Religions of China in Practice

Religions of China in Practice is a wonderful smorgasbord of philosophy, religious stories, poetry and history. The editor sets out to provide an overview of the three main religious traditions of China: Buddhism, Confuciansism and Daoism. This is accomplished with a pastiche of short readings. Readings are arranged according to content rather than by religion and fall into four categories. Sections cover the "Unseen World", human relations with the "Unseen world" (including communication and ritual) and the conduct of day to day affairs. Each passage is individually translated, and is accompanied by a short introduction furnished by the translator. Fairly extensive additional reading lists are provided at the end of each reading and provide a valuable resource if your interest is piqued by a particular piece. A very extensive general introduction ties the entire book together and provides background information for readers of general interest, who are not scholars in the field of eastern religion. I, myself, am not a scholar in eastern religion and come to the field mainly through general interest. I was therefore pleasantly surprised at the readability of this book. Some of the poetic pieces (for example - The Seduction Songs of the Perfected) were exquisitely beautiful. Other passages, while less stirring provided me with a clearer understanding of the intricate relationships between the religions of China; something I have often found difficult to understand. I would highly recommend this book to those with more than a passing interest in eastern religion. Although I am not necessarily qualified to speak, I suspect it would also be an invaluable resource to the serious student, given its fairly extensive scholarly accoutrements. Personally, I am looking forward to reading the other books in this collection.