Page 107 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

OVERVIEW

out by Taoist priests or ritual-masters themselves, that determine which malign
astral spirit a client may have" offended" (fan ~~) or 'bumped into" (chong fill])
can be traced back to ancient mantic practices, including those described in
the Rishu. And today as well, the identification of such malefic spirits leads to
subsequent exorcistic rites (Hou Ching-Iang 1979).

Peter NICKERSON
W Boltz J. M. I993a; Cedzich 1993; Davis E. 2001; Harper 1985; Harper 1996;
Hou Ching-Iang 1979; Kiang Chao-yuan 1937; Kamitsuka Yoshiko 1996; Ka-
mitsuka Yoshiko 1999, 2II-7I; Katz P. R. 1990; Katz P. R. 1995a; Mollier 1997;
Nickerson 1996a; Nickerson 1996b; Schipper 1971; Strickmann 2002

* gui; TAOISM AND POPULAR RELIGION

Otherworldly bureaucracy

Taoist texts abound in bureaucratic elements and images, particularly in their
view of the otherworld and the relation of Taoist adepts to it. Far from being
a Taoist innovation, these bureaucratic features are borrowed from earlier
religious practices and ideas. At the time of the Shang dynasty, the otherworld
was ruled by hierarchically ranked deceased members of the royal family.
The interaction between the living rulers and these otherworldly beings was
already marked by bureaucratic elements, such as the importance of written
documents, the fulfillment of duties, the use of titles, and the emphasis on
hierarchy and order (Keightley 1978b). The Zhou dynasty built on this image,
presenting an afterlife ruled by a celestial sovereign surrounded by a court of
deceased nobles. Archaeological evidence and tomb texts show that by the
second century BCE, when China had already established a centralized system
of government, the otherworld was conceived of as a complex bureaucratic
administration. Both the pantheon of otherworldly beings, hierarchically ar-
ranged into offices with fixed titles and roles, and the manner of interaction
through written communiques and even bribes was based on a bureaucratic
idiom.
One major function of the otherworldly bureaucracy was record-keeping.
Offices and officials in charge of these documents appear in funerary texts
as early as the second century BCE. In particular, Mount Tai (*Taishan, Shan-
dong) developed in the early Han dynasty as an administrative and judiciary
site responsible for determining the life span of individuals. This concern
with techniques for procuring longevity and the view of the otherworld as
mOnitoring human behavior was part of a common ideology, which later