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The Ming Prince and Daoism Institutional Patronage of an Elite

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This book is available in Oxford Scholarship Online - view abstracts and keywords at book and chapter level.

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The Ming Prince and Daoism

Institutional Patronage of an Elite

Richard G. Wang

OUP USA

288 pages | 235x156mm

978-0-19-976768-7 | Hardback | 23 August 2012

Price: £45.00

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One of the only book-length and substantial studies of Ming Daoism in any language.
One of the only book-length studies of the Ming princely institution in any Western language.
One of the first works on the social history of Daoism in Ming China in any language.

Scholars of Daoism in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) have paid particular attention to the interaction between the court and certain Daoist priests and to the political results of such interaction; the focus has been on either emperors or Daoist masters. Yet in the Ming era a special group of people patronized Daoism and Daoist establishments: these were the members of the imperial clan, who were enfeoffed as princes. In addition to personal belief and self-cultivation, a prince had other reasons to patronize Daoism. As the regional overlords, the Ming princes like other local elites saw financing and organizing temple affairs and rituals, patronizing Daoist priests, or collecting and producing Daoist books as a chance to maintain their influence and show off their power. The prosperity of Daoist institutions, which attracted many worshippers, also demonstrated the princes' political success. Locally the Ming princes played an important cultural role as well by promoting the development of local religions. This book is the first to explore the interaction between Ming princes as religious patrons and local Daoism. Barred by imperial law from any serious political or military engagement, the Ming princes were ex officio managers of state rituals at the local level, with Daoist priests as key performers, and for this reason they became very closely involved in Daoist clerical and liturgical life. By illuminating the role the Ming princes played in local religion, Richard Wang demonstrates in The Ming Prince and Daoism that the princedom served to mediate between official religious policy and the commoners' interests.

Readership: Scholars and students of Chinese history, religion, and culture, particularly during the Ming dynasty.

The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.

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The Ming Prince and Daoism

Institutional Patronage of an Elite

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