Society and the Supernatural in Song China Book

The Good
Much of Chinese history, much like most history in every country, is dominated by the narrative of the ruling class and the victors after conquest. Within history there has been a counter narrative of the last hundred years to focus on the regular people and the poor people within a time and place and ask what their lives were like. Society and the Supernatural takes this and applies to the Song Dynasty in China and more narrowly the question of religious practices for common people in this time and place. Readers will find a wealth of anecdotes and incidents recorded during this time period regarding that specific question shedding light on a specific part of life for people in this time. Later chapters grapple with how more powerful institutions (Imperials, Confucians, Taoist priests, Buddhist priests) reacted to these local beliefs to undermine, co-opt, or supplant the practices of locals. Davis implies often but does not explore at any length how these forces influenced later generations but that is not his goal and within the scope of his inquiry he provides ample exploration of what records exist.

The Bad
Notes of what I assume are unintended condescension creep in. For instance, the thesis specifically is the role of "ancestor worship" during the Song Dynasty and that is an outmoded and somewhat racist way of referring to Chinese culture. For more on this see this history of Sinology

During other parts he will make presumptions without presenting evidence. Such as saying "exorcism was the most important role of the fashi" without presenting any direct evidence related to other duties other than specific instances of recorded exorcism. Davis also plays fast and loose with terms. "Medium" and "exorcist" are used broadly and refer to dealing with divine spirits, demons, and ghosts. These three supernatural entities are very different things culturally in China but the resulting imprecision tends to conflate that.

During his final conclusion Davis also overreaches with his statements on the importance of his work. While a study of this time period and the practices of common people in China is a worthy topic, the idea that this folk religion could be the basis for a "civil" society in China overreaches and ignores the potential drawbacks of religion as the basis for a civil society. One need only look at Falun Gong as a more recent phenomenon to see that while there are positives (reviving some of the best of Chinese culture) there are also negatives (homophobia, splinter cults that bomb people). Very few political theorists would agree that religion is a solid basis for a modern civil society and overall Davis makes a better historian than he does a political scientist and one should bear that in mind.

The Things to Know
Don't read this as your first book about Chinese history or Chinese religion. If you're at all familiar with doctoral theses then you'll recognize this as exactly that with an intended audience of people with a large context and understanding of Chinese culture, history, and religion. Several blank spots of things that perhaps should have been explained to a person grabbing this off the shelf. What you have here is a scholarly work intended for other scholars and that's not a bad thing but is an element to bear in mind.