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The Presence of Peach Spring
Daoism, Ritual, and Locality
Brief Description
The Presence of Peach Spring radically breaks with conventional interpretations of Tao Qian's Record of Peach Blossom Spring by connecting the tale to its stated geographical location in northern Hunan province, People's Republic of China, focusing on the Daoist lore that surrounds it. Drawing on more...
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Format: Hardback
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Drawing on more than two decades of fieldwork, Mark Meulenbeld’s The Presence of Peach Spring reassesses Tao Qian’s classic Daoist story “Record of Peach Blossom Spring” through the category of the sacred and connects it to its geographic context and ritual referents in northern Hunan.
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Description
The Presence of Peach Spring radically breaks with conventional interpretations of Tao Qian's Record of Peach Blossom Spring by connecting the tale to its stated geographical location in northern Hunan province, People's Republic of China, focusing on the Daoist lore that surrounds it.
Drawing on more than two decades of fieldwork, Mark Meulenbeld uncovers the presence of Peach Spring as a sacred site with a history of more than fifteen hundred years, locally embedded within a complex network of ritual referents. Rather than a primarily textual analysis, Meulenbeld offers a more historically grounded interpretation that engages with the religious manifestations of Peach Spring: on domestic altars, in sacrificial ballads, at Daoist institutions, and, ultimately, as a source of transcendence.
Meulenbeld shows that the category of the sacred offers a crucial framework for understanding traditional texts, even if they do not immediately seem to belong to any religious sphere. When read in the context of its native region, the tale of Peach Spring affords readers access to a sacred site, sacred objects, and the enduring traditions of Daoist ritual that continue to maintain its presence today.
Series: Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series
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Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780674304833
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 14 July 2026
Country: United States
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Illustration: 3 photos, 36 color photos, 2 color maps
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 229.0mm
Weight: 0g
Pages: 480
About the Author
Mark R. E. Meulenbeld is Associate Professor in the School of Chinese at The University of Hong Kong.
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