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Rating: 
Summary: in-depth look at ancient Chinese religion
Review: This is a great book. It is hard to find books on ancient Chinese religion. I feel that anyone interested in ancient Chinese PHILOSOPHY would do themselves a favour by reading this book - it fleshes out the picture and worldview of the Chinese.
from the back cover:
This book is the first reassesment of ancient Chinese religion to appear in recent years. It provides a historical investigation of broadly shared religious beliefs and goals in ancient China from the earliest period to the end of the Han dynasty. The author makes use of recently acquired archaeological data, traditional texts, and modern scholarly work from China, Japan, and the west. The overall concern of this book is to reach the religious mentality of the ancient Chinese in the context of personal and daily experiences. Poo deals with such problems as the definition of religion, the popular/elite controversy in methodology, and the use of "elite" documents in the study of ordinary life.
from the conclusion:"... the central theme of the religious beliefs of the ancient Chinese was the search for personal welfare, or, to use a common saying, to seek for happiness and to avoid misfortune ... It seems clear that ordinary people had similar ideas about what constituted a happy life: to keep away from sickness, fear, and hunger. This is reflected in the common saying: "Happiness is to have no misfortunes and illnesses." ... except for perhaps a few, happiness was expected to be found not in heaven but on earth."
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