Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Preface xi
4. Acknowledgments xv
5. Abbreviations xvii
6. ONE Introduction 1
7. TWO The Prehistory of the Ghost Festival 26
8. THREE An Episodic History of the Ghost Festival in Medieval China 43
9. FOUR The Mythological Background 113
10. FIVE Mu-lien as Shaman 140
11. SIX The Cosmology of the Ghost Festival 168
12. SEVEN Buddhism and the Family 196
13. EIGHT Concluding Perspectives 214
14. Character Glossary of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Words 225
15. Bibliography 231
16. Index 265