Thisbookincludestwentychaptersreviewingatotalofsixty-fourbooksinChineseinthetwoseries:“StudiesinChineseRitual,TheatreandFolklore”and“TraditionalHakkaSociety,”editedrespectivelybyWangCh’iu-kueiandJohnLagerwey.
Itisintendedtoinformthewiderworldofscholarshipofthisnewresearch,whichprovidesthemostdetailedinformationeveravailableaboutChineselocalculture,dramaandreligion.TogetherwiththeexcellentstudiesofthisdimensionofculturebyscholarsinTaiwan,andwitharevivedinterestinthisareabyotherChinamainlandscholars,itrepresentsaresumptionofthefolklorestudiesmovementofthe1920sand1930sthatwasinterruptedbythewarwithJapan.Thesenewreportsmayalsobeseen
asacomplementtotheworkofanthropologists,whountilrecentlyhavenotbeenabletoconductmanyfieldstudiesinChina.Assuch,thisresearchprovidesfreshinformationforanunderstandingofthecultureofthemajorityoftheChinesepeople,anunderstandingbasedontheirlivedexperiencesandvalues.
