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Journey of a Goddess

Journey of a Goddess Chen Jinggu Subdues the Snake Demon

Paperback (02 Jul 2018)

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Publisher's Synopsis

First English translations of a novel and two play excerpts based on tales of the goddess Chen Jinggu, an eighth-century shaman and present-day cult deity.

This book offers the first translation into English of the Chinese novel Haiyouji, as well as excerpts of a marionette play based on the cult lore of the goddess Chen Jinggu (766-790), a historical shaman priestess who became one of Fujian's most important goddesses and the Lüshan Sect's chief deity. The novel, a 1753 reprint of what is possibly a Ming dynasty novel, was both a popular fiction and a religious tract. It offers a lively mythological tale depicting combat between the shaman goddess and a snake demon goddess. Replete with the beliefs and practices of the cult of this warrior goddess, the novel asserts the importance of Shamanism (i.e., local religious beliefs) as one of the four religions of China, along with Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. To further develop the links between literature and local religion, Fan Pen Li Chen includes translations of two acts from a Fujian marionette play, Biography of the Lady, featuring the goddess.

Book information

ISBN: 9781438467085
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Imprint: SUNY Press
Pub date:
DEWEY: 895.1008038202114
DEWEY edition: 23
Language: English
Number of pages: 184
Weight: 227g
Height: 229mm
Width: 152mm
Spine width: 25mm