Welcoming dangerous benefactors: incense, gods and hospitality in north-eastern Taiwan

Feuchtwang, Stephan (2019) Welcoming dangerous benefactors: incense, gods and hospitality in north-eastern Taiwan. Homme (France), 231-23 (3). 135 - 149. ISSN 0439-4216

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Abstract

Chinese festival ritual offers an extreme case of hospitality to outsider benefactors, to gods. They are invited outsiders. Their host is a territorial community of households represented by their divinely selected master of the god’s incense burner. Mediation to communicate with and separate from powerful guests is a courting of great power and avoiding its danger. Their welcome poses the danger of offence. To these points I add other sides and counterparts to rites of hospitality, such as rites of charitable feeding. I begin by arguing that the dangers of hospitality suggested by others in this volume are applicable in this case. Finally, I suggest how the terms in which I analyse these Chinese rites are applicable to other orders of hospitality.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://journals.openedition.org/lhomme/
Additional Information:	© 2019 École des hautes études en sciences sociales
Divisions:	Anthropology Asia Centre
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GT Manners and customs D History General and Old World > DS Asia
Date Deposited:	04 Mar 2020 16:15
Last Modified:	18 Oct 2024 17:48
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/103686

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