Crazy Ji
Subtitle: Chinese religion and popular literature
By: Meir Shahar.
Series: Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series ;; 48
Publisher: Harvard University Asia Center; Distributed by Harvard University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 330
Subjects: Daoji, 1148-1209 -- Folklore.; China -- Religious life and customs.
Other titles: Chinese religion and popular literature
Description: Crazy Ji: Chinese Religion and Popular Literature is the first study in any language of one of the most colorful deities in the pantheon of late imperial and modern China: Sire Ji - or, as he is better known, Crazy Ji. The author uses the evolution of the cult of this eccentric deity to address central questions regarding the nature of the Chinese religious tradition, its relation to the Chinese social structure, and the role of vernacular fiction and popular media in shaping religious beliefs in China.

His analysis of the cult of Crazy Ji shows that far from being, as is often argued, a mirror of the Chinese bureaucratic order, Chinese religion offers a means of liberation from it. Finally, this study of the cult of Crazy Ji illustrates how lay believers influenced the practices of organized religion (in this case, monastic Buddhism).
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [289]-311) and index.