What Daoist ritual has to contribute to ritual studies

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article has three objectives: (1) to situate the history of Daoist ritual study within ritual studies; (2) to reflect on the role of ritual in Chinese culture; and (3) to survey the history and present focus of Daoist ritual studies. In the first part I will look at the impact of Protestant ideas of religion that militated against the development of ritual studies until the 1960s and 70s. In the second I will use Vandermeersch’s idea of Western ‘teleologic’ vs. Chinese ‘morphologic’ to clarify the implications of the central role of ritual in both Confucian and Daoist history. Finally, I will discuss briefly how the shift from the study of pre-Tang ritual that dominated the first phase of Daoist ritual studies to the current emphasis on field work and more recent historical eras contributes to our understanding of Chinese intellectual history.