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| Book Review: "The Art of Doing Good: Charity in Late Ming China," By Joanna Handlin Smith | ||
| 作者 | Knapp, Keith N. |
|---|---|
| 出處題名 | Religious Studies Review |
| 卷期 | v.36 n.3 |
| 出版日期 | 2010.09.22 |
| 頁次 | 246 |
| 出版者 | Wiley-Blackwell |
| 出版者網址 | http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/ |
| 出版地 | Oxford, UK [牛津, 英國] |
| 資料類型 | 期刊論文=Journal Article; 書評=Book Review |
| 使用語言 | 英文=English |
| 附註項 | Author Information The Citadel |
| 摘要 | Through analyzing the writings of five late Ming literati, the author provides a superb examination of the formation, late in the Ming dynasty (1368‐1644), of voluntary charitable organizations, which would later come to be known in English as “benevolent societies.” These were nonofficial, public groups that welcomed anyone who had the inclination to benefit the less fortunate. Membership was as much meant to morally uplift the participants as it was to provide aid to the needy. The author contends that these groups formed during the late Ming because of two social changes: the rapid increase of literate men and their propensity to form vertical ties in local society. Connections between classes became more common because upper echelon literati, such as officials, were speaking the same language of moral concern, as were lower echelon literati, such as students, doctors, and monks. Students of religion will be interested in that 1) the Buddhist practice of liberating animals (fangsheng) inspired late Ming people to want to save the weaker members of society; 2) the charitable groups were modeled after religious lay associations and usually met at temples; 3) participation was viewed as a form of self‐cultivation and was inspired by morality books that championed the spiritual benefits of good deeds; and 4) Buddhist monks were extensively involved in these groups' activities. Since these associations stressed self‐cultivation and moral transformation through instruction (jiaohua), one of the book's few weaknesses is that it downplays the influence of Confucianism. |
| ISSN | 0319485X (P); 17480922 (E) |
| 點閱次數 | 184 |
| 建檔日期 | 2014.10.27 |
| 更新日期 | 2019.12.02 |
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