Diaries as a Window on the Private Religious Lives of Late Imperial Chinese Literati
Two Nineteenth-Century Case Studies
Abstract
This essay surveys diaries (riji 日記) as a source to explore the private, quotidian religious lives of late imperial (1550‑1900) Chinese literati. Large numbers of such diaries (some running to several thousand pages) exist, sometimes published, often in manuscript form. Some have been used (to a limited extent) for intellectual or political history, but almost never to study religiosity. They nonetheless contain rich information about their authors’ public and private participation in rituals, domestic devotion and various sorts of spiritual exercises. This essay will introduce the genre then focus on two case studies, showing how they document private religious practices and regular spiritual exercises.
Presentato: 20 Marzo 2025 | Accettato: 04 Agosto 2025 | Pubblicato 17 Dicembre 2025 | Lingua: en
Keywords Diaries • Weng Tonghe • Buddhism • Chinese religion • Daoism • Confucianism
Copyright © 2025 Vincent Goossaert. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/QU/0122-2244/2025/01/003