Throughout Chinese history mountains have been integral components of the religious landscape. They have been considered divine or numinous sites; the abodes of deities; the preferred locations for temples and monasteries; and destinations for pilgrims. Early in Chinese history a set of five mountains were co-opted into the imperial cult and declared sacred peaks; yue; demarcating and protecting the boundaries of the Chinese imperium. The Southern Sacred Peak; or Nanyue; is of interest to scholars not the least because the title has been awarded to several different mountains over the years. The dynamic nature of Nanyue raises a significant theoretical issue of the mobility of sacred space and the nature of the struggles involved in such moves. Another facet of Nanyue is the multiple meanings assigned to this place: political; religious; and cultural. Of particular interest is the negotiation of this space by Daoists and Buddhists. The history of their interaction leads to questions about the nature of the divisions between these two religious traditions. James Robson’s analysis of these topics demonstrates the value of local studies and the emerging field of Buddho-Daoist studies in research on Chinese religion.
#1444299 in Books 2007-02-15 2007-03-17Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.54 x .94 x 5.40l; 1.17 #File Name: 0674023781366 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Of interest to anyone interested in literature related to Christian originsBy Michael_in_SCThis is a fascinating book; of interest to anyone who is interested in the scholarship of Christian origins. It gives great context for understanding the creation of the New Testament and its themes. There were a great many apocalyptic texts current in the first century; with the themes of the Jewish god vindicating righteous people; and a Righteous Man in particular; and punishing the evildoers (all written out of indignation of the foreign domination and mistreatment of the Jews in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE). It is plausible to think that people; thinking back on the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth; fit Jesus into the extant literary themes. The New Testament is then seen as simply another iteration of the ongoing apocalyptic; vindication-of-righteous-man literature that was already in circulation. All the texts referred to in this book (Wisdom of Solomon; 1 Enoch; et al) are readily findable on the internet.0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Nice use of sourcesBy AbraxasVery in-depth and detailed study of death and afterlife beliefs in intertestamental Judaism and early Christianity. Nice use of sources. More attention to early Akkadian concepts would be a factor in a revised edition.
