Publication Type
Book Chapter
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
11-2015
Abstract
Since 1979, China has seen a renaissance of indigenous belief systems, including Daoist tangki spirit-medium practice. Tangki traditions have Neolithic roots. The founding myth is of a man who magically battled flood demons to save China. In imperial times, ordinary people, disenfranchised by the state religion and pawns of dynastic wars, created a soteriology of self-empowerment. Ordinary people would transform through spirit pos-session into warrior gods who would save the community. Millennia-old tangki traditions have diffused into the modern Chinese quotidian. With a remote Central Committee of the Communist Party recalling distant emperors, village temples, many led by tangkis, have formed “second governments” to deal with day-to-day exigencies. Religion offers a cultural lens to obtain new perspectives of the Chinese worldview.
Keywords
Tangki, China, Chinese, Daoist, spirit possession, medium, shaman, demon, ritual, gods
Discipline
Asian Studies | Religion
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Oxford Handbooks Online
First Page
1
Last Page
19
Identifier
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935420.013.11
Publisher
Oxford University Press
City or Country
New York
Citation
CHAN, Margaret. (2015). Contemporary Daoist Tangki Practice. In Oxford Handbooks Online (pp. 1-19). New York: Oxford University Press.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1872
Copyright Owner and License
Margaret Chan
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935420.013.11