Chapter 3 Spirit-Writing Practices from the Song to Ming Periods and Their Relation to Politics and Religion
In: Communicating with the GodsSearch for other papers by Chien-chuan Wang[見川 王] in
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Abstract
This chapter details the emergence of different spirit-writing techniques from the Song to Ming periods and their relation to different sites, regions, and communities. It shows how spirit-writing evolved from earlier forms of spirit-possession and involved an increasingly diverse set of practitioners, deities, and techniques, despite being prohibited almost from its inception. The focus of the chapters lies on outlining the emergence of early spirit-writing communities on Mount Wudang 武當山 in Hubei 湖北 province as well as in Sichuan 四川 province, which centered around Daoist temples and monasteries. Using a wide variety of sources, the chapter demonstrates the breadth of spirit-writing, which included lay literati participants and even emperors, but was also strongly linked to religious communities, which were not only Daoist but, since the late Ming period, also included Buddhist believers.