The living practice of Daoist ritual is still only a small part of Daoist studies. Most of this work focuses on the southeast, with the vast area of north China often assumed to be a tabula rasa for local lay liturgical traditions. This book, based on fieldwork, challenges this assumption.

With case studies on parts of Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces, Stephen Jones describes ritual sequences within funerals and temple fairs, offering details on occupational hereditary lay Daoists, temple-dwelling priests, and even amateur ritual groups. Stressing performance, Jones observes the changing ritual scene in this poor countryside, both since the 1980s and through all the tribulations of twentieth-century warfare and political campaigns. The whole vocabulary of north Chinese Daoists differs significantly from that of the southeast, which has so far dominated our image.

Largely unstudied by scholars of religion, folk Daoist ritual in north China has been a constant theme of music scholars within China. Stephen Jones places lay Daoists within the wider context of folk religious practices - including those of lay Buddhists, sectarians, and spirit mediums. This book opens up a new field for scholars of religion, ritual, music, and modern Chinese society.

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Contents: Preface; A well-kept secret; Part 1 Singing from a Different Hymn-Sheet: North and Central Shanxi: North Shanxi; North-central Shanxi. Part 2 Temple-Lay Connections: South Shanxi and South Hebei, Shaanxi and Gansu: South Shanxi and South Hebei; Shaanxi; Gansu. Part 3 Just Can't Get the Staff: the Central Hebei Plain: Introduction: ritual associations on the Hebei plain; Daxing: the Liangshanpo transmission; Bazhou and Jinghai; The western area: Houshan and the Houtu cult. Conclusion: It's Daoism, but not as we know it; Appendices; Bibliography; Glossary; Index.

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About the Author: Stephen Jones read classical Chinese at Cambridge, and has been documenting living traditions of folk music in rural China since 1986. Since 1993 he has held research fellowships at SOAS, London University. He is author of the influential Folk music of China: living instrumental traditions, Plucking the winds, and his two volumes Ritual and music of north China (Ashgate, 2007, 2009), on north Shanxi and Shaanbei respectively, both include DVD documentaries. He is also a violinist in leading early music ensembles in London.

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Reviews: 'In this groundbreaking study, Stephen Jones brings to light the service of Daoist rites among common people in northern China and compares them with what until now have been far better researched Daoist ritual performances in southern China. From his extensive fieldwork, he provides convincing evidence that distinctive Daoist ritual traditions are deeply embedded in rural northern China.'

Stephan Feuchtwang, London School of Economics, UK

Stephen Jones' twenty years of fieldwork with Daoists and musicians in north China come to full blossom with this superb book. Its comparative project is admirably ambitious, looking at key rituals done very differently across an area as wide as Europe; yet the writing always remains lively, witty and focused on actual people and performance rather than theories.

Vincent Goossaert, CNRS, author of The Taoists of Peking