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9780190456191

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This book makes major contributions in two areas: studies of Buddhist sacred sites and the value of temple gazetteers in carrying out such studies. Putuo, the sacred island of Guanyin, is the subject of several temple gazetteers and Bingenheimer is the leading expert in the use of them as historiographical sources. He successfully shows how the site and the texts have been mutually constituted through the centuries. An exemplary guide to new approaches to the study of Chinese Buddhism. --Chun-fang Yu, Professor Emerita, Columbia University Bingenheimer reconstructs a world of maps and miracles, pilgrimage and piracy, landscape and literati, examining the views of a wide cast of characters who worked with and against each other in the compilation of gazetteers from Mount Putuo over the course of five centuries. Consistently engaging and rich in detail, Island of Guanyin both contributes to our understanding of an important pilgrimage site in China, and provides an extended meditation on the relationship between community, place and devotion. --John Kieschnick, The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Professor of Buddhist Studies, Stanford University Marcus Bingenheimer's Island of Guanyin: Mount Putuo and its Gazetteers is a major study of two important subjects in the history of Chinese Buddhism: the Buddhist sacred site of Mount Putuo and the historiographical genre of the temple gazetteer. The book is extremely well-written, theoretically engaged yet free of academic jargon, erudite but always engaging, and addressed both to the specialist in Chinese Buddhism and the educated general-reader without prior knowledge of Mount Putuo or the literary genre of the Chinese gazetteer. It is a profoundly original and important work of scholarship that offers significant contributions to multiple fields of intellectual inquiry. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in Buddhist studies, Chinese religion, Chinese history, Chinese literature, book history, or cultural geography. --Max Moerman, Professor in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College

Island of Guanyin is a fascinating book. ... The volume is a welcome addition to the current scarcity of English-language literature on the islands of China, and it adds to the body of work concerning islands as holy sites. Its methodologically robust examination of textual history provides a surprising range of insights. -- Adam GrydehAj, Island Studies Journal Bingenheimer is to be commended for the close readings he provides of his sources, and for the detailed discussion of exactly how gazetteers were produced. --Olivia Milburn, T'oung Pao This book is a must read for anyone contemplating the use of Chinese temple gazetteers in their research .Island of Guanyin does a great service to the field by bringing to our attention the richness of the gazetteer tradition and offering numerous insights into how to read these great repositories of writing on numerous Buddhist sites. --Reading Religion This book makes major contributions in two areas: studies of Buddhist sacred sites and the value of temple gazetteers in carrying out such studies. Putuo, the sacred island of Guanyin, is the subject of several temple gazetteers and Bingenheimer is the leading expert in the use of them as historiographical sources. He successfully shows how the site and the texts have been mutually constituted through the centuries. An exemplary guide to new approaches to the study of Chinese Buddhism. --Chun-fang Yu, Professor Emerita, Columbia University Bingenheimer reconstructs a world of maps and miracles, pilgrimage and piracy, landscape and literati, examining the views of a wide cast of characters who worked with and against each other in the compilation of gazetteers from Mount Putuo over the course of five centuries. Consistently engaging and rich in detail, Island of Guanyin both contributes to our understanding of an important pilgrimage site in China, and provides an extended meditation on the relationship between community, place and devotion. --John Kieschnick, The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Professor of Buddhist Studies, Stanford University Marcus Bingenheimer's Island of Guanyin: Mount Putuo and its Gazetteers is a major study of two important subjects in the history of Chinese Buddhism: the Buddhist sacred site of Mount Putuo and the historiographical genre of the temple gazetteer. The book is extremely well-written, theoretically engaged yet free of academic jargon, erudite but always engaging, and addressed both to the specialist in Chinese Buddhism and the educated general-reader without prior knowledge of Mount Putuo or the literary genre of the Chinese gazetteer. It is a profoundly original and important work of scholarship that offers significant contributions to multiple fields of intellectual inquiry. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in Buddhist studies, Chinese religion, Chinese history, Chinese literature, book history, or cultural geography. --Max Moerman, Professor in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College

Marcus Bingenheimer's Island of Guanyin: Mount Putuo and its Gazetteers is a major study of two important subjects in the history of Chinese Buddhism: the Buddhist sacred site of Mount Putuo and the historiographical genre of the temple gazetteer. The book is extremely well-written, theoretically engaged yet free of academic jargon, erudite but always engaging, and addressed both to the specialist in Chinese Buddhism and the educated general-reader without prior knowledge of Mount Putuo or the literary genre of the Chinese gazetteer. It is a profoundly original and important work of scholarship that offers significant contributions to multiple fields of intellectual inquiry. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in Buddhist studies, Chinese religion, Chinese history, Chinese literature, book history, or cultural geography. * Max Moerman, Professor in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College * Bingenheimer reconstructs a world of maps and miracles, pilgrimage and piracy, landscape and literati, examining the views of a wide cast of characters who worked with and against each other in the compilation of gazetteers from Mount Putuo over the course of five centuries. Consistently engaging and rich in detail, Island of Guanyin both contributes to our understanding of an important pilgrimage site in China, and provides an extended meditation on the relationship between community, place and devotion. * John Kieschnick, The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Professor of Buddhist Studies, Stanford University * This book makes major contributions in two areas: studies of Buddhist sacred sites and the value of temple gazetteers in carrying out such studies. Putuo, the sacred island of Guanyin, is the subject of several temple gazetteers and Bingenheimer is the leading expert in the use of them as historiographical sources. He successfully shows how the site and the texts have been mutually constituted through the centuries. An exemplary guide to new approaches to the study of Chinese Buddhism. * Chun-fang Yu, Professor Emerita, Columbia University * Bingenheimer is to be commended for the close readings he provides of his sources, and for the detailed discussion of exactly how gazetteers were produced. * Olivia Milburn, T'oung Pao * Island of Guanyin is a fascinating book. ... The volume is a welcome addition to the current scarcity of English-language literature on the islands of China, and it adds to the body of work concerning islands as holy sites. Its methodologically robust examination of textual history provides a surprising range of insights. * Adam Grydehoj, Island Studies Journal *

the comparison of different works stretching from the Yuan dynasty to the end of the twentieth century usefully highlights some processes in their production and identifies matters for concern when considering any single gazetteer in isolation. -- Nathan Woolley, Religious Studies Review Island of Guanyin is a fascinating book. ... The volume is a welcome addition to the current scarcity of English-language literature on the islands of China, and it adds to the body of work concerning islands as holy sites. Its methodologically robust examination of textual history provides a surprising range of insights. -- Adam GrydehAj, Island Studies Journal Bingenheimer is to be commended for the close readings he provides of his sources, and for the detailed discussion of exactly how gazetteers were produced. --Olivia Milburn, T'oung Pao This book is a must read for anyone contemplating the use of Chinese temple gazetteers in their research .Island of Guanyin does a great service to the field by bringing to our attention the richness of the gazetteer tradition and offering numerous insights into how to read these great repositories of writing on numerous Buddhist sites. --Reading Religion This book makes major contributions in two areas: studies of Buddhist sacred sites and the value of temple gazetteers in carrying out such studies. Putuo, the sacred island of Guanyin, is the subject of several temple gazetteers and Bingenheimer is the leading expert in the use of them as historiographical sources. He successfully shows how the site and the texts have been mutually constituted through the centuries. An exemplary guide to new approaches to the study of Chinese Buddhism. --Chun-fang Yu, Professor Emerita, Columbia University Bingenheimer reconstructs a world of maps and miracles, pilgrimage and piracy, landscape and literati, examining the views of a wide cast of characters who worked with and against each other in the compilation of gazetteers from Mount Putuo over the course of five centuries. Consistently engaging and rich in detail, Island of Guanyin both contributes to our understanding of an important pilgrimage site in China, and provides an extended meditation on the relationship between community, place and devotion. --John Kieschnick, The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Professor of Buddhist Studies, Stanford University Marcus Bingenheimer's Island of Guanyin: Mount Putuo and its Gazetteers is a major study of two important subjects in the history of Chinese Buddhism: the Buddhist sacred site of Mount Putuo and the historiographical genre of the temple gazetteer. The book is extremely well-written, theoretically engaged yet free of academic jargon, erudite but always engaging, and addressed both to the specialist in Chinese Buddhism and the educated general-reader without prior knowledge of Mount Putuo or the literary genre of the Chinese gazetteer. It is a profoundly original and important work of scholarship that offers significant contributions to multiple fields of intellectual inquiry. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in Buddhist studies, Chinese religion, Chinese history, Chinese literature, book history, or cultural geography. --Max Moerman, Professor in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College

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Marcus Bingenheimer is Assistant Professor of Religion at Temple University.

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