Research Catalog

Title

The Lady of Linshui pacifies demons : a seventeenth-century novel / translated by Kristin Ingrid Fryklund ; introduction by Mark Edward Lewis and Brigitte Baptandier ; annotations by Brigitte Baptandier.

Publication

Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2021]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Fryklund, Kristin Ingrid
• Lewis, Mark Edward, 1954-
• Baptandier, Brigitte

Description

xxiv, 280 pages; 23 cm

Summary

"The Lady of Linshui Pacifies Demons is a seventeenth-century novelistic account of the founding myth of the cult of the Lady of Linshui, the goddess of women, childbirth, and childhood, who is still venerated in Fujian, Taiwan, and other places in Southeast Asia. The goddess's story evolved from the life of Chen Jinggu in Ming dynasty Hunan and has taken the form of vernacular short fiction, legends, plays, sutras, and stele inscriptions at temples where she is worshipped. This "novel" was translated in consultation with Brigitte Baptandier, whose widely praised anthropological study of the goddess's popularity-The Lady of Linshui: A Chinese Female Cult-was published originally in French and later in English translation by Stanford University Press in 2008. Among accounts of goddesses in late imperial China, this work is unique in its focus on the physical aspects of womanhood, especially the dangers of childbirth. It is also unique in dramatizing the contradictory nature of divinities in China through narrating the parallel lives of Chen Jinggu and her spirit double/rival, the White Snake demon who is born as her twin, battles with her over the body of her husband, kills her through devouring her fetus, and finally becomes her spirit mount. This unabridged, annotated translation provides insights into late imperial Chinese religion, the lives of women in the period, and, more broadly, the structure of families and local society"--

Uniform Title

Linshui pingyao. English.

Subject

• Goddesses, Chinese > Fiction
• Goddesses, Chinese

Genre/Form

• Fiction.
• Legends.

Note

• Translated from the Chinese.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 277-280).

Contents

Wang Yanbin builds Luoyang Bridge ; Duanming scholar Cai completes the work and returns to the west -- Chen Jinggu studies magic at Mount Lü ; The Ravine Demon takes on illusory forms at Xue Mountain -- Jiang Shanyu renounces her selfhood to obtain the way ; Chen Jinggu cuts out a piece of her flesh to save her parents -- Cinnabar Cloud is captured and converts to Buddhism to earn good karma ; Madame Shen is rescued by being given a soul taken from a dead person -- At Lingxiao Pan the Rock Press Women are captured ; At Guojie Mountain we meet Jiang Hupo -- The Spider Fiend is captured and dies ; The Ravine Demon uses a strategem to seek refuge -- Bringing an end to the auspicious period, Jinggu eliminates the fiend ; Meeting misfortune, Liu encounters a demon -- The snake monster having been expelled, future calamity is left behind ; The husband having been saved, their prior karma is assisted -- In the old temple the fiend monk works his evil magic ; The Liann River clam monster creates a spectral tower -- As the old ruler is on his deathbed, the people grieve ; The new lord inherits the throne, and the common people encounter misfortune -- Wang Yanbing is routed at Fuzhou City ; Chen Shouyuan proposes to build the Baohuang Palace -- [Yanbin] ascends to the emperorship, and all the officials offer congratulations ; [Chen Jinggu] kills the White Snake and receives her first honrary title -- Madame Chen retires to Linshui ; Yuan Guangzhi leaves Mount Mao for the first time -- Xue Wenjie spreads rumors in the palace ; Wang Jitu's army surrounds Fuzhou City -- Yuan Guangzhi's army suffers defeat ; Madame Chen receives a second title -- Praying for rain, the people feel grateful ; Perfecting the true way, a third title is granted -- Avenging deep hatred by capturing the Ravine Demon ; Weeping tears of blood and gathering again at the Bridge of One Hundred Flowers.

Call Number

JFE 21-2837

ISBN

• 9780295748344
• 0295748346
• 9780295748351
• 0295748354

LCCN

• 2020019771
• 40030364363

OCLC

1150941016

Title

The Lady of Linshui pacifies demons : a seventeenth-century novel / translated by Kristin Ingrid Fryklund ; introduction by Mark Edward Lewis and Brigitte Baptandier ; annotations by Brigitte Baptandier.

Publisher

Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2021]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 277-280).

Added Author

Fryklund, Kristin Ingrid, translator.

Lewis, Mark Edward, 1954- writer of introduction.

Baptandier, Brigitte, writer of introduction, writer of annotations.

Other Form:

Online version: Lady of Linshui pacifies demons Seattle : University of Washington, 2021 9780295748368 (DLC) 2020019772

Other Standard Identifier

40030364363

Research Call Number

JFE 21-2837