Empowered Writing: Exorcistic and Apotropaic Rituals In Medieval China

Empowered Writing explores the inherent powers of Chinese talismans (tallies), petitions, registers, and holy scriptures, presenting a systematic study of their exorcistic and apotropaic properties. Using a vast arsenal of original sources, the book traces the unfolding and transformation of empowered writing from the Warring States period through the Six Dynasties, closely examining the different kinds of writing, their uses, and interpretation as well as relating uniquely Daoist features to imperial and Buddhist usages. The book is pathbreaking in its endeavor and stunning in its depth of analyis. It is a must for all China historians and scholars of religion.