The remains of Tai Fu's lost collection Kuang-i chi ('The Great Book of Marvels') preserve three hundred short tales of encounters with the other world. This study develops a style of close reading through which those tales give access to the lives of individuals in eighth-century China. Through the eyes of a mid-century county official the picture emerges of a complex lay society, served by a mixed priesthood of ritual practitioners, whose members' lives at all levels were profoundly shaped by their perceived experience of contact with the other world. It was a society embarking on fundamental change, and this book uses the sharp historical focus of Tai Fu's collection to study the dynamics of that change. The work gracefully reveals the transition from the beliefs and institutions of early mediaeval China towards those we now recognize as modern.
Reviews
"The hallmark of this intriguing and provocative study is the immediacy of the voices from T'ang China that Dudbridge is able to enliven and present...Of particular value after the presentation of several texts is the appendix summary of all the extant entries. All interested scholars and students should find this book an exemplar of research." Linada L. Lam-Easton, Religious Studies Review "...we must also acknowledge the merits of Dudbridge's effort. Chief among these is the value of his book in sharpening our awareness of the inherently blurry line between the fictional and the documentary in medieval accounts of the strange." Don J. Wyatt, American Historical Review
