Paul R. Katz, 2021, Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender in Western Hunan during the Modern Era: The Dao among the Miao?, 250 pages, London & New York: Routledge.

This book combines historical and ethnographic methodologies to explore changes that occurred during the interaction between Miao ritual traditions and religions such as Daoism. In addition, investigation is made into how gender and ethnicity have shaped such processes, and what these phenomena can teach about larger questions of modern Chinese history. The data presented in this study reveal that interaction between Han and non-Han religious cultures was characterized not only by the deliberate transmission of doctrine and liturgy, but also the persistence of indigenous beliefs and practices, a phenomenon I define as “trans-hybridity”. One key facet of trans-hybridity is gender, including powerful goddesses worshipped for their ability to exorcise demonic forces as well as the continued influence of female mediums whose practices flourish despite persistent anti-superstition campaigns. This study also endeavors to transcend previous scholarship on Western Hunan that has stressed the impact of state policies and elite agendas, focusing instead on the roles played by ritual specialists. Such findings call into question conventional wisdom about the “standardization” of Chinese culture, the village quartet, temple-centric society, etc.