Kings of Oxen and Horses - Draft Animals, Buddhism, and Chinese Rural Religion

Meir Shahar examines the place of draft animals in Chinese and Buddhist religious traditions and, in so doing, sheds new light on human interaction with nonhuman animals more broadly.

List of contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Iconographic Prelude
Part I: The Horse King
2. The Horse King’s Ancestry
3. The Horse King’s Cult
4. Legends of an Equine God
Part II: The Ox King
5. The Ox King and the Beef Taboo
6. The Human Ox
7. The Divine Ox
8. The Chinese Ox and the Indian Cow
9. The Ox King Festival
10. A Daoist Relation
Epilogue
Appendix A: Bovine-Healing Scriptures Addressed to the Ox King
Appendix B: Bovine-Healing Scriptures Not Addressed to the Ox King
Appendix C: Equine-Healing Scriptures Addressed to the Horse King
Abbreviations
Notes
Works Cited
Index

About the author

Meir Shahar is the Shoul N. Eisenberg Chair for East Asian Affairs at Tel Aviv University. His books include Crazy Ji: Chinese Religion and Popular Literature (1998); The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts (2008); and Oedipal God: The Chinese Nezha and His Indian Origins (2015).

Summary

Meir Shahar examines the place of draft animals in Chinese and Buddhist religious traditions and, in so doing, sheds new light on human interaction with nonhuman animals more broadly.

Product details

• Authors: Meir Shahar, Shahar Meir
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 25.03.2025
• EAN: 9780231218290
• ISBN: 978-0-231-21829-0
• No. of pages: 376
• Series: The Sheng Yen Series in Chinese Buddhist Studies
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Other religions; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; RELIGION / Buddhism / History, HISTORY / Asia / China, Religion & beliefs, Religion and beliefs