Spirit-writing cults in the Chaozhou region between 1860 and 1949

Cover -- Title Pages -- Contents -- List of figures and tables -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1 Objectives of This Study -- 2 Existing Studies of the Spirit-Writing Movement -- 3 Chinese Popular Religion -- 4 Outline of the Book -- Chapter 1: Chaozhou as a Cultural Region and Changes in Modern Times -- 1.1 Chaozhou as a Cultural Region -- 1.2 Changes since 1860 -- Chapter 2: The Use of Spirit-Writing from the Ming to the Republic -- 2.1 Evoking the Purple Lady -- 2.2 Curing Diseases -- 2.3 Geomancy -- 2.4 Conversing in Poetry -- 2.5 Fortune-Telling -- Chapter 3: The Spirit-Writing Movement in Chaozhou -- 3.1 Factors Stimulating the Spirit-Writing Movement -- 3.2 The Spread of the Way of Former Heaven -- 3.3 Burying Corpses and Bones -- 3.4 Conclusion -- Chapter 4: Spirit-Writing Cults and Charitable Halls -- 4.1 Different Definitions and Primary Activities of Charitable Halls -- 4.2 Four Types of Charitable Halls -- 4.3 Relationship between Spirit-Writing Cults and Charitable Halls -- 4.4 Conclusion -- Chapter 5: Local Spirit-Written Books and Soteriological Notions -- 5.1 Time, Publishers, Creators, and Motivations -- 5.2 An Overview of Local Spirit-Written Books -- 5.3 Soteriological Notions -- Chapter 6: The Creation of a New Spirit-Writing Cult -- 6.1 Reactivation of a Local Spirit-Writing Deity and Establishment of the Mingjue Society -- 6.2 The Content of Shanzong Baojuan (1922) -- 6.3 An Extraordinary Rewrite -- 6.4 The Content of Shanzong Baojuan (1930) -- 6.5 Summary -- Chapter 7: Spirit-Writing Deities -- 7.1 Spirit-Writing Deities through History and across Regions -- 7.2 Presiding Deities -- 7.3 Spirit-Writing Deities and Cults -- Conclusion -- Appendix 1: Spirit-Writing Altars and Shantang in Xiashan Town -- Appendix 2: Surviving Spirit-Written Books Created in Chaozhou -- Bibliography -- Index.