Nanzong ji Kong 南宗祭孔 by Wang Xiaobing 王霄冰 (review)

Book Notes 155 Zhongguo Fojiao shilun 中国佛教史论 WANG RONGGUO 王荣国. Beijing: Zongjiao wenhua chubanshe 宗教文化出版社, 2008. 343 pages. ISBN 978-7-80123-987-7. RMB 38.00 paper. Zhongguo Fojiao shilun is a collection of twenty-six previously published and new essays by historian Wang Rongguo of Xiamen University. The papers in the book cover a wide spectrum of issues in the history of Buddhism in China from the Wei, Jin, Nanbei Chao period (220-581) right up to the 1950s. They can be broadly divided into a few major themes: (1) the spread and development of Buddhism (Chapter 1), (2) life and times of eminent monks (Chapters 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25), (3) history of Buddhist monasteries (Chapters 4, 19), (4) Chan (Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9) and Tiantai traditions (Chapter 5), (5) history of Buddhism in Fujian (Chapters 16, 18). Chapter 26 provides a useful chronicle of events in Minnan Buddhist College (Minnan Foxue yuan 闽南佛学院) between 1925 and 1949. Because this book is a collection of mostly previously published papers, it suffers from two shortcomings. First, the quality and length of the essays vary greatly. For instance, while Wang discusses a broad topic—history of Fujian Buddhism and Tiantai tradition—in merely seven pages (Chapter 5), he devotes more than twenty pages to examine the life and times of Chan master Shao Qi 绍琦 (Chapter 17). Second, there is neither a linear development of an argument to follow throughout the book nor clear connections between the various chapters. Wang could have solved this problem if he had written an introductory chapter to better connect his chapters. Nevertheless, students and scholars of Chinese Buddhism are likely to benefit from this book. JACK MENG-TAT CHIA, Harvard University Nanzong ji Kong 南宗祭孔 Wang Xiaobing 王霄冰. Hangzhou: Zhejiang renmin chubanshe 浙江人民出版社, 2008. 180 pages. ISBN 978-7-213-03857-0. RMB 36.00 paper. The subject of this work are the annual sacrificial rites performed at the Kong ancestral temple in Quzhou 衢州 (Zhejiang province) since 2004, supplemented by an investigation into the development of the Kong clan’s southern branch (nanzong) since the Southern Song dynasty. Based on archival and field research, the author presents a portrait of this kinship association and provides insights into the revival of the cult of Confucius within the political 156 Journal of Chinese Religions context of present-day China. This context as well as the ambitions of local elites (including the Southern Branch’s clan leadership) have shaped this ritual revival and led to numerous liturgical innovations whose effectiveness as socio-political strategies the author seeks to evaluate. She stresses the harmonizing function of such revived Confucian traditions in the rapidly changing Chinese society though without critically questioning the political instrumentalization of high-profile public ritual performances. However, this limitation is largely due to the fact that this work was commissioned by the local government and therefore left little room for critical scholarship. In spite of this, the book contains a wealth of empirical data for the study of Confucianism, Confucian ritual, and the revival of clan associations in the People’s Republic of China. PHILIP CLART, Universität Leipzig Zongjiao wenhua lüyou yu huanjing baohu: zongjiao wenhua lüyou yu minzu diqu shengtai huanjing baohu yanjiu 宗教文化旅游与环 境保护—宗教文化旅游与民族地区生态环境保护研究 WANG YAXIN 王亚欣. Beijing: Zhongyang minzu daxue chubanshe 中央民族大学出版 社, 2008. ISBN 978-7-81108-489-4. RMB 22.00 paper. This book explores the intersection of tourism and religion in China’s minority areas. The author, an associate professor at the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing, sees religion as a way to promote ecology and tourism in order to “raise the quality” of minority people. Despite these unexplored assumptions, she provides a useful overview of the ecological viewpoint of Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, and Christianity and the rapid spread of tourism. Wang points out problems caused by tourism, such as increased water pollution, garbage and trampling of plant life, backing this up with interesting statistics (although not always citing her sources). Religion, because it is supposed to be environmentally friendly (the usual arguments are presented), is seen as a solution to the problem—promote more religious tourism and minority areas will benefit from the increased...