Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. Ghosts and Religious Life in Early China
  • Cited by 14
      • Show more authors
      • You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Select format
    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      13 January 2022
      27 January 2022
      ISBN:
      9781009086523
      9781316514672
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009086523
      Dimensions:
      (216 x 140 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.41kg, 350 Pages
      Dimensions:
      Weight & Pages:
      • Subjects:
      East Asian History, Area Studies, Asian Studies, History, Archaeology, Archaeology of Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and The Pacific
    You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Selected: Digital
    Add to cart View cart Buy from Cambridge.org
    Subjects:
    East Asian History, Area Studies, Asian Studies, History, Archaeology, Archaeology of Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and The Pacific
    Information

    Book description

    For modern people, ghost stories are no more than thrilling entertainment. For those living in antiquity, ghosts were far more serious beings, as they could affect the life and death of people and cause endless fear and anxiety. How did ancient societies imagine what ghosts looked like, what they could do, and how people could deal with them? From the vantage point of modernity, what can we learn about an obscure, but no less important aspect of an ancient culture? In this volume, Mu-chou Poo explores the ghosts of ancient China, the ideas that they nurtured, and their role in its culture. His study provides fascinating insights into the interaction between the idea of ghosts and religious activities, literary imagination, and social life devoted to them. Comparing Chinese ghosts with those of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, Poo also offers a wider perspective on the role of ghosts in human history.

    Reviews

    ‘Poo’s remarkable skills in handling sources make the volume thoroughly instructive and a great pleasure to read. It is a welcome contribution to coping with Chinese culture and religion.'

    Barbara Hendrischke Source: Religious Studies Review

    ‘… this book’s ambitious scope and accessible style clearly attest to Poo’s broad knowledge of the subject and his deep familiarity with the relevant sources. Itis a confidently written book with many insights, smoothly walking the reader through an authoritative account of ghosts in ancient Chinese society.’

    Guo Jue Source: Journal of Chinese History

    Refine List

    Actions for selected content:

    Select all | Deselect all
    • View selected items
    • Export citations
    • Download PDF (zip)
    • Save to Kindle
    • Save to Dropbox
    • Save to Google Drive

    Save Search

    You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

    Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
    Cancel
    ×

    Contents

    Contents
    References

    Metrics

    Altmetric attention score

    Full text views

    Total number of HTML views: 0
    Total number of PDF views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    Book summary page views

    Total views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    * Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

    Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

    Accessibility standard: Unknown

    Why this information is here

    This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

    Accessibility Information

    Accessibility compliance for the HTML of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.