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Full Description
This book traces the history and development of Taiwan's new money god tradition, where, by borrowing a small sum of blessed 'fortune money' and returning it with interest within a year, a temple's deity may intervene in the recipient's life, bringing them unearned good luck and good fortune.
Comprising an in- depth ethnography based on a decade of research, the book explores Taiwan's money god tradition, revealing its ritual culture and underlying beliefs, thoroughly analyzed from sociological, comparative historical/ geographic, Taoist, Buddhist, metaphysical, and philosophical contexts. Drawing on Taoist and Buddhist cosmology, Chinese afterlife beliefs, and a trust in the power of the gods to influence the material world, the narrative explores the subjective nature of luck and fate; of human desires, choices and decisions; and of individuals' subjective understandings of what the universe contains. These factors all contribute to the book's final question, which, through an exploration of human- deity interactions, investigates whether Jacques Derrida's true, un- reciprocal gift exists on a transcendent level amid the religious exchanges within Taiwan's money god tradition.
This will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Chinese religion and Taiwanese culture, as well as those with an interest in East Asian philosophy and religion.
Contents
Part 1: Ethnography 1. Money Gods, Gifts, and Conundrums 2. Taiwan's Most Popular Money Gods: History and Mythology 3. Fortune Money: The Beginnings 4. Fortune Money: Other Systems 5. Fortune Money and the Taoist Priest: Shiding Wulu Caishen Miao 6. Replenishing the Treasury, Bu Caiku: Another Form of Generating This-Life Wealth Part 2: Analyses 7. Intentionality, Numbers, and Trends 8. Societal Catalysts to Religious Change: Why Taiwan? 9. Reevaluating Derrida: What Do Money Gods, and Recipients Actually Get out of it?
