Fabian Graham – författare

This book traces the history and development of Taiwan’s new money god tradition, where, by borrowing a small sum of blessed ‘fortune money’ and returning it with interest within a year, a temple’s deity may intervene in the recipient’s life, bringing them unearned good luck and good fortune.Comprising an in- depth ethnography based on a decade of research, the book explores Taiwan’s money god tradition, revealing its ritual culture and underlying beliefs, thoroughly analyzed from sociological, comparative historical/ geographic, Taoist, Buddhist, metaphysical, and philosophical contexts. Drawing on Taoist and Buddhist cosmology, Chinese afterlife beliefs, and a trust in the power of the gods to influence the material world, the narrative explores the subjective nature of luck and fate; of human desires, choices and decisions; and of individuals’ subjective understandings of what the universe contains. These factors all contribute to the book’s final question, which, through an exploration of human- deity interactions, investigates whether Jacques Derrida’s true, un- reciprocal gift exists on a transcendent level amid the religious exchanges within Taiwan’s money god tradition.This will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Chinese religion and Taiwanese culture, as well as those with an interest in East Asian philosophy and religion.

In Singapore and Malaysia, the inversion of Chinese Underworld traditions has meant that Underworld demons are now amongst the most commonly venerated deities in statue form, channelled through their spirit mediums, tang-ki. The Chinese Underworld and its sub-hells are populated by a bureaucracy drawn from the Buddhist, Taoist and vernacular pantheons. Under the watchful eye of Hell’s ‘enforcers’, the lower echelons of demon soldiers impose post-mortal punishments on the souls of the recently deceased for moral transgressions committed during their prior incarnations.Voices from the Underworld offers an ethnography of contemporary Chinese Underworld traditions, where night-time cemetery rituals assist the souls of the dead, exorcised spirits are imprisoned in Guinness bottles, and malicious foetus ghosts are enlisted to strengthen a temple’s spirit army. Understanding the religious divergences between Singapore and Malaysia through an analysis of socio-political and historical events, Fabian Graham challenges common assumptions on the nature and scope of Chinese vernacular religious beliefs and practices.Graham’s innovative approach to alterity allows the reader to listen to first-person dialogues between the author and channelled Underworld deities. Through its alternative methodological and narrative stance, the book intervenes in debates on the interrelation between sociocultural and spiritual worlds, and promotes the de-stigmatisation of spirit possession and discarnate phenomena in the future study of mystical and religious traditions.

In Singapore and Malaysia, the inversion of Chinese Underworld traditions has meant that Underworld demons are now amongst the most commonly venerated deities in statue form, channelled through their spirit mediums, tang-ki. The Chinese Underworld and its sub-hells are populated by a bureaucracy drawn from the Buddhist, Taoist and vernacular pantheons. Under the watchful eye of Hell’s ‘enforcers’, the lower echelons of demon soldiers impose post-mortal punishments on the souls of the recently deceased for moral transgressions committed during their prior incarnations.Chinese religion in contemporary Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan offers an ethnography of contemporary Chinese Underworld traditions, where night-time cemetery rituals assist the souls of the dead, exorcised spirits are imprisoned in Guinness bottles, and malicious foetus ghosts are enlisted to strengthen a temple’s spirit army. Understanding the religious divergences between Singapore and Malaysia (and their counterparts in Taiwan) through an analysis of socio-political and historical events, Fabian Graham challenges common assumptions about the nature and scope of Chinese vernacular religious beliefs and practices.Graham’s innovative approach to alterity allows the reader to listen to first-person dialogues between the author and channelled Underworld deities. Through its alternative methodological and narrative stance, the book intervenes in debates on the interrelation between sociocultural and spiritual worlds, and promotes the destigmatisation of spirit possession and discarnate phenomena in the future study of mystical and religious traditions.