"This excellent study, among its other virtues, makes one outstanding contribution to religious studies: it provides ethnographic reporting of local religious practices in the People's Republic of China (PRC)... Probably the most sophisticated study of contemporary popular Chinese religion that has yet appeared."--Alan Hunter, Sociology of Religion "This excellent ... book breaks new ground in several interrelated areas: its combination of fieldwork with the collection and study of texts and inscriptions, the inclusive, community-wide base of local religious practices, the role of Daoist priests in a community religion, detailed case studies of the development of popular deities, and the revival of religious festivals in China in the mid-1980s."--Daniel L. Overmyer, Pacific Affairs "Dean has made a major contribution to our understanding of Chinese religion... As an expert tour-guide, eyewitness reporter, archivist, historical interpreter, textual translator, and semiologist, he constructs a valuable multifaceted view of some old and continuously developing religious phenomena."--Scott Davis, The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs

• *FrontMatter, pg. i*CONTENTS, pg. vii*LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, pg. ix*LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS, pg. xi*ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, pg. xiii*INTRODUCTION, pg. 1*ONE. TAOISM IN FUJIAN, pg. 21*TWO. THE GREAT EMPEROR WHO PROTECTS LIFE, pg. 61*THREE. THE PATRIARCH OF THE CLEAR STREAM, pg. 99*FOUR. THE REVERENT LORD OF BROAD COMPASSION, pg. 131*CONCLUSION, pg. 173*APPENDIX I. FOUR SONG TITLES OF INVESTITURE FOR THE PATRIARCH OF THE CLEAR STREAM, pg. 189*APPENDIX II. THE DOSSIER OF THE REVERENT LORD OF BROAD COMPASSION, pg. 201*APPENDIX III. CHINESE TEXT OF SCRIPTURES, pg. 205*NOTES, pg. 211*GLOSSARY, pg. 239*BIBLIOGRAPHY, pg. 251*INDEX, pg. 275

"This excellent study, among its other virtues, makes one outstanding contribution to religious studies: it provides ethnographic reporting of local religious practices in the People's Republic of China (PRC)... Probably the most sophisticated study of contemporary popular Chinese religion that has yet appeared."--Alan Hunter, Sociology of Religion "This excellent ... book breaks new ground in several interrelated areas: its combination of fieldwork with the collection and study of texts and inscriptions, the inclusive, community-wide base of local religious practices, the role of Daoist priests in a community religion, detailed case studies of the development of popular deities, and the revival of religious festivals in China in the mid-1980s."--Daniel L. Overmyer, Pacific Affairs "Dean has made a major contribution to our understanding of Chinese religion... As an expert tour-guide, eyewitness reporter, archivist, historical interpreter, textual translator, and semiologist, he constructs a valuable multifaceted view of some old and continuously developing religious phenomena."--Scott Davis, The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs

• *FrontMatter, pg. i*CONTENTS, pg. vii*LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, pg. ix*LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS, pg. xi*ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, pg. xiii*INTRODUCTION, pg. 1*ONE. TAOISM IN FUJIAN, pg. 21*TWO. THE GREAT EMPEROR WHO PROTECTS LIFE, pg. 61*THREE. THE PATRIARCH OF THE CLEAR STREAM, pg. 99*FOUR. THE REVERENT LORD OF BROAD COMPASSION, pg. 131*CONCLUSION, pg. 173*APPENDIX I. FOUR SONG TITLES OF INVESTITURE FOR THE PATRIARCH OF THE CLEAR STREAM, pg. 189*APPENDIX II. THE DOSSIER OF THE REVERENT LORD OF BROAD COMPASSION, pg. 201*APPENDIX III. CHINESE TEXT OF SCRIPTURES, pg. 205*NOTES, pg. 211*GLOSSARY, pg. 239*BIBLIOGRAPHY, pg. 251*INDEX, pg. 275

"This excellent study, among its other virtues, makes one outstanding contribution to religious studies: it provides ethnographic reporting of local religious practices in the People's Republic of China (PRC)... Probably the most sophisticated study of contemporary popular Chinese religion that has yet appeared."--Alan Hunter, Sociology of Religion "This excellent ... book breaks new ground in several interrelated areas: its combination of fieldwork with the collection and study of texts and inscriptions, the inclusive, community-wide base of local religious practices, the role of Daoist priests in a community religion, detailed case studies of the development of popular deities, and the revival of religious festivals in China in the mid-1980s."--Daniel L. Overmyer, Pacific Affairs "Dean has made a major contribution to our understanding of Chinese religion... As an expert tour-guide, eyewitness reporter, archivist, historical interpreter, textual translator, and semiologist, he constructs a valuable multifaceted view of some old and continuously developing religious phenomena."--Scott Davis, The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs

• *FrontMatter, pg. i*CONTENTS, pg. vii*LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, pg. ix*LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS, pg. xi*ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, pg. xiii*INTRODUCTION, pg. 1*ONE. TAOISM IN FUJIAN, pg. 21*TWO. THE GREAT EMPEROR WHO PROTECTS LIFE, pg. 61*THREE. THE PATRIARCH OF THE CLEAR STREAM, pg. 99*FOUR. THE REVERENT LORD OF BROAD COMPASSION, pg. 131*CONCLUSION, pg. 173*APPENDIX I. FOUR SONG TITLES OF INVESTITURE FOR THE PATRIARCH OF THE CLEAR STREAM, pg. 189*APPENDIX II. THE DOSSIER OF THE REVERENT LORD OF BROAD COMPASSION, pg. 201*APPENDIX III. CHINESE TEXT OF SCRIPTURES, pg. 205*NOTES, pg. 211*GLOSSARY, pg. 239*BIBLIOGRAPHY, pg. 251*INDEX, pg. 275