The Gift Economy in Shaman-People Interactions

Abstract

This paper analyzes the gift economy that exists in the interactions between Chinese shamans and the people, drawing on Mauss's theory of the gift economy (Mauss, 1925). Ethnographic fieldwork methodology is employed to get the material on the current state of the gift economy between Chinese shamans and people. The paper also challenges the traditional beliefs that place divinities on a pedestal and instead presents the equal relationship between people and divinities through the new perspective of a reciprocal gift economy.