| Praying for Power: Buddhism and the Formation of Gentry Society in Late-Ming China Contributor(s): Brook, Timothy (Author) |
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ISBN: 0674697758 ISBN-13: 9780674697751 Publisher: Harvard University Press OUR PRICE: $44.55 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: January 1994 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Sociology Of Religion - Social Science | Social Classes & Economic Disparity |
| Dewey: 306.694 |
| LCCN: 93005407 |
| Series: Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph |
| Physical Information: 1.52" H x 6.29" W x 9.31" (1.60 lbs) 412 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century China, Buddhists and Confucians alike flooded local Buddhist monasteries with donations. As gentry numbers grew faster than the imperial bureaucracy, traditional Confucian careers were closed to many; but visible philanthropy could publicize elite status outside the state realm. Actively sought by fundraising abbots, such patronage affected institutional Buddhism. After exploring the relation of Buddhism to Ming Neo-Confucianism, the growth of tourism to Buddhist sites, and the mechanisms and motives for charitable donations, Timothy Brook studies three widely separated and economically dissimilar counties. He draws on rich data in monastic gazetteers to examine the patterns and social consequences of patronage. |
Contributor Bio(s): Brook, Timothy: - Timothy Brook is Professor of History and Republic of China Chair at the University of British Columbia. |