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The Sinister Way: The Divine and the Demonic in Chinese Religious Culture
Abstract
The most striking feature of Wutong, the preeminent God of Wealth in late imperial China, was the deity's diabolical character. Wutong was perceived not as a heroic figure or paragon of noble qualities but rather as an embodiment of humanity's basest vices, greed and lust, a maleficent demon who preyed on the weak and vulnerable. This book examines the emergence and evolution of the Wutong cult within the larger framework of the historical development of Chinese popular or vernacular religion—as opposed to institutional religions such as Buddhism or Daoism. This study, spanning three millennia, gives due recognition to the morally ambivalent and demonic aspects of divine power within the common Chinese religious culture.
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“On the other hand, blood sacrifice was frowned upon in official religious rituals.”
From The Tale of Lady Tan: Negotiating Place between Central and Local in Song-Yuan-Ming China (2008) · cites this paper as von Glahn 2004, 64-5, 145
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Cited by 105
Metadata
- Authors
- von Glahn, R.
- Corresponding author
- von Glahn, Richard
- Venue
- University of California Press eBooks
- Publisher
- University of California Press
- Published
- 2004-04-20
- OpenAlex
- W4234402326
- Cited by
- 105
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 2.19
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- University of California Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Chinese history and philosophy
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › General Arts and Humanities › Cultural and Mythological Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Indian and Buddhist Studies
- Keywords
- demonology, Chinese folk religion, vernacular religion, late imperial China, greed, lust, divine power, folk religion, Chinese religious history
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