[Society and the supernatural in Song China (Book Review)] [Daoism and ecology (Book Review)]

Davis pays particular attention to two traditionally misunderstood segments of the wider religious network, the exorcist and the spirit-medium. By doing so, he is able to give a much fuller account of the social organization of imperial China than what has so far been available. In this way, he challenges the usual account that reads Sung dynasty social and religious history in terms of the tensions and relations between the elite Confucians, on the one side, and the lowbrow Buddhists and Taoists, on the other.; - This collection derives from a conference held at the center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University, June 5-8, 1998. Its greatest contribution is that it initiates public dialogue involving writers on Taoism. These writers address the issue of any possible Taoist contribution to the question of environmental crisis and ecological responsibility, submit their views to scholars in the wider field of religious studies, and juxtapose scholarly and popular writings so that they can enrich each other.; - The writer reviews two books of Taoist studies: - Daoism and Ecology: - Ways within a Cosmic Landscape, edited by N. J. Girardot, James Miller, and Liu Xiaogan, and Society and the Supernatural in Sing China, by Edward Davis. The Daoism and Ecology collection derives from a conference held at the center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University, June 5-8, 1998. Its greatest contribution is that it initiates public dialogue involving writers on Taoism. Davis's book challenges the usual account that reads Sung dynasty social and religious history in terms of the tensions and relations between the elite Confucians, on the one side, and the lowbrow Buddhists and Taoists, on the other.