Daoist Ritual and Liturgy

Daoist Ritual and Liturgy is structured for a semester system (14 weeks), suitable for upper-level undergraduates or graduate students in Religious Studies, East Asian Studies, or Anthropology.


📘 Course Title: Daoist Ritual and Liturgy

Course Code: RELS 432 / EAST 532

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: Intro to Daoism or Instructor Permission


🎯 Course Description:

This course explores the ritual and liturgical dimensions of Daoism from historical, textual, and ethnographic perspectives. Students will engage with primary texts (in translation), ritual manuals, and scholarly studies to understand the theological, cosmological, and performative structures of Daoist liturgy. Special focus is placed on the development of ritual forms in Classical Daoism, the Celestial Masters tradition, and the Lingbao and Complete Perfection (Quanzhen) schools. Attention is also paid to contemporary ritual practice in China and abroad.


📚 Course Objectives:

By the end of the course, students will:

  1. Understand the historical development of Daoist ritual traditions.
  2. Analyze key liturgical texts and ritual manuals.
  3. Interpret the symbolic, cosmological, and ethical dimensions of Daoist ritual.
  4. Examine the sociopolitical functions of Daoist liturgy across time.
  5. Explore ethnographic perspectives on contemporary Daoist ritual.


🧭 Weekly Topics & Readings:

Week 1 – Introduction to Daoist Ritual

  • Overview of Daoism and ritual theory
  • Readings: Schipper, The Taoist Body (Introduction)

Week 2 – Theoretical Frameworks: What is Ritual?

  • Readings: Bell, Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice (Chs. 1–2)

Week 3 – Early Daoist Ritual: The Celestial Masters

  • Readings: Kleeman, Celestial Masters: History and Liturgy

Week 4 – Daoist Liturgical Texts and Manuals

  • Readings: Daoist Canon Selections (DZ texts in translation)

Week 5 – Lingbao Tradition and Cosmology

  • Readings: Bokenkamp, Early Daoist Scriptures, Ch. 5

Week 6 – Ritual Space and Sacred Geography

  • Readings: Schipper, The Taoist Body, Ch. 3

Week 7 – The Role of the Priest: Ordination and Authority

  • Readings: Komjathy, Daoist Texts and Contexts, Ch. 7

Week 8 – Midterm Exam + Workshop: Script Recitation

  • In-class practice: selected chants with pitch notation

Week 9 – Ritual Performance: Offerings, Chants, and Registers

  • Readings: Dean, Ritual and Space in Daoism

Week 10 – Quanzhen School and Monastic Liturgy

  • Readings: Goossaert and Palmer, The Religious Question in Modern China, Ch. 4

Week 11 – Daoist Ritual in Contemporary China

  • Readings: Lagerwey & Kalinowski, Daoism in the Twentieth Century, selected chapters

Week 12 – Daoist Ritual and State: Historical Conflicts and Syncretism

  • Readings: Seidel, “Imperial Treasures and Taoist Sacraments”

Week 13 – Daoist Funerals and Ancestral Rites

  • Case Study: Hunan rituals, Yunnan communities

Week 14 – Student Presentations + Review


📝 Assignments & Evaluation:

  • Class Participation: 15%
  • Weekly Response Papers (1–2 pages): 20%
  • Midterm Exam (Short Essay & IDs): 20%
  • Research Paper (10–15 pages): 30%
    • Topic Proposal (Week 6)
    • Draft (Week 10)
    • Final Submission (Week 14)
  • Presentation of Research Findings: 15%


📖 Required Texts:

  • Schipper, Kristofer. The Taoist Body
  • Bokenkamp, Stephen. Early Daoist Scriptures
  • Komjathy, Louis. Daoism: A Guide for the Perplexed and Daoist Texts and Contexts
  • Course Packet (translations of key ritual texts from the Daozang)


🧵 Optional Add-ons:

  • Field Visit (if possible): Local Daoist temple or ritual observance
  • Guest Lecture: Practicing Daoist priest or ethnographer