Scholarly interest in print culture and in the study of religion in modern China has increased in recent years, propelled by maturing approaches to the study of cultural history and by a growing recognition that both were important elements of China's recent past. The influence of China in the contemporary world continues to expand, and with it has come an urgent need to understand the processes by which its modern history was made. Issues of religious freedom and of religion's influence on the public sphere continue to be contentious but important subjects of scholarly work, and the role of print and textual media has not dimmed with the advent of electronic communication. This book, Religious Publishing and Print Culture in Modern China 1800-2012, speaks to these contemporary and historical issues by bringing to light the important and abiding connections between religious development and modern print culture in China. Bringing together these two subjects has a great deal of potential for producing insights that will appeal to scholars working in a range of fields, from media studies to social historians. Each chapter demonstrates how focusing on the role of publishing among religious groups in modern China generates new insights and raises new questions. They examine how religious actors understood the role of printed texts in religion, dealt with issues of translation and exegesis, produced print media that heralded social and ideological changes, and expressed new self-understandings in their published works. They also address the impact of new technologies, such as mechanized movable type and lithographic presses, in the production and meaning of religious texts. Finally, the chapters identify where religious print culture crossed confessional lines, connecting religious traditions through links of shared textual genres, commercial publishing companies, and the contributions of individual editors and authors. This book thus demonstrates how, in embracing modern print media and building upon their longstanding traditional print cultures, Christian, Buddhist, Daoist, and popular religious groups were developed and defined in modern China. While the chapter authors are specialists in religious traditions, they have made use of recent studies into publishing and print culture, and like many of the subjects of their research, are able to make connections across religious boundaries and link together seemingly discrete traditions.

The three-volume project 'Concepts and Methods for the Study of Chinese Religions' is a timely review of the history of the study of Chinese religions, reconsiders the present state of analytical and methodological theories, and initiates a new chapter in the methodology of the field itself. The three volumes raise interdisciplinary and cross-tradition debates, and engage methodologies for the study of East Asian religions with Western voices in an active and constructive manner. Within the overall project, this volume addresses the intellectual history and formation of critical concepts that are foundational to the Chinese religious landscape. These concepts include lineage, scripture, education, discipline, religion, science and scientism, sustainability, law and rites, and the religious sphere. With these topics and approaches, this volume serves as a reference for graduate students and scholars interested in Chinese religions, the modern cultural and intellectual history of China (including mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Chinese communities overseas), intellectual and material history, and the global academic discourse of critical concepts in the study of religions.

The Chinese Buddhist canon is a systematic collection of all translated Buddhist scriptures and related literatures created in East Asia and has been regarded as one of the "three treasures" in Buddhist communities. Despite its undisputed importance in the history of Buddhism, research on this huge collection has remained largely the province of Buddhologists focusing on textual and bibliographical studies. We thus aim to initiate methodological innovations to study the transformation of the canon by situating it in its modern context, characterized by intricate interactions between East and West as well as among countries in East Asia. During the modern period the Chinese Buddhist canon has been translated, edited, digitized, and condensed as well as internationalized, contested, and ritualized. The well-known accomplishment of this modern transformation is the compilation of the Taisho Canon during the 1920s. It has become a source of both doctrinal orthodoxy as well as creativity and its significance has greatly increased as Buddhist scholarship and devotionalism has utilized the canon for various ends. However, it is still unclear what led to the creation of the modern editions of the Buddhist canon in East Asia. This volume explores the most significant and interesting developments regarding the Chinese Buddhist canon in modern East Asia including canon formation, textual studies, historical analyses, religious studies, ritual invention, and digital research tools and methods.

Between 1850 and 1966, tens of thousands of Buddhist sacred sites in China were destroyed, victims of targeted destruction, accidental damage, or simply neglect. During the same period, however, many of these sites were reconstructed, a process that involved both rebuilding material structures and reviving religious communities. The conventionally accepted narrative of Chinese Buddhism during the modern era is that it underwent a revival initiated by innovative monastics and laypersons, leaders who reinvented Buddhist traditions to meet the challenges of modernity. Gregory Adam Scott shows, however, that over time it became increasingly difficult for reconstruction leaders to resist the interests of state actors, who sought to refashion monastery sites as cultural monuments rather than as living religious communities. These sites were then intended to serve as symbols of Chinese history and cultural heritage, while their function as a frame for religious life was increasingly pushed aside. As a result, the power to determine whether and how a monastery would be reconstructed, and the types of activities that would be reinstated or newly introduced, began to shift from religious leaders and communities to state agencies that had a radically different set of motivations and values. Building the Buddhist Revival explores the history of Chinese Buddhist monastery reconstruction from the end of the Imperial period through the first seventeen years of the People's Republic. Over this century of history, the nature and significance of reconstructing Buddhist monasteries changes drastically, mirroring broader changes in Chinese society. Yet this book argues that change has always been in the nature of religious communities such as Buddhist monasteries, and that reconstruction, rather than a return to the past, represents innovative and adaptive change. In this way, it helps us understand the broader significance of the Buddhist "revival" in China during this era, as a creative reconstruction of religion upon longstanding foundations.

Bringing together a team of leading international experts in the field of research, this book provides an up-to-date and accessible overview of applied research methods in the prehospital environment. Written to support the needs of the paramedicine, emergency medicine and wider healthcare communities in this rapidly advancing research setting, the authors introduce the key areas of research design and methods, evidence-based practice, ethics and quality improvement for both the novice and the more advanced researcher. Relevant examples of prehospital research are also included to fully explain and illustrate the key approaches. High-quality, robust evidence is of the utmost importance to inform prehospital clinical practice and ensure better patient care. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in undertaking research within the prehospital or emergency care setting, including undergraduate and postgraduate students in paramedic science, medicine, nursing and allied health.

From the mean streets of Hell's capitol city to the well-appointed condominiums of Miskatonic Valley Planned Community, these 13 stories explore where unexpected realities and familiar horrors meet. Face lifeboat economics with the unsinkable Mr. Pinneped, hunt witches in Colonial Massachusetts, dodge suicide bombers in a quiet American city, and take a guided tour of New York's most haunted house. This book will take you places that you have never imagined, and you will never forget. Advance Praise for One Day in Hell: "This is why we read short fiction: the shock of the unexpected and the thrill of discovery. Gregory Adams writes stories that are clever, inventive, fun, and a joy to read. They are light and dark at once, and offer the pleasant sting of subversion and strangeness we find in the masters of the form." ---Brendan Halpin, author of Enter the Bluebird, Donorboy, and It Takes a Worried Man "Inspired by the tentacular monstrosities that wait without, and seasoned with enough humor to make you laugh, Adams' writing is a joy to read from start to finish." --- Kevin Kulp, author of Elephants and Rain and TimeWatch "Had Roald Dahl and H.P. Lovecraft managed to combine across time and space, the result would have been a creature of unspeakable hideousness and malevolence. Fortunately, we can skip the hideousness and malevolence and enjoy the stories of Gregory Adams, whose work provides the sharp jolt of dark humor that marks the best of Dahl's work wrapped around the existential terror at the heart of Lovecraft's. You'll scream--with delight " ---Seamus Cooper, author of The Mall of Cthulhu and Terror at The Shore