The Spirits Book Chinese Edition

This is the first Chinese translation of "The Spirits' Book," the foundational work of Spiritism, originally published by Allan Kardec in 1857, in Paris (original title "Le Livre des Esprits"). Spiritism includes over 15 million adherents worldwide, ahead of more historically traditional religions such as Judaism and Jainism. Anyone interested in knowing about Spiritism should start by reading this book.

"The Spirits' Book" is the foundational work of Spiritism, a school of thought first established in France in the mid-nineteenth century by the French educator Allan Kardec. Currently, Spiritism includes over fifteen million adherents, the eleventh largest spiritual following worldwide, ahead of more historically traditional religions such as Judaism (twelfth) and Jainism (fourteenth). This is the first Chinese translation of "The Spirits Book" in traditional characters. "The Spirits' Book" represents a philosophical guide for real people, encompassing the analysis of all the fundamental questions underpinning human existence. According to Socrates, "the unexamined life is not worth living." In this sense, "The Spirits' Book" may very well be one of the most worthwhile companions you will ever have in your life.

How do the people of a village that is both Chinese and Christian reconcile the contradictions between their religious and ethnic identities? This ethnographic study explores the construction and changing meanings of ethnic identity in Hong Kong. Established at the turn of the century by Hakka Christians who sought to escape hardships and discrimination in China, Shung Him Tong was constructed as an "ideal" Chinese and Christian village. The Hakka Christians translate "traditional" Chinese beliefs—such as ancestral worship and death rituals—that are incompatible with their Christian ideals into secular form, providing a crucial link with the past and with a Chinese identity. Despite accusations to the contrary, these villagers maintain that while they are Christian, they are still Chinese. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1994.

Offering a Taoist map of the human psyche, the "Five Spirits" provide a mythical view of the nervous system and form the basis of Chinese medical psychology. An understanding of these Five Spirits is the key that opens the doorway to the mysteries of Taoist psycho-spiritual alchemy.

Drawing on interviews with baijiu aficionados, distillers and key players in the alcoholic beverage industry, Sandhaus introduces the history and development of alcohol in China – the birthplace of grain-based alcohol. Distillation and production processes, the landscape of the industry today, and a page-by-page guide to the major varieties, distilleries and brands all feature in Baijiu: The Essential Guide to Chinese Spirits.

The present book by Hu Baozhu explores the subject of ghosts and spirits and attempts to map the religious landscape of ancient China. The main focus of attention is the character gui 鬼, an essential key to the understanding of spiritual beings. The author analyses the character gui in various materials – lexicons and dictionaries, excavated manuscripts and inscriptions, and received classical texts. Gui is examined from the perspective of its linguistic root, literary interpretation, ritual practices, sociopolitical implication, and cosmological thinking. In the gradual process of coming to know the otherworld in terms of ghosts and spirits, Chinese people in ancient times attempted to identify and classify these spiritual entities. In their philosophical thinking, they connected the subject of gui with the movement of the universe. Thus the belief in ghosts and spirits in ancient China appeared to be a moral standard for all, not only providing a room for individual religiosity but also implementing the purpose of family-oriented social order, the legitimization of political operations, and the understanding of the way of Heaven and Earth.