ISBN:
9781526140586
Language:
English
Pages:
1 Online-Ressource (xiv, 259 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates)
,
illustrations (black and white, and colour)
Series Statement:
Alternative sinology
Parallel Title:
Erscheint auch als
Keywords:
Gods, Chinese
;
Gods, Chinese
;
Folk religion
;
Demonology
;
RELIGION / General
;
Demonology
;
Folk religion
;
Gods, Chinese
;
Asia
;
China
;
Malaysia
;
Singapore
Abstract:
Introduction -- Part I. Setting the scene. 1. The modern Underworld tradition ; 2. Analysis: a baseline of comparison ; 3. The historical development of Underworld cosmology -- Part II. The Underworld tradition in Singapore. 4. Yu Feng Nan Fu Xuanshan Miao: setting a baseline of comparison ; 5. A new Underworld God of Wealth, and, foetus assistance rituals in Singapore ; 6. Lunar Seventh Month: the centrality of graveyards in the Underworld tradition -- Part III. The Underworld tradition in Malaysia. 7 Malaysia and the party spirit: Guanxi and the creation of 'intentional' communities ; 8. Seventh Month rituals in southern Malaysia: salvation rituals and 'Ah Pek' parties ; 9. Seventh Month rituals in central Malaysia: coffin rituals and the releasing of exorcised spirits -- Part IV. Tracing the origins of the modern Underworld tradition. 10. Anxi Chenghuangmiao and cultural flows of local mythology ; 11. Penang: the earliest recollections of Tua Di Ya Pek embodied ; 12. Conclusions and analysis.
Abstract:
Voices from the Underworld' focuses on Singapore and Malaysia's contemporary Chinese Underworld traditions where Hell deities are now amongst the most commonly venerated deities on altars and when channelled through spirit mediums. Intended for academics, lecturers, students, and those intrigued with Chinese culture, while highlighting the Taoist and Buddhist cosmologies upon which present-day beliefs and practices are based, the ethnography provides readers with unique insights into the lived tradition.0Embracing ontological and dialogic approaches to religious phenomena, alterity is taken seriously, and practitioner's beliefs interpreted without bias. The emic voice is literally heard through first-person dialogues between the author and channelled Underworld deities throughout the ethnography. This alternative approach challenges wider present-day discourse concerning the interrelationships between sociocultural and spiritual worlds
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