300 Frontiers of History in 2013, 8(2)

In addition to introducing the genre of biography, the editors intend the chapters to provide a good sense of the broader flow of Chinese history, particularly in terms of turning points in normative expectations for women. In their introduction, Judge and Hu state that biography can show how transformations in, or the expectations for, women’s lives were most marked in times of war and social disruption and when there were rising levels of literacy for women. But this argument is not woven throughout the essays in the book nor is it summarized in the editors’ epilogue. How did conflict (such as the An Lushan Rebellion and the Sino-Japanese War) lead to changes in women’s lived experience? The reader will need to look for answers to this question, and others, on his or her own. Much of this volume will certainly be useful for students of Chinese history. Overall it provides a good overview of genres of women’s biography, some of which is nicely summarized in an appendix. Many of the essays are fine case studies in how to use particular sources and they point historians toward possible future research. Chapters that include extensive excerpts (sometimes as long as a full page) from biographical texts provide a real flavor of the sources and good instruction on how they can and should be used. Taken as a whole, these essays remind us that both reading biographical sources and writing biographies about women is a significant way to discover changes in society over time.

Helen M. Schneider Virginia Polytechnic and State University E-mail: [email protected]

Jülch, Thomas, Der Orden des Sima Chengzhen und des Wang Ziqiao; Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Shangqing-Daoismus in den -Bergen (The Order of Sima Chengzhen and Wang Ziqiao: An Inquiry into the History of Shangqing Daoism in the Tiantai Mountains). München: Herbert Utz Verlag, 2011. ISBN: 978-3-831-64083-6. 145pp. EUR 49.00. DOI 10.3868/s020-002-013-0020-2

Though small, this work is important for the study of Taoist history. It throws a better light on one of its major representatives, Sima Chengzhen 司马承祯 (647–735), 12th patriarch of the Shangqing 上清 tradition, a blooming Taoist school under the Tang (618–907). Ute Engelhardt had certainly already studied him notably with her translation of one of his principal texts on the breath Book Reviews 301 technics; Livia Kohn too has worked on one of his short texts on and Paul Kroll has written several articles on his poetry. But Thomas Jülch brings a new vision of this Taoist and his essential role on the legitimation of imperial power with the moving of the Shangqing tradition center to the Tiantai Mountains 天台山. He shows local situations as more complex than thought before with the usual split between the two major religions and , and he demonstrates important links between imperial support and local life. Moreover he gives us the translation of three texts: Sima Chengzhen’s hagiography of Wang Ziqiao 王子乔, antiquity’s famous immortal associated with the Tiantai mountains, a Buddhist Canon text: “Notes on Tiantai Mountain” (Tiantai shan ji 天台山记), and “A Monograph on Tiantai Mountain” (Tiantai shan 天台山志) from the Taoist Canon. The result is meticulous and detailed, and his faithful translations abound with annotations and commentaries, proving not only his erudition but that he traces back to the primary sources. From pages 100 to 132, we find the two complete translations of the Chinese texts and at the end a very rich bibliography. At its beginning the Shangqing School was linked to the Maoshan Mountains 茅山 in Anhui, but became temporarily associated with Mount Tiantai in where the eminent Taoist Sima Chengzhen had the Tongbo guan temple 桐柏观 built. For centuries these mountains sheltered an important Buddhist school, the Tiantai school with its main temple, the Guoqingsi 国清寺. Placing Buddhisn and Taoism side by side, Thomas Jülch unveils Buddhist influences on Sima Chengzhen, studying Mount Tiantai like James Robson did for the Southern Peak (Nanyue 南岳) in Hunan and revealing its importance as a center for both Taoism and Buddhism. To justify moving the Shangqing center to Tiantai, Sima Chengzhen used their association with a famous immortal in antiquity, Wang Ziqiao, whose hagiography he would write, taking old elements in such a way as to bring out striking similarities between this hagiography and his own life. The choice for this new Shangqing location shows political motives. The preceding the Tang had unified China and had been legitimized through a Buddhist ideology thanks to the eminent Tiantai monk 智顗 (538–97). The Tang then based their support on Taoism with Sima Chengzhen, very close to the Emperor, judiciously linking Taoism with Tiantai. If Thomas Jülch describes Sima Chengzhen as a representative of what he calls political eremetism, comparing him to Yuanming 陶渊明, we cannot see them as that similar, since they exhibit different attitudes and ideals. Sima Chengzhen’s influential position makes him more an imperial advisor than an eremite, and besides, we wonder how long he really resided on these mountains. A detailed analysis of the Wang Ziqiao hagiography by Sima Chengzhen introduces Jülch’s excellent translation. However in note 80, page 17, we read