“It’s Daoism, but not as we know it”

My new menu (currently under major renovation!) contains some main themes arising from my fieldwork since 1986, opening with an overview of my publications. It’s based on my work with the Li family Daoists, for which consult this roundup.

Rectifying names is taken from ch.9 of my book Daoist priests of the Li family. Debunking “living fossils”,  Unpacking “Daoist music”, and Rethinking Zhengyi and Quanzhen are explored in Appendix 1 there. The reflections on Fieldwork and Participant observation are also adapted from my book. All these topics overlap to some extent.

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In both my film and book on the Li family I attempted to document the “ordinary Daoists” to whom Vincent Goossaert draws attention. It’s important not to regard the Li family as some miraculous relic; wonderful as they are, similar hereditary Daoist families remain active throughout China, including the north, such as north Shanxi. This is just one case study; others appear in the extensive local reports under Local ritual.

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Temple fairs tend to dominate research, and they are the context for much of folk culture—including not just Daoist ritual but opera, storytelling, folk-song, amateur sectarian activity, and so on.

My own work tends to focus more on funerals, which are perhaps still more important in north China (indeed, the Li family now performs almost only for funerals) but tend to be treated as a subsidiary context in the south.

It’s also worth mentioning other types of religious activity in Yanggao, such as spirit mediums, sects, and Christians—who also appear in various posts and pages here.