Great Perfection: Religion and Ethnicity in a Chinese Millennial Kingdom (review)

Reviews 161 Terry F. Kleeman. Great Perfection: Religion and Ethnicity in a Chinese Millennial Kingdom. Honolulu: University ofHawai'i Press, 1998. x, 251 pp. Hardcover $48.00, isbn 0-8248-1800-8. In the year 302 ce., sinified members of the Ba E3 ethnic group led by Li Te ^W and his third son Li Xiong $ÍÍÉ founded the state ofPerfection (Cheng fiíc; also known as the state of Great Perfection) in the area around Chengdu (Sichuan). The Lis belonged to a powerful warrior lineage which had dominated eastern Sichuan for decades, and whose members had served the Celestial Master (Tianshi ^TvEiP) Daoist state in Hanzhong at the end ofdie Han dynasty. Li Te and Li Xiong maintained close contact with Daoist recluses such as Long-lived Fan (Fan Changsheng lÈJIiÈ), and some oftheir legal and tax policies appear to have been modeled on those of the Celestial Masters. However, following Li Xiong's death in 334 the Great Perfection kingdom fell into disarray (it was even renamed Han Ü), and was finally crushed by the Eastern Jin in 347. In this thoroughly researched and engagingly written book, Terry Kleeman utilizes scholarship in Chinese, Japanese, and Western languages to trace the ethnic and religious factors behind the rise and fall ofthe state of Great Perfection. Kleeman firmly establishes himself as the expert on early Sichuan cultural history by employing historical and ethnographic studies of the region to reconstruct the early history ofthis region's Daoist movements and their millennial traditions. Central to his study are annotated translations of the two most important sources about the Great Perfection kingdom: Chang Qu ^StTs (ca. 291-ca. 361) Account ofthe Land ofHuayang (Huayangguozhi ^I^S/S), and the "ülegitimate annals" (zaiji lBcgO) preserved in the Book ofJin (Jinshu iHlr). Kleeman's scholarship is superb, and represents the best of the Western sinological tradition. Moreover, the historical record as he reconstructs it is a riveting one, and should prove interesting to both faculty and students. The structure of Grear Perfection is similar to that of Kleeman's first book1 in that the first half (part 1) consists ofintroductory material while the second (part 2) contains an annotated translation. Chapter 1 (pp. 11-60) explores the ethnic history of ancient Sichuan. Kleeman begins with a sensitive treatment of the methodological issues that affect our attempts to understand such history (see pp. 11-16). He then turns to recent archaeological data to describe the ancient Sichuan culture ofSanxingdui HJLtEI, and uses a wide range ofprimary and secondary© 1999 by University sources to reconstruct the histories ofShu W and Ba. Kleeman's account clearly ofHawai'i Pressindicates the importance ofethnicity and religion in Sichuan's ancient history. Specifically, he shows that the Ba were renowned warriors and musicians who worshipped a tiger deityknown as the Lord ofthe Granaries (Linjun JUSi). 162 China Review International: Vol. 6, No. ?, Spring 1999 Moreover, while many Ba later adopted Chinese names and other aspects of Chinese government and culture, religion played an important role in maintaining a sense of Ba identity. Chapter 2 (pp. 61-85) examines the religious history of Sichuan, particularly the Celestial Master state formed at the end of the Han dynasty. While this topic has been fully explored by previous scholars, Kleeman makes a significant new contribution by documenting the role ethnicity played in the region's religious history. For example, he shows that members ofthe Banshun WJÊ and Cong Ü ethnic groups were active members ofthe Celestial Master movement who joined due to a complex combination ofpolitical and religious motives (pp. 74-75)· Kleeman's work thus represents an important addition to that of scholars who have begun to assess the importance of ethnicity in the history oflate imperial and modern Daoism, especially Judith Boltz, Jacques Lemoine, Lowell Skar, and Michel Strickmann. He also surpasses previous scholarship on early Daoism by discussing in detail the decline of the Celestial Master movement following the surrender ofits leader Zhang Lu 'jMM to Cao Cao Wìfi (155-220) in 215. In particular, his analysis ofvoluntary and forced migrations by believers (including the Lis) during the third and fourth centuries provides valuable clues as to how that era's political...