Death Rituals and Politics in Northern Song China

Rezensionen / Stimmen

In this wonderful study, rich and skillful in its use of source materials, Choi brilliantly demonstrates on many layers that the death ritual issue provided Confucianism an important canvas to gather discursive pace. * Lukas Pokorny, University of Vienna, Religious Studies Review * Death Rituals and Politics in Northern Song China makes a significant contribution in understanding the debates and context in the eleventh century that contributed to the rise of Neo-Confucianism in the century that followed. * Michael D.K. Ing, Journal of Chinese Religions * Death Rituals and Politics in Northern Song China demonstrates the utility of drawing theoretical models and insights from the diverse body of literature and subfields that constitute the academic study of religion. It shows us how to think about historical phenomena and the rich intersections of the political and religious, of the social and personal, of the living and the dead. And by invoking the concept of l'imaginaire ('the social imaginary') in order to disclose the social and political stakes involved in officially sanctioned funerary practices, Choi also gives us a model for thinking productively about historical subjectivities. * Geoffrey C. Goble, Reading Religion * Choi demonstrates an impressive command over a wide range of original sources and draws on a substantial body of secondary studies as well as theoretical literature to produce a book that is a must for students of imperial China. It will also instruct comparative scholars as well as all China specialists, and serve as a model for aspiring students...Essential. * CHOICE *