The first book that systematically explores the manifold aspects of divination and prognostication in traditional and modern China.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material -- Copyright page -- Acknowledgements -- Illustrations -- General Introduction / Michael Lackner -- Chapter 1 Introduction to Thought and Mantic Arts / Lu Zhao -- Chapter 2 Divination in BCE China according to Newly-Recovered and Excavated Texts / Constance Cook -- Chapter 3 Prognostication in Premodern China / Richard J. Smith -- Chapter 4 Typology and Classification of the Mantic Arts in China / Marc Kalinowski -- Chapter 5 Prophecies and Prognostication / Stephen R. Bokenkamp -- Chapter 6 Divination and Its Institutionalization in Pre-modern China / Lingfeng Lü -- Chapter 7 Critique and Recognition / Hsien-huei Liao -- Chapter 8 Popular Religion and Prognostication / Philip Clart -- Chapter 9 Daoism and Divination / Fabrizio Pregadio -- Chapter 10 Chinese Buddhism and Divination / Esther-Maria Guggenmos -- Chapter 11 Fiction and Divination / Andrew Schonebaum -- Chapter 12 The Living Traditions of Divination / Stéphanie Homola -- Index.

This is the first comprehensive book that presents the manifold aspects of divination and prognostication in traditional and modern China, from the early period of oracle bones to present-day fortune-tellers. It introduces what is out there in the field of Chinese divination and prognostication, and how we can further explore it especially through different disciplines. Eminent specialists outline the classifications of divination, recently excavated texts, the relationship between practitioners and clients, the place of the “occult” arts in cosmology, literature and religion, and the bureaucratic system. Contributors are: Constance Cook, Richard J. Smith, Marc Kalinowski, Stephen R. Bokenkamp, Lü Lingfeng, Liao Hsien-huei, Philip Clart, Fabrizio Pregadio, Esther-Maria Guggenmos, Andrew Schonebaum, and Stéphanie Homola.

Description based on print version record.