research, Steve Smith explores the survival and adaptation of folk beliefs in Mao's China in the face of seismic social change and growing political repression. Bringing an oftenneglected aspect of modern Chinese history to the fore, he shows how folk religion maintained a vital presence in everyday life. In myriad ways, through Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism, spirit mediums and spirit healing, divination, geomancy, and the reform of traditional marriage and funeral rites, rituals, and beliefs provided resources for adaptation and resistance to the regime. Nevertheless the survival of folk religion must be set against the secularizing forces that the regime unleashed. This unique history gives readers a vivid sense of life under Mao Zedong as vibrant, contentious, and resilient – a far cry from stereotypes of a secular, regimented, and monochrome society"-- Cambridge Core
- Contents:
- Ancestor worship : household and lineage
- Temple religion
- Worshipping the gods
- Folk religion and the three teachings
- Ghosts and demons
- Marriage, fertility, and folk religion
- Death and funerary ritual
- Searching for sacred medicine
- Health and spirit healing
- Spirit mediums and witchcraft
- Geomancers and yin–yang masters
- Divination and fortune-telling
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed June 3, 2026)
- Other Format:
- Print version: Smith, S. A. (Stephen Anthony), 1952- Communism in an enchanted world
- ISBN:
- 9781009600941
- 100960094X
- 9781009600958
- 1009600958
- OCLC:
- 1584384436
- Publisher Number:
- CIPO000362929
- CIPO000374354
- Access Restriction:
- Restricted for use by site license
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