essay

Gods, ghosts, and ancestors

Religion and ritual in Chinese societyStanford, Calif.Published In 1974 • Pages: 131-182, 356-357

By: Wolf, Arthur P..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a study of Taiwanese peasant religion as depicted from native concepts and practices associated with the hierarchy of gods, beliefs about ghosts, and the ever-present ancestor worship. Data were gathered intermittently between 1957 and 1970 from general observations and informants, and deal primarily with Taipei Hsien, with particular emphasis on the villages of San-hsia, Shu-lin and Hsia-ch'i-chou (the site of the author's first field work in the area).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Ingroup antagonisms
Behavior toward non-relatives
Cult of the dead
General character of religion
Eschatology
Spirits and gods
Sacred objects and places
Avoidance and taboo
Revelation and divination
Congregations
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Taiwan Hokkien
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2019
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Asia
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
East Asia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle ; 1983
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1957-1970
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1957-1970
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Taipei Hsien, Shu-lin and San-hsia (p. 132) among others - a general region in Taipei Hsien
NotesAdditional notes
Arthur P. Wolf
Includes bibliographical references (p. 356-357)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
73089863
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Ancestor Worship--Taiwan/Religion--Taiwan