The Religion of the Chinese

The book is organized into an introduction and seven main chapters. The Introduction establishes Chinese religion as a major religious system and separates native Chinese religion from the later Buddhist element. Chapter I, “Universalistic Animism. Polydemonism,” presents the Yang-Yin cosmology, the distinction between shen and kwei, and the author’s claim that Chinese religion is fundamentally animistic, polytheistic, and polydemonistic. Chapter II, “The Struggle Against Specters,” examines magic, charms, ritual defense, exorcistic practices, and methods used to resist harmful spirits. Chapter III, “Ancestral Worship,” studies the cult of the dead, soul tablets, burial customs, sacrifices, domestic ritual, and the role of ancestor worship in family and social continuity. Chapter IV, “Confucianism,” analyzes Confucianism as a ritual, ethical, political, and state-supported system that shaped orthodoxy and social order. Chapter V, “Taoism,” treats Taoist cosmology, immortality, monasticism, priesthood, magic, ritual, and the search for longevity. Chapters VI and VII, “Buddhism I” and “Buddhism II,” discuss Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism, Buddhist monastic institutions, ethics, literature, rituals for the dead, religious sects, persecution, and the blending of Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian elements in Chinese religious life.