چکیده (انگلیسی):

Drawing upon his knowledge and understanding of literature, book culture, and vernacular culture of pre-modern China,
Glen Dudbridge offers, in his unique reading of Kuang-i chi 異記 (The great book of marvels), insights into the religious
experiences of lay society individuals of eighth century China. However, an inquisitive reader must ask the following
questions: Can Kuang-i chi, a medieval collection of tales of encounters with the other world by the minor T’ang Dynasty
official Tai Fu 戴孚 (fl. 760-780, chin-shih 757), be used for the purpose of the study of religious culture? How? and to
what extent? What approaches would be effective in inquiring such a text and what kinds of conclusions can be drawn?
Though not explicitly setting forth these questions, Dudbridge’s work serves as answers to them through explicitly defining
the nature of Kuang-i chi to his study, discarding conventional categories and establishing new ones in his analysis, and
associating Kuang-i chi to the “vernacular,” instead of official, or “centralized,” religious culture (p.63-4). Using a sharp
historical focus on the collection, Dudbridge concentrates on the dynamics of change in religious practices of T’ang Dynasty
that isrooted andreflected in such a vernacular religious culture.