Voices from the Underworld

Chinese Hell Deity Worship in Contemporary Singapore and Malaysia

Fabian Graham (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

280 Seiten

2022
Manchester University Press (Verlag)
9781526163721 (ISBN)

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Embracing an ontological approach to religious phenomena, this study traces the origins and development of Chinese Hell deity worship now prevalent in Singapore and Malaysia. Written for academics and the interested public, it challenges a priori assumptions vis-à-vis the diversity of present-day Chinese religious beliefs and ritual practices. -- .

In Singapore and Malaysia, the inversion of Chinese Underworld traditions has meant that Underworld demons are now amongst the most commonly venerated deities in statue form, channelled through their spirit mediums, tang-ki. The Chinese Underworld and its sub-hells are populated by a bureaucracy drawn from the Buddhist, Taoist and vernacular pantheons.

Voices from the Underworld offers an ethnography of contemporary Chinese Underworld traditions, where night-time cemetery rituals assist the souls of the dead, exorcised spirits are imprisoned in Guinness bottles, and malicious foetus ghosts are enlisted to strengthen a temple’s spirit army. Understanding the religious divergences between Singapore and Malaysia through an analysis of socio-political and historical events, Graham challenges common assumptions on the nature and scope of Chinese vernacular religious practices. -- .

Fabian Graham is a Research Fellow in the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore -- .

Introduction

Part I: Setting the scene
1 The modern Underworld tradition
2 Analysis: a baseline of comparison
3 The historical development of Underworld cosmology

Part II: The Underworld tradition in Singapore
4 Yu Feng Nan Fu Xuanshan Miao: setting a baseline of comparison
5 A new Underworld God of Wealth, and, foetus assistance rituals in Singapore
6 Lunar Seventh Month: the centrality of graveyards in the Underworld tradition

Part III: The Underworld tradition in Malaysia
7 Malaysia and the party spirit: guanxi and the creation of ‘intentional’ communities
8 Seventh Month rituals in southern Malaysia: salvation rituals and ‘Ah Pek’ parties
9 Seventh Month rituals in central Malaysia: coffin rituals and the releasing of exorcised spirits

Part IV: Tracing the origins of the modern Underworld tradition
10 Anxi Chenghuangmiao and cultural flows of local mythology
11 Penang: the earliest recollections of Tua Di Ya Pek embodied
12 Conclusions and analysis
Index -- .

Erscheinungsdatum	18.10.2021
Reihe/Serie	Alternative Sinology
Zusatzinfo	16 colour illustrations, 14 black & white illustrations
Verlagsort	Manchester
Sprache	englisch
Maße	156 x 234 mm
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Spezielle Soziologien
ISBN-13	9781526163721 / 9781526163721
Zustand	Neuware