The "cult of poetry" in contemporary China
Article Abstract:
The "cult of poetry" in post-Mao China reflects contradictory objectives. The unofficial poetry, which is considered as avant-garde literature by the West, centers around a religious imagery of poets as high priests. These Chinese works of the 1980s and the 1990s change the status of poetry to a supreme religion that imposes limitations on their meaning, thus contradicting their advocacy of creative freedom and individuality. Though the poetry claims to resist consumerism, its international recognition as dissent literature converts it into a commodity in the cultural market.
Publication Name: The Journal of Asian Studies
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0021-9118
Year: 1996
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Shrines, governing-class identity, and the cult of widow fidelity in mid-Ming Jiangnan
Article Abstract:
The ideal of widow fidelity and the concept of bestowing them honor gained prominence from the late 12th to the late 15th century. An ordinary layperson can easily dismiss such shows of martyrdom by women as typical of their subservient, second-class status in Chinese society. However, the shrines erected to these noble women support the same vision of social power as those to men because the martyred women dedicated their lives, even if unwittingly, in support of that vision. Moreover, the women demonstrated their loyalty to the state-sponsored Five Relationships.
Publication Name: The Journal of Asian Studies
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0021-9118
Year: 1997
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The illusion of standardising the Gods: the cult of the five emperors in late imperial China
Article Abstract:
The Five Emperors (Wudi) cult in nineteenth century China was considered to be a risk to public morality and order. The gods of the cult were associated with epidemics and pestilence, and rituals included exorcistic parades and the launching of a paper boat which symbolised 'Sending off Pestilence'. The background of the Wudi and Wutong cults is described, including details of the former's role in popular culture.
Publication Name: The Journal of Asian Studies
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0021-9118
Year: 1997
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