Mu-Chou Poo's Books

In Search of Personal Welfare

A View of Ancient Chinese Religion

By: Mu-chou Poo

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In Search of Personal Welfare

A View of Ancient Chinese Religion

By: Mu-chou Poo

This book is the first major reassessment of ancient Chinese religion to appear in recent years. It provides a historical investigation of broadly shared religious beliefs and goals in ancient China from the earliest period to the end of the Han Dynasty. The author makes use of recently acquired archeological data, traditional texts, and modern scholarly work from China, Japan, and the West. The overall concern of this book is to try to reach the religious mentality of the ancient Chinese in the context of personal and daily experiences. Poo deals with such problems as the definition of religion, the popular/elite controversy in methodology, and the use of "elite" documents in the study of ordinary life.

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Page Count

350

Publisher

State University of New York Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

143841630X

ISBN 13

9781438416304

Ghosts and Religious Life in Early China

By: Mu-Chou Poo

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Ghosts and Religious Life in Early China

By: Mu-Chou Poo

What did ghosts look like, what did they do, and what can they tell us about Chinese culture and society?

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Page Count

215

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1316514676

ISBN 13

9781316514672

Enemies of Civilization

Attitudes toward Foreigners in Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China

By: Mu-chou Poo

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Enemies of Civilization

Attitudes toward Foreigners in Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China

By: Mu-chou Poo

Enemies of Civilization is a work of comparative history and cultural consciousness that discusses how "others" were perceived in three ancient civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China. Each civilization was the dominant culture in its part of the world, and each developed a mind-set that regarded itself as culturally superior to its neighbors. Mu-chou Poo compares these societies' attitudes toward other cultures and finds differences and similarities that reveal the self-perceptions of each society. Notably, this work shows that in contrast to modern racism based on biophysical features, such prejudice did not exist in these ancient societies. It was culture rather than biophysical nature that was the most important criterion for distinguishing us from them. By examining how societies conceive their prejudices, this book breaks new ground in the study of ancient history and opens new ways to look at human society, both ancient and modern.

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Page Count

234

Publisher

State University of New York Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0791483703

ISBN 13

9780791483701

Daily Life in Ancient China

By: Mu-chou Poo

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Daily Life in Ancient China

By: Mu-chou Poo

In this volume, Mu-chou Poo offers a new overview of daily life in ancient China. Synthesizing a range of textual and archaeological materials, he brings a thematic approach to the topic that enables a multi-faceted understanding of the ideological, economical, legal, social, and emotional aspects of life in ancient China. The volume focuses on the Han period and examines key topics such as government organization and elite ideology, urban and country life, practical technology, leisure and festivity, and death and burial customs. Written in clear and engaging prose, this volume serves as a useful introduction to the culture and society of ancient China. It also enables students to better understand the construction of history and to reflect critically on the nature of historical writing.

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Page Count

543

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1108586147

ISBN 13

9781108586146

The Netherworld in Ancient Egypt and China

An Imagined Paradise

By: Mu-chou Poo

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The Netherworld in Ancient Egypt and China

An Imagined Paradise

By: Mu-chou Poo

Considering the striking similarities between the treatment of the dead and conceptions of the netherworld in ancient Egypt and China, how can we compare the two traditions? Mu-chou Poo considers this question, and provides a new perspective on archaeological materials, including tomb structures and funerary texts, by addressing them in the context of universal human problems such as death, the future of the dead, and the search for happiness in life. Poo chronologically reconstructs the emergence of the idea of the netherworld and its evolution in both ancient Egypt and ancient China. He explores the relationship between religious beliefs and social ethics in these civilizations, considers why similar social and material conditions could have produced varied expressions of the afterlife, and what such variations reveal about each culture. Poo argues that a comparison between both visions of the netherworld and their relationship to life experience gives further insight into the nature of each civilization. Through this analysis, Poo shows that thematic comparison of ancient civilizations is not only possible, but also relevant to modern society.

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Page Count

171

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

0567702014

ISBN 13

9780567702012

Book's by Mu-Chou Poo

In Search of Personal Welfare

In Search of Personal Welfare

Ghosts and Religious Life in Early China

Ghosts and Religious Life in Early China

Enemies of Civilization

Enemies of Civilization

Daily Life in Ancient China

Daily Life in Ancient China

The Netherworld in Ancient Egypt and China

The Netherworld in Ancient Egypt and China

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