Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Marks, Susan

Keywords

China, Chinese, Magic, Sorcery, Daoism, Religion

Area of Concentration

Religion, Chinese Language and Culture

Abstract

This thesis examines the theoretical relationship of magic to religion in the Chinese Daoist tradition through a ritual lens with the intent of deriving a model suitable to the purpose of differentiating magic from religion in a Chinese Daoist context. By analyzing various theories of magic from the early 1900s through the early 2000s this thesis grapples with the complexities of the theoretical relationship of magic to religion while simultaneously recognizing a tendency of theories to focus on the ancient and classical Mediterranean. In light of this tendency, this thesis derives a model of the relationship of magic to religion from the pre-existing scholarship and applies said model to textual and ritual instances where ambiguity between magic and religion provides a suitable proving ground. Ultimately, this thesis raises questions about the sometimes unclear relationship of magic to religion in a Chinese Daoist context while underscoring the necessity of further research in regards to the aforesaid relationship in a historical Chinese Daoist context.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

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