Generation of a new space: a maiden temple in the Chinese religious culture of Taiwan
This paper addresses a significant gender issue in the Chinese religious culture of Taiwan. The exclusion of deceased maidens from family and ancestral lineages leaves relations between the living and the dead disordered. People believe that homeless maidens become restless, polluting ghosts after d...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2007
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In: |
Culture and religion
Year: 2007, Volume: 8, Issue: 1, Pages: 89-104 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Taiwan
/ Girl
/ Dead woman
/ Cult of the dead
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RelBib Classification: | BM Chinese universism; Confucianism; Taoism |
Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
Summary: | This paper addresses a significant gender issue in the Chinese religious culture of Taiwan. The exclusion of deceased maidens from family and ancestral lineages leaves relations between the living and the dead disordered. People believe that homeless maidens become restless, polluting ghosts after death who will bring misfortune to their family and others in society. The case study examined here is a correction to the exclusion/pollution/homelessness of maiden-spirits through "adoption" in the maiden-temple of Sam-giap. I will analyse how spirit-adoption in the Sam-giap maiden-temple constitutes an attempt to correct that disorder and pollution. I will also argue that one result of the Sam-giap corrective practice is the generation of a new space for maidenspirits in which a new category that disrupts the opposition of ghosts and ancestors emerges. |
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ISSN: | 1475-5610 |
Contains: | In: Culture and religion
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/14755610601183597 |