Ancestors and Anxiety: Daoism and the Birth of Rebirth in China (Philip E. Lilienthal Books)

234 Pages·2009·1.89 MB·English

by  Stephen R. Bokenkamp

Ancestors and Anxiety
A
BOOK
ThePhilipE.Lilienthalimprint
honorsspecialbooks
incommemorationofamanwhosework
atUniversityofCaliforniaPressfrom1954to1979
wasmarkedbydedicationtoyoungauthors
andtohighstandardsinthefieldofAsianStudies.
Friends,family,authors,andfoundationshavetogether
endowedtheLilienthalFund,whichenablesUCPress
topublishunderthisimprintselectedbooks
inawaythatreflectsthetasteandjudgment
ofagreatandbelovededitor.
Ancestors and Anxiety
Daoism and the Birth of Rebirth in China
Stephen R. Bokenkamp
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley . LosAngeles . London
UniversityofCaliforniaPress,oneofthemostdistin-
guisheduniversitypressesintheUnitedStates,enriches
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UniversityofCaliforniaPress
BerkeleyandLosAngeles,California
UniversityofCaliforniaPress,Ltd.
London,England
©2007byTheRegentsoftheUniversityofCalifornia
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Bokenkamp,StephenR.,1949–.
Ancestorsandanxiety:Daoismandthebirth
ofrebirthinChina/StephenR.Bokenkamp.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-0-520-24948-6(alk.paper)
1. Taoism. 2. Reincarnation—Buddhism.
I. Title. II. Title:Daoismandthebirthofrebirth
inChina.
bl.1920.b63 2007
299.5'14237—dc22 2007005167
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ThisbookisprintedonNaturesBook,whichcontains
50%post-consumerwasteandmeetstheminimum
requirementsofansi/nisoz39.48-1992(r1997)
(PermanenceofPaper).
ToRobertW.Bokenkampand
AliceK.(Birner)Bokenkamp

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
NoteonTranslation xi
Introduction:TheProblemofRebirth 1
1. EnvisioningtheDead 33
2. TheUnquietDeadandTheirFamilies,PoliticalandAgnate 60
3. QuestionableShapes:HowtheLivingInterrogatedTheirDead 95
4. DoomedforaCertainTerm:TheIntimateDead 130
5. RebirthReborn 158
Postscript 193
ListofAbbreviations 199
Bibliography 203
Index 215

Acknowledgments
DuringthedecadethatIhaveworkedonthisbook,Ihavebeenthefor-
tunate recipient of comments, criticisms, and suggestions from a large
number of friends and colleagues. Among these, my colleague Robert
FordCampanydeservesfirstmention.Robprovidedunfailingadviceand
readuncomplaininglyeverydraftIproduced,invariablyprovidinghelp-
fulcriticisms,sometimeswithindays.Theonlypassagesthathedidnot
critiquewerethosehavingtodowithmyuseofhisownwork.Forthose
IbearfullresponsibilityandonlyhopethatIhavenotpoorlyrepaidhis
kindness.
ThetworeadersfortheUniversityofCaliforniaPress,TerryKleeman
and Stephen F. Teiser, were equally generous with their criticisms and
suggestions,savingmefromanumberofembarrassingerrors.Iamalso
gratefultoReedMalcolm,theAsianStudieseditorfortheUniversityof
CaliforniaPress,andhiswonderfulstafffortheirpatienceandassistance.
IthankaswelltherestofmycolleaguesandgraduatestudentsatIn-
dianaUniversityforprovidinganexcitingintellectualclimateandmany
helpfulconversations.JanNattier,JohnMcRae,GilRaz,ClarkeHudson,
StephanKory,andalltherestoftheparticipantsinourweeklyChinese
ScriptureReadingGrouphave,overtheyears,commentedonsomeofthe
ideasandtextsthatfoundtheirwayintothesepages.
Portionsofthisworkwerepresentedatconferencesandcolloquia.In
particular, I want to express my gratitude to Carl Bielefeldt, Bernard
Faure, and the faculty of the Religious Studies Department at Stanford
ix