The People and the Dao: New Studies in Chinese Religions in Honour of Daniel L. Overmyer ed. by Philip Clart, Paul Crowe (review)

Book Reviews 85 a son dares to be skeptical about the prospect of his mother’s chastity. Nevertheless, it would be even more fascinating to hear the real woman’s voice instead of one being “channeled” by a male. If none of the author’s many female informants could provide information in this regard, their lack of interest in the origin of their ritual certainly warrants a discussion. Despite some disagreements in interpretation and a longing to hear more female voices, this reader finds the book highly recommendable. It deals with an important topic, is presented in a lucid narrative style, and is supported by an efficient background introduction (in terms of both Chinese religious history and Western theories), rich ethnographical information, and sharp analytic insight. Students and scholars in Chinese religion (especially lay Buddhism) as well as in women’s studies will appreciate this work. SHIN-YI CHAO, Rutgers University-Camden The People and the Dao: New Studies in Chinese Religions in Honour of Daniel L. Overmyer Edited by PHILIP CLART and PAUL CROWE. Sankt Augustin: Institut Monumenta Serica, 2009. Monumenta Serica Monograph Series LX. 542 pages. ISBN 978-3-8050-0557-9. €60.00 hardcover. Readers of this journal will need no introduction to the name of Daniel Overmyer. Since the publication of his 1976 classic, Folk Buddhist Religion: Dissenting Sects in late Traditional China, Professor Overmyer has made landmark contributions to the study of sectarianism, spirit writing, and baojuan 寶卷, among very much else. His interests have led him from early Ming scripture to the lived religion of present day Taiwan and northern China, prompting him to pioneer a signature research methodology that pairs texts and observation, the knowledge of the ritual expert with the needs of the faithful. This book is a testament to the impact that one man can make on an entire field of study. Deriving from a conference held in 2002 at the University of British Columbia, it includes sixteen chapters from both established and younger scholars. It begins with two chapters that might have been better presented in reverse order: a thoughtful and detailed introduction by Philip Clart to the themes of the book, followed by a tribute by Randall L. Nadeau to Daniel Overmyer’s many contributions to the study of Chinese religions. The content chapters fall into three sections, the first of which concerns popular sects and religious movements. This section begins with an exploratory attempt by Hubert Seiwert to 86 Journal of Chinese Religions apply the “religious marketplace” (a.k.a., rational choice) model to questions such as why one would choose to affiliate with heterodox sects, often at great personal risk. Although this essay ultimately fails to provide many new answers, the questions it raises are provocative and interesting. Shin-yi Chao’s chapter traces the incorporation of the officially-approved cult of Zhenwu 真武 into sectarian scripture and hagiography. Chao shows how Zhenwu was written into the patriarchal lineage and Eternal Mother eschatology of Ming-dynasty baojuan, a process that evolves into the late Qing image of Zhenwu as a pilgrim on a journey to cultivate the Way. Christian Jochim provides the first of two chapters on the Yiguan Dao, in which Jochim discusses the Yiguan Dao in Taiwan as a particular carrier and interpreter of Confucianism. This chapter is occasionally distracted by the need to argue against a onedimensional dichotomy between elite and popular traditions, but is at its most effective when it uses modern Yiguan Dao texts to demonstrate the systematic syncretism of Confucian exegesis. These ideas pair nicely with Soo Khin Wah’s subsequent chapter outlining in detail the expansion of the missionizing Fayi 發一 branch of Yiguan Dao into Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Philip Clart remains with the topic of texts in his chapter on the “moral economy” of publishing in Taiwan. Here, the “economy” is a literal accounting of merits that are accrued in every stage of the printing and distribution of spirit-written morality treatises (shanshu 善書), and resonates with the religious economy models employed by Seiwert. Jean DeBernardi’s final chapter on the Taishang Laojun 太上老君 temple in Penang 檳城 neatly sums up many of the themes raised in this section. In tracing the revival of...