The Religion Of The Chinese People
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
At the crossroads of sociology and spirituality, Marcel Granet's The Religion of the Chinese People stands as a landmark work of scholarly inquiry into the rich and complex religious life of China's civilization. Originally written in French, this edition — translated, edited, and introduced by the distinguished anthropologist Maurice Freedman — presents Granet's sweeping analysis of Chinese religious practice, from the ancient agrarian festivals and ancestor worship that shaped peasant life, to the intertwining cosmologies of Taoism, Confucianism, and popular folk religion that have governed Chinese society for millennia. Granet, one of the most influential figures in French sociology and sinology, brings to bear the intellectual rigour of Durkheimian social theory, revealing religion not merely as doctrine, but as a living social force embedded in the rhythms of Chinese life and statecraft. His prose is dense with insight, weaving together myth, ritual, and historical evidence into a coherent and commanding portrait of a civilization's spiritual architecture. Freedman's introduction contextualises Granet's work within modern anthropological debate, making this edition as essential for contemporary scholars as it is for the general reader curious about one of history's most enduring cultures. A work of profound intellectual ambition, it raises a question that lingers long after the final page: how much of the sacred is, in truth, a mirror of the social?
Author: Marcel Granet
Format: Hardback
Genre: Religion
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
At the crossroads of sociology and spirituality, Marcel Granet's The Religion of the Chinese People stands as a landmark work of scholarly inquiry into the rich and complex religious life of China's civilization. Originally written in French, this edition — translated, edited, and introduced by the distinguished anthropologist Maurice Freedman — presents Granet's sweeping analysis of Chinese religious practice, from the ancient agrarian festivals and ancestor worship that shaped peasant life, to the intertwining cosmologies of Taoism, Confucianism, and popular folk religion that have governed Chinese society for millennia. Granet, one of the most influential figures in French sociology and sinology, brings to bear the intellectual rigour of Durkheimian social theory, revealing religion not merely as doctrine, but as a living social force embedded in the rhythms of Chinese life and statecraft. His prose is dense with insight, weaving together myth, ritual, and historical evidence into a coherent and commanding portrait of a civilization's spiritual architecture. Freedman's introduction contextualises Granet's work within modern anthropological debate, making this edition as essential for contemporary scholars as it is for the general reader curious about one of history's most enduring cultures. A work of profound intellectual ambition, it raises a question that lingers long after the final page: how much of the sacred is, in truth, a mirror of the social?