Research Catalog

The way and its powers : an ethnographic account of Taoist practice and religious authority in northern Taiwan

Title
The way and its powers : an ethnographic account of Taoist practice and religious authority in northern Taiwan / Yves Menheere.
Author
Menheere, Yves
Publication
  • Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz Verlag, 2020.
  • ©2020

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TextUse in library JFE 22-2469Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
xv, 246 pages; 22 cm.
Summary
"Why do people put their faith in religious specialists? Why are some people considered to be more adept at communicating with deities, explaining scriptures, blessing objects, or solving problems with ghosts and other malevolent forces? The Way and its Powers will propose one possible answer to this question by focusing on the practice of a particular category of religious specialists -Taoist priests in northern Taiwan. The priests perform offerings and exorcisms, using two distinct sets of rites, and have become the most important providers of these services in the areas in which they operate. This study, which is based on several years of fieldwork amongst these Northern Priests, explores different aspects of this dynamic tradition, describing the religious context in which these priests operate, the ritual traditions of which they make use, developments in their recent history, the way that knowledge is transmitted and practice is organized, as well as the offerings and exorcisms they carry out. Using case studies to discuss the correct practice of ritual and the efficacy of healing ceremonies, this study discusses the construction of religious authority amongst Taoist priests, arguing that while efficacy and orthopraxy both play a role in the establishment of authority, a priest's authority cannot be reduced to either of them but is the result of a social process in which the way a priest enters the field and his relations with other priests play a key role."--
Series Statement
Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 0567-4980 ; Band 119
Uniform Title
Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes ; Bd. 119.
Subject
  • Taoist priests > Taiwan
  • Taoism > Taiwan > Rituals
  • Taoism > Taiwan > Customs and practices
  • Authority > Religious aspects > Taoism
  • Taoism > Customs and practices
  • Taoism > Rituals
  • Taoist priests
  • Taiwan
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-237) and index.
Contents
Gods, Ghosts and Priests -- A History of the Northern Priests -- Work and Training -- Authority and Ritual Change: The Chio of the Northern Priests -- Authority and Efficacy: "Rites that Work" and the Tao-po-un -- The Organization of Ceremonies and the Field of Priests.
Call Number
JFE 22-2469
ISBN
  • 9783447115421
  • 3447115424
LCCN
9783447115421
OCLC
1226678576
Author
Menheere, Yves, author.
Title
The way and its powers : an ethnographic account of Taoist practice and religious authority in northern Taiwan / Yves Menheere.
Publisher
Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz Verlag, 2020.
Copyright Date
©2020
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Creator/Contributor Characteristics
Men
Series
Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 0567-4980 ; Band 119
Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes ; Bd. 119.
Thesis
Doctoral National Taiwan University 2017 Revised for publication.
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-237) and index.
Other Standard Identifier
9783447115421
Research Call Number
JFE 22-2469
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