Practicing Scripture: A Lay Buddhist Movement in Late Imperial China

Practicing Scripture is a monograph on a lay Buddhist movement, generally referred to as Non-Action Teachings, or Wuweijiao, that saw itself as part of the Chan (Zen) tradition during the Ming–Qing (1368–1911) dynasties. Thanks to its sensitive analyses of methods and a wide range of extant sources (including stimulating accounts of the important role played by women in this religious group), Practicing Scripture explores one of the few lay groups in traditional China that we can actually understand in some depth, both in terms of its religious contents and history, and its social environrment.