Overview

This monograph presents a thorough investigation into the phenomenon of the Chinese Triads, their ritual and mythological lore, and their meanings and functions. On the foundations of a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, among which also recent Chinese scholarship, the author interprets Triad myth and ritual in their Chinese religious context. The work includes fine discussions of Triad symbolism, initiation rituals, blood covenants, foundation myth, eschatology, political ideas and other topics. The origins of the Chinese Triads are newly interpreted, as well as the meanings and functions of their ritual and mythological lore, and how these fitted into local religious culture.

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9789004110632

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Reviews

' Barend J. ter Haar's latest book is a breathtaking work of scholarship, charting new directions in the study of Chinese secret societies by grounding them in a sophisticated understanding of local popular and religious culture. If it is hardly the last word on this complex topic, no future work on secret societies, sectarian religion, or popular movements can afford to ignore this volume.'<br>David Ownby, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 2000.<br>

This massive, exhaustive, one-of-a-kind scholarly masterpiece is truly a tour de force, a work so impressive in its scope and attention to fine detail as to be indispensable to libraries and scholars in the field of sinology. - Michael Saso, in: China Review International, 2004 Barend J. ter Haar's latest book is a breathtaking work of scholarship, charting new directions in the study of Chinese secret societies by grounding them in a sophisticated understanding of local popular and religious culture. If it is hardly the last word on this complex topic, no future work on secret societies, sectarian religion, or popular movements can afford to ignore this volume. - David Ownby, in: Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 2000

' This massive, exhaustive, one-of-a-kind scholarly masterpiece is truly a tour de force, a work so impressive in its scope and attention to fine detail as to be indispensable to libraries and scholars in the field of sinology. ' Michael Saso, China Review International , 2004, ' Barend J. ter Haar's latest book is a breathtaking work of scholarship, charting new directions in the study of Chinese secret societies by grounding them in a sophisticated understanding of local popular and religious culture. If it is hardly the last word on this complex topic, no future work on secret societies, sectarian religion, or popular movements can afford to ignore this volume. ' David Ownby, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies , 2000.

'This massive, exhaustive, one-of-a-kind scholarly masterpiece is truly a tour de force, a work so impressive in its scope and attention to fine detail as to be indispensable to libraries and scholars in the field of sinology.' Michael Saso, China Review International, 2004, 'Barend J. ter Haar's latest book is a breathtaking work of scholarship, charting new directions in the study of Chinese secret societies by grounding them in a sophisticated understanding of local popular and religious culture. If it is hardly the last word on this complex topic, no future work on secret societies, sectarian religion, or popular movements can afford to ignore this volume.' David Ownby, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 2000.

Author Information

Barend J. ter Haar, Doctorate (1990) in Sinology, University of Leiden. Professor of the Social and Economic History of China at the University of Heidelberg. Has published on religious culture, traditional violence, Triads and sects, including The White Lotus Teachings in Chinese Religious History (Brill, 1992).

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