Meir Shahar
Biographic Data
| ID | 114609 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Meir Shahar |
| GIVEN NAMES | Meir |
| FAMILY NAME | Shahar |
| SIGNATURE | SHAHAR M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Tel Aviv University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 7 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 3 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1992 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Animals and Human Society in Asia: Historical, Cultural and Ethical Perspectives
The Chinese Cult of the Horse King, Divine Protector of Equines
Newly-Discovered Manuscripts of a Northern-Chinese Horse King Temple Association
Written documents from rural north China are rare. This essay examines the newly-discovered records of a Shanxi village association, which was dedicated to the cult of the Horse King. The manuscripts detail the activities, revenues, and expenditures of the Horse King temple association over a hundred-year period (from 1852 until 1956). The essay examines them from social, cultural, and religious perspectives. The manuscripts reveal the internal w…
A Future and a Hope« in Babylonia: Three Sayings of Rav as a Diasporan Manifesto
The Jewish Diaspora is often viewed as the paradigm of exile, which implies longing for a place from which a people has been forcibly expelled. This article interprets three sayings by Rav in the Babylonian Talmud as reflecting an alternative ideology, in which living outside the Holy Land is not seen as regrettable or shameful, for God is revealed through the Jewish people's observance of the Torah and the commandments everywhere. Although the r…
Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China
The first study in English to offer a systematic introduction to the Chinese pantheon of divinities. It challenges received wisdom about Chinese popular religion, which, until now, presented all Chinese deities as mere functionaries and bureaucrats. The essays in this volume eloquently document the existence of other metaphors that allowed Chinese gods to challenge the traditional power structures and traditional mores of Chinese society. The aut…
Chinese and Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism
Bringing together leading authorities in the fields of Chinese and Tibetan Studies alike, 'Chinese and Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism' engages cutting-edge research on the fertile tradition of Esoteric Buddhism (also known as Tantric Buddhism). This state of the art volume unfolds the sweeping impact of esoteric Buddhism on Tibetan and Chinese cultures, and the movement's role in forging distinct political, ethnical, and religious identities across As…
The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts
Written in clear and lucid style and ambitious both in scope and methodology, this book offers a fascinating window into Chinese culture, religion, and history. Ranging from historical and ethnographic documents to a wide variety of literary sources, it weaves them all into a compelling narrative. In this fashion, Shahar is uniquely able to bring together social, historical, and mythological elements, providing a demythologized account of martial…
Oedipal God: The Chinese Nezha and His Indian Origins
This book offers the comprehensive account (in any language) of the oedipal god Nezha, doubtless one of the most intriguing figures in Chinese religion and literature. The book analyzes the patricidal god's visceral myth, and the light it throws on the tensions that have been generated by the patriarchal Confucian family. It charts the evolution of the Nezha legend and cult over a two-thousand and five-hundred years peropd: From his origins in th…
When was the Second Temple Destroyed? Chronology and Ideology in Josephus and in Rabbinic Literature
Jewish tradition holds that both the first and second Jerusalem temples were destroyed on the 9th of Av ( m. Taʿan . 4:6). According to Josephus both temples were destroyed on the 10th of Av ( J.W. 6.250). Although Josephus proffers an elaborately detailed chronology of the temple’s final days, an attentive reading reveals that he in fact delayed the destruction of the temple by one day. Ideological motives impelled Josephus to defer the date of …
Religion in China and Its Modern Fate
Violence in Chinese Religious Traditions
This chapter argues that the category of religion eludes traditional Chinese thinking. It outlines the periods of harmony between official Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism, commenting on the historical reverence for martial gods and practices of religiously sanctioned human sacrifice and self-mortification. The amorphous religious identity characteristic of China offers a convenient starting point for the analysis. Chinese clerics have been con…
India in the Chinese Imagination: Myth, Religion, and Thought
Crazy Ji: Chinese Religion and Popular Literature
Crazy Ji is one of the most colourful deities in the pantheon of late imperial and modern China. The author uses the evolution of his cult to address central questions regarding religious tradition, its relation to social structure, and the role of vernacular fiction and popular media in shaping religious beliefs. Shahar demonstrates that vernacular novels and oral literature played a major role in the dissemination of knowledge about deities and…
Images of the Immortal: The Cult of Lü Dongbin at the Palace of Eternal Joy
Ming-Period Evidence of Shaolin Martial Practice
T HE Shaolin J/t Monastery is arguably one of the most famous Buddhist temples worldwide. The reason lies not in the scholarly achievements of its resident monks, nor even in the traditions associating it with Bodhidharma (Damo 4)*), legendary founder of the Chan school. Rather, Shaolin's fame rests on the martial arts, for many traditions of Chinese fighting consider this monastery their birthplace. The twentieth century has witnessed a fascinat…
Crazy Ji: Chinese Religion and Popular Literature
Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China
Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China
Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China is the first study in English to offer a systematic introduction to the Chinese pantheon of divinities. Until now, Chinese deities have often been presented as mere functionaries and bureaucrats. The essays in this volume eloquently document the existence of other images that allowed Chinese gods to challenge the prevailing power structures and traditional mores of Chinese society. Here are deities who k…
The Lingyin Si Monkey Disciples and The Origins of Sun Wukong
The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts
Written in clear and lucid style and ambitious both in scope and methodology, this book offers a fascinating window into Chinese culture, religion, and history. Ranging from historical and ethnographic documents to a wide variety of literary sources, it weaves them all into a compelling narrative. In this fashion, Shahar is uniquely able to bring together social, historical, and mythological elements, providing a demythologized account of martial…
Ming-Period Evidence of Shaolin Martial Practice
T HE Shaolin J/t Monastery is arguably one of the most famous Buddhist temples worldwide. The reason lies not in the scholarly achievements of its resident monks, nor even in the traditions associating it with Bodhidharma (Damo 4)*), legendary founder of the Chan school. Rather, Shaolin's fame rests on the martial arts, for many traditions of Chinese fighting consider this monastery their birthplace. The twentieth century has witnessed a fascinat…
The Lingyin Si Monkey Disciples and The Origins of Sun Wukong
The Lingyin Si Monkey Disciples and The Origins of Sun Wukong
Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China
Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China is the first study in English to offer a systematic introduction to the Chinese pantheon of divinities. Until now, Chinese deities have often been presented as mere functionaries and bureaucrats. The essays in this volume eloquently document the existence of other images that allowed Chinese gods to challenge the prevailing power structures and traditional mores of Chinese society. Here are deities who k…
Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China
Crazy Ji: Chinese Religion and Popular Literature
Crazy Ji: Chinese Religion and Popular Literature
Crazy Ji is one of the most colourful deities in the pantheon of late imperial and modern China. The author uses the evolution of his cult to address central questions regarding religious tradition, its relation to social structure, and the role of vernacular fiction and popular media in shaping religious beliefs. Shahar demonstrates that vernacular novels and oral literature played a major role in the dissemination of knowledge about deities and…
Images of the Immortal: The Cult of Lü Dongbin at the Palace of Eternal Joy
Ming-Period Evidence of Shaolin Martial Practice
T HE Shaolin J/t Monastery is arguably one of the most famous Buddhist temples worldwide. The reason lies not in the scholarly achievements of its resident monks, nor even in the traditions associating it with Bodhidharma (Damo 4)*), legendary founder of the Chan school. Rather, Shaolin's fame rests on the martial arts, for many traditions of Chinese fighting consider this monastery their birthplace. The twentieth century has witnessed a fascinat…
Violence in Chinese Religious Traditions
This chapter argues that the category of religion eludes traditional Chinese thinking. It outlines the periods of harmony between official Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism, commenting on the historical reverence for martial gods and practices of religiously sanctioned human sacrifice and self-mortification. The amorphous religious identity characteristic of China offers a convenient starting point for the analysis. Chinese clerics have been con…
India in the Chinese Imagination: Myth, Religion, and Thought
Religion in China and Its Modern Fate
Oedipal God: The Chinese Nezha and His Indian Origins
This book offers the comprehensive account (in any language) of the oedipal god Nezha, doubtless one of the most intriguing figures in Chinese religion and literature. The book analyzes the patricidal god's visceral myth, and the light it throws on the tensions that have been generated by the patriarchal Confucian family. It charts the evolution of the Nezha legend and cult over a two-thousand and five-hundred years peropd: From his origins in th…
When was the Second Temple Destroyed? Chronology and Ideology in Josephus and in Rabbinic Literature
Jewish tradition holds that both the first and second Jerusalem temples were destroyed on the 9th of Av ( m. Taʿan . 4:6). According to Josephus both temples were destroyed on the 10th of Av ( J.W. 6.250). Although Josephus proffers an elaborately detailed chronology of the temple’s final days, an attentive reading reveals that he in fact delayed the destruction of the temple by one day. Ideological motives impelled Josephus to defer the date of …
A Future and a Hope« in Babylonia: Three Sayings of Rav as a Diasporan Manifesto
The Jewish Diaspora is often viewed as the paradigm of exile, which implies longing for a place from which a people has been forcibly expelled. This article interprets three sayings by Rav in the Babylonian Talmud as reflecting an alternative ideology, in which living outside the Holy Land is not seen as regrettable or shameful, for God is revealed through the Jewish people's observance of the Torah and the commandments everywhere. Although the r…
Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China
The first study in English to offer a systematic introduction to the Chinese pantheon of divinities. It challenges received wisdom about Chinese popular religion, which, until now, presented all Chinese deities as mere functionaries and bureaucrats. The essays in this volume eloquently document the existence of other metaphors that allowed Chinese gods to challenge the traditional power structures and traditional mores of Chinese society. The aut…
Chinese and Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism
Bringing together leading authorities in the fields of Chinese and Tibetan Studies alike, 'Chinese and Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism' engages cutting-edge research on the fertile tradition of Esoteric Buddhism (also known as Tantric Buddhism). This state of the art volume unfolds the sweeping impact of esoteric Buddhism on Tibetan and Chinese cultures, and the movement's role in forging distinct political, ethnical, and religious identities across As…
The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts
Written in clear and lucid style and ambitious both in scope and methodology, this book offers a fascinating window into Chinese culture, religion, and history. Ranging from historical and ethnographic documents to a wide variety of literary sources, it weaves them all into a compelling narrative. In this fashion, Shahar is uniquely able to bring together social, historical, and mythological elements, providing a demythologized account of martial…
Animals and Human Society in Asia: Historical, Cultural and Ethical Perspectives
The Chinese Cult of the Horse King, Divine Protector of Equines
Newly-Discovered Manuscripts of a Northern-Chinese Horse King Temple Association
Written documents from rural north China are rare. This essay examines the newly-discovered records of a Shanxi village association, which was dedicated to the cult of the Horse King. The manuscripts detail the activities, revenues, and expenditures of the Horse King temple association over a hundred-year period (from 1852 until 1956). The essay examines them from social, cultural, and religious perspectives. The manuscripts reveal the internal w…
History (15 works) · Art (12 works) · Chinese history and philosophy (12 works) · History (9 works) · Ancient history (8 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · China (6 works) · china (6 works) · Literature (6 works) · Archaeology (5 works)