Book

The cult of the dead in a Chinese village

Stanford University PressStanford, Calif. • Published In 1973 • Pages:

By: Martin, Emily.

Abstract
This is a study of ancestor worship and lineage organization in Ch'i-nan, a village east of the city of San-hsia, in the southwestern part of the Taipei Basin in northern Taiwan. Ahern begins by outlining general aspects of the social organization of the village and the four clan communities which comprise it. This outline is followed by a detailed anlaysis of the Ch'inan cult of the dead, considering its outward manifestations, associated social practices and usages, and finally its psychological correlates. In a concluding chapter, Ahern presents comparative evidence from other Chinese villages, to demonstrate that variation in people's views of their ancestors are related to other aspects of social organization that vary from case to case.
Subjects
Lineages
Localized kin groups
Inter-community relations
Cult of the dead
Eschatology
Revelation and divination
Congregations
Organized ceremonial
culture
Taiwan Hokkien
HRAF PubDate
1995
Region
Asia
Sub Region
East Asia
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
David Sherwood
Field Date
1969-1970
Coverage Date
not specified
Coverage Place
Ch'i-nan village, Taipei hsien, Hai-shan region, Taiwan
Notes
Emily M. Ahern
Includes bibliography
LCCN
72097202
LCSH
Taiwanese