Man, Nature and the Infinite: The Scope of Taoist Thunder Magic Rituals by Florian C. Reiter (review)

interrupted and diverted the flow of ideas. The authors provide ample, eloquent evidence of the many byways or side-chains that developed over several centuries of innovation. Their book can be read without this framing narrative, which does not significantly intrude on the exegesis of the text or the analysis of the art. STEPHEN F. TEISER Princeton University FLORIAN C. REITER, Man, Nature and the Infinite: The Scope of Taoist Thunder Magic Rituals. Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, vol. 81. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2013. ix, 178 pp. J48 (pb). ISBN 978-3-447-06904-5 The Daofa huiyuan 道法會元 (DZ 1220, referred to hereafter as DFHY), one of the longest works included within the Ming edition of the Daoist canon, is also one of the least well understood. Its 268 fascicles encompass a bewildering array of ritual manuals belonging to a variety of Song and Yuan liturgical traditions and lineages, largely centered around the theory and practice of the genre of exorcistic and apotropaic ritual methods generally referred to as ‘‘thunder ritual’’ (leifa 雷法). Florian Reiter has published over a half-dozen articles and a full-length monograph1 on various aspects of thunder ritual as represented in the DFHY, and he continues this important work in his most recent study. In Man, Nature and the Infinite: The Scope of Taoist Thunder Magic Rituals, Reiter concentrates on three manuals comprising chapters 90–92 of DFHY, translating most of their contents and providing annotations and analyses of their main themes, supplemented with material drawn from other thunder ritual texts from the DFHY and elsewhere. Reiter’s work is divided into seven parts, in addition to an introduction and conclusion. The introduction provides a brief overview of the development of thunder ritual in the Song. Noting the tendency in Song thought to ‘‘rationalize and formalize the essence of intellectual insight into the nature of things and the living world [. . . ] [and] to analyse and describe how the cosmic forces were organized and could be used through ritual methods,’’ Reiter puts forth the central objective of his study: ‘‘[. . . ] to understand and describe how man, nature and the infinite found expression in the Thunder rituals that Wang Wen-ch’ing2 and his followers worked out and documented. What were the rituals all about, and in which way did they do justice to the claim of an omnipotent spiritual might that was believed to materialize in ritual action?’’ (p. 3). In part I (‘‘Aspects of the Pantheon in Thunder Magic’’), Reiter examines the pantheon of thunder ritual as described in texts associated with the Shenxiao 神霄 and Qingwei 清微 traditions. Parts II, III, and IV consist of summaries and translations of the contents of the three texts contained in DFHY chapters 90–92: the Thunder Rituals of the One Breath of Anterior Heaven (Xiantian yiqi leifa 先天 一氣雷法, fasc. 90), the Great Rituals and Prayers of the Emissary Joy of Heaven and the Six Yi of Thunder and Thunderclaps (Leiting liuyi Tianxi shizhe qidao dafa 1 Florian C. Reiter, Basic Conditions of Taoist Thunder Magic (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007). 2 [Wang Wenqing 王文卿, 12th century—ed.] 124 BOOK REVIEWS 雷霆六乙天喜使者祈禱大法, fasc. 91), and the Great Rituals of the Emissary Joy of Heaven and the Six Yi of Anterior Heaven (Xiantian liuyi Tianxi shizhe dafa 先天六 一天喜使者大法, fasc. 92). These works are rich with a variety of content, such as theoretical discussions of the principles of thunder ritual, incantations and invocations, templates for petitions and other ritual documents, directions for drawing talismans, esoteric formulae, and complex ritual and meditation instructions . Reiter translates much of the material in these texts, interspersing his own commentary throughout, and summarizes the remainders of the texts. In parts V and VI, Reiter draws upon other texts to attempt to demonstrate that, despite the great variety of deities and ritual elements found in thunder ritual manuals, there is an underlying, unifying worldview to be found throughout them. Part VI contains a translation of a treatise found in DFHY, fasc. 67, the Comprehensive Discussions of All Rituals (Wanfa tonglun 萬法通 論), by Zhang Shanyuan 張善淵 (fl. 1280–1294). Part VII contains a ‘‘tabular survey and formal assessment’’ of DFHY chapters 90–92, listing all of the various deities, talismans, incantations, and ritual methods found across those three...