REL 257 Gods and Demons in East Asian Religion (Not offered 2008-2009; to be offered 2009-2010)
Scholars usually distinguish between three different religious traditions in East Asia: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism (with Shinto standing in for Daoism in the Japanese case). Yet, this tradition-based approach ignores the rich landscape of East Asian religion, which encompasses another world of gods and demons only loosely connected with established institutions. Even today, at popular sites all over China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea, people offer incense to a heterogeneous collection of supernatural entities-sometimes called gods, goddesses, demons, immortals, ancestors or even buddhas. The "same" entity can be simultaneously a beneficent god to one group and a malevolent demon to another. Rather than being static, this rich tapestry is constantly in evolution, elevating historical heroes (or philosophers) to godhood, while other once popular deities are demoted and dismissed as monsters. This course will address this stratum of "popular" religion in East Asia. Focusing on contemporary scholarship on China and Japan, we will take a multi-disciplinary approach to this material to provide a very different picture of East Asian religion as a lived tradition.
Format: seminar. Requirements: active participation, class presentations, one 15-page research paper.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 19). Preference given to Religion and Asian Studies majors.
JOSEPHSON