Chinese Ritual And Politics

Regular price
Unit price
per

Politics through Chinese rituals - Emily Ahern

This book provides a fascinating insight into the intricate links between ritual and politics in China. Emily Ahern's research highlights the connection between ritual practices and political power, making it an essential read for anyone interested in Chinese history or anthropology.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

Chinese Ritual And Politics

Regular price
Unit price
per
Condition guide

Special Offer

Buy 3, Get 1 Free On All Items Under S$10

Add 4 items under S$10 to your cart — the cheapest one is on us.

ISBN: 9780521236904
Date of Publication: 1982-01-29
Format: Hardcover
Related Collections: History, Sociology
Goodreads rating: 3.25
(rated by 4 readers)

Description

As a result of the strength and dominance of the centralized state, ritual action in China often takes its logic from political action. In this book Emily Ahern explores the implications of this. She argues that forms of control attempted ritually on non-human persons (gods and other spirits) in China parallel those forms of control which people regard as effective in ordinary life, namely political control, and draws important conclusions from this. She shows that in China it is possible to discard terms such as 'magic', which imply that acts directed to spirits operate on a different basis from acts in ordinary life. She also challenges claims in anthropology that, since they seem arbitrary and the actions of participants in them highly predictable, rituals support established authority. Her book will be of interest not only to specialists in Chinese studies, but to social anthropologists and others interested in the link between ritual and political processes.
 

Politics through Chinese rituals - Emily Ahern

This book provides a fascinating insight into the intricate links between ritual and politics in China. Emily Ahern's research highlights the connection between ritual practices and political power, making it an essential read for anyone interested in Chinese history or anthropology.

Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.