General research guides

The primary resource for all work on Chinese history is:

• Wilkinson, Endymion; Chinese History : a Manual, Revised and Enlarged (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000) (references below are to the 2000 edition). In the meantime a new version has just come out, Chinese History: A New Manual (sixth edition, 2022). This mammoth work is well-organized and full of information, although the overwhelming wealth of information makes the bûk hard to use for beginning students of Chinese history. Its coverage of religious culture is not strong, but important references can still be found in Chapter 29 "Myth and Religion"  in particular.

Finding Internet resources

• http://sun.sino.uni-heidelberg.de/igcs/igphil.htm (this is the section on religion and philosophy of the Internet Guide to Chinese Studies, which brings a large amount of references to websites on Chinese religious culture, esp. on Buddhist, Daoist and Christian traditions)
• http://sun.sino.uni-heidelberg.de/igcs/igbiblio.htm (this is the section on bibliographies of the Internet Guide to Chinese Studies, which brings together a number of substantial bibliographies of varying quality on Chinese religious culture and other topics)

Doing bibliography: finding books and articles:

Raw bibliographies:

Western

• Laurence G. Thompson comp., Chinese Religions in Western Languages; A Comprehensive and Classified Bibliography of Publications in English, French, and German through 1980 (The Association for Chinese Studies, Tucson, 1985).
• Laurence G. Thompson comp., Gary Seaman ed., Chinese Religions: Publications in Western Languages 1981 through 1990(Los Angeles: Ethnographics Press, Center for Visual Anthropology;  The Association for Chinese Studies, Tucson, 1993)
• Laurence G. Thompson comp., Gary Seaman ed., Chinese Religions: Publications in Western Languages  1991 - 1995 (The Association for Chinese Studies, Tucson, 1998)
• Laurence G. Thompson, Gary Seaman and Song Zhifang comp.; Gary Seaman ed., Chinese religions : publications in Western languages : volume 4 : 1996 - 2000 (Ann Arbor, MI. : Association for Asian Studies, 2002)
• All volumes are divided into three parts, Bibliography, Chinese religion exclusive of Buddhism, Chinese Buddhism. They are organized in topics, with an index on authors. These works do not only  include primary  research in the strict sense, but also a wealth of works with more ethnographic descriptions and old works that are excluded from most scholarly bibliographies (especially in the first volume). From the third volume onwards, they also include book reviews, although coverage is not complete.
• "Bibliography of Western Language Publications on Chinese Popular Religion (1995-present)"(maintained by Philip Clart (clart[at]uni-leipzig.de) and Soo Khin Wah). This is an excellent research tool that grows better with every year.
• For those with access to the online Bibliography of Asian Studies, please keep in mind that this wonderful tool is by no means complete in its coverage of the secondary literature. Furthermore, the BAS only covers modern scholarly publications, whereas the Thompson and Seaman series is much broader in its coverage. NB I HAVE REMOVED THE ORIGINAL LINK HERE, SINCE EACH LIBRARY WILL HAVE ITS OWN SET-UP FOR ACCESSING THIS ONLINE TOOL.
• Revue bibliographique de Sinologie (Nouvelle série) This  was the best alternative resource for finding secondary literature in Western languages, as well as Chinese and (some) Japanese. More info below. The new series appeard from 1983 until 2006 (covering up to 2005).
• Barend ter Haar, "Towards a bibliography of works and passages on religious life in mainland China in the twentieth century (Republican China [before 1949] and the PRC)". This site is still under construction, but ultimately aims to provide references not only to specific works on contemporary religious culture in China, but also to specific passages on this topic in works that are not otherwise concerned with religious culture.
• Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong, Taiwanese Culture, Taiwanese Society: A Critical Review of Social Science Research Done on Taiwan (University Press America, Lanham, 1994). This work contains a substantial bibliography of mainly American social science  research (esp. anthropology and ethnology) on Taiwan, including religious culture. It also provides a good, albeit slightly emotional,  critical overview of analytical trends and backgrounds.

• Lin Meirong [ed.] Taiwan minjian xinyang yanjiu shumu, zengdingban (Taibei: Zhongyang yanjiuyuan minzuxue yanjiusuo, 1997) This remarkable piece of work covers Chinese, Japanese and Western scholarship on all aspects of religious culture in Taiwan from the beginning of this century  until 1996. It even indexes bookreviews (pp. 31-38).
• Wang Leijun Zhongguo dalu zongjiao wenzhang suoyin . (Taibei: Dungchu chubanshe,  1995) Two vols. [Z7757.C6 C48 REF]  This bibliography also reflects the predominant orientation of mainland scholarship on mainstream (canonical: Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, Islam, minorities) religious culture, with rather little on so-called popular religion (minjian zongjiao, minjian xinyang, fengsu xiguan). Coverage is from October 1949 until the end of 1992. Interestingly, the book was published on Taiwan.

• Chûgoku shisô, shuûkyô, bunka kankei rombun mokuroku; Taibei: Mingwen shuju, 1981) [Z3106.C548 REF]  This little-noted resource provides an exhaustive index to all books and article in Japanese on all aspects of Chinese religious culture published until the late 1970s. This includes a wealth of material  published in often obscure pre-war journals, of great importance because of its rare factual information on pre-war religious culture in the regions then occupied by the Japanese. More up-to-date information can be found in the bibliographical issues of the Shigaku zasshi.
• Tôyôgaku bunken ruimoku  1963-1993  (Kyôtodaigaku jimbun kagaku kenkyûsho [ed.]; While the book version has been discontinued, it was succeeded by an excellent website, at http://ruimoku.zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ruimoku7/. It is the most inclusive bibliography of Japanese and to a lesser extent Chinese and Western secondary research on all aspects of Chinese culture, including religious culture.

Annotated bibliographical surveys

• William H. Nienhauser, Jr. ed., Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature (Indiana University Press., Bloomington, 1986) Vol. 1. Consists of a set of bibliographical essays on different literary genres and an encyclopedia. Amongst others excellent bibliographical essays on "Buddhist literature" (pp. 1-12) by Jan Yün-hua and two essays on "Taoist Literature", "Part I: Through the T'ang Dynasty" by Stephen Bokenkamp (pp. 138-152) and ""Part II: Five Dynasties to the Ming" by Judith Magee Boltz (pp.152-174). The encyclopedic part is only useful for a limited number of religious works, but very helpful on more general literary works containing information on religion. The essays as well as each lemma in the encyclopedia are provided with basic bibliographic references. Name, title and subject indexes.
• William H. Nienhauser, Jr. ed., Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature (Indiana University Press., Bloomington, 1998; reprinted Taipei: SMC Publishing Inc., 1999) Vol. 2.  Consists of additional entries for the encyclopedic part and bibliographical supplements to the first volume, such as a long entry on Precious Scrolls (baojuan). It also contains an extensive list of errata and corrigenda to Vol. 1 (pp.505-516). For a detailed bookreview of Vol. 2 with a lengthy discussion of the errata and corrigenda due to this volume see China Review International 7:1 (2000) pp. 170-194 (by Daniel Bryant).
• Daniel L. Overmyer ed., "Chinese Religions: The State of the Field," Part I., Journal of Asian Studies 54:1 (1995) pp.124-160 and Part II. Journal of Asian Studies 54:2 (1995) pp. 314-395. Quite exhaustive state of the field articles on Western research concerning the different  dimensions of Chinese religious culture by the specialists in the respective subfields.
• Yu, David C. comp.,  Guide to Chinese Religion (Boston: Hall, 1985) [Z7757.C6 Y8 REF]  and Religion in Postwar China : a Critical Analysis and Annotated Bibliography (Westport: Greenwood, 1994) [Z7757.C6 Y83 1994 REF] These two works contain a wealth of bibliographical references with brief notes, mostly English language materials and a number of Chinese studies. Despite the title of the second work, coverage extends to traditional China as well.

• Anna Seidel, "Chronicle of Taoist Studies in the West 1950-1990", Cahiers d'Extrême Asie 5 (1989-1990) 223-347.  Not just another bibliographical article, but a reasoned survey of studies on Daoism since the publication of Henri Maspero's posthumous work in 1950 by Paul Demiéville. Includes a very useful discussion of the historical sources on Daoism, such as the Daoist canon, Dunhuang manuscripts, epigraphy and material collected by fieldworkers. Detailed evaluative discussions (223-309) and separate bibliography organized by author (309-347).

• Urs App in: Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie 7 (1993-1994) 357-409.

Book reviews

• Lin Mei-jung [ed.] Taiwan minjian xinyang yanjiu shumu, zengdingban (Taibei: Zhongyang yanjiuyuan minzuxue yanjiusuo, 1997) [Z7751.L557 1991 REF]l. See comments above.
• Laurence G. Thompson comp., Gary Seaman ed., Chinese Religions: Publications in Western Languages  1991 - 1995 (The Association for Chinese Studies, Tucson, 1999). See comments above.

• Cahiers d'Extreme Asie This journal may not publish many reviews, but when it does they are substantial.
• China Review International (1994-present)  This journal has rapidly established itself as the main resource for substantial reviews on books concerning all aspects of traditional and modern China. Of all American journals it also has the best coverage of European publications.
• Journal of Asian Studies  This journal provides short reviews of a large number of books, including those on religious topics. The booksellers' advertisements in its Annual Meeting catalogue also provide useful information on what new books are coming out.
• Journal of Chinese ReligionsThis is the main specialized journal for more substantial reviews of new books on all aspects of Chinese religious culture.
• Monumenta Serica  This journal stems from a missionary background and is published by a house (Steyler Verlag) which also published much on Christianity in China. The journal publishes many bookreviews on both American and European (including German) scholarship, often by European scholars.
• Revue bibliographique de Sinologie (Nouvelle série).  This was probably the only Western language bibliographical resource that covers much of the best secondary literature in all sinologically relevant languages. It provides short introductions to titles (not real bookreviews), as well as longer bibliographical articles by specialists in the field. Also good for  keeping track of European research and often (not exclusively) written by European scholars. Written in French and English. Contains indexes of authors of works treated and - very useful, albeit hardly complete - an index (in French) on terms and personal names. Sadly discontinued in 2006.
• T'oung Pao  In addition to its articles, this journal publishes many bookreviews, covering the main French scholarship as well.

Finding information

• Mary Pat Fisher, Living Religions (London: Calmann & King, 1997) (German: Religionen Heute [Köln: Künemann, 1999]) Typical handbook for the northern American market of religious studies departments, which focus on the recognized "world religions".  Includes readable sections on Buddhism and Daoism, but most importantly also discusses most other large and scriptural religious traditions. Good general reference, with glossary and index, but no bibliography.
• Ninian Smart, Religions of Asia (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1993)  General introduction to religious traditions in Asia. More detailed than the Fisher handbook.

General introductions to Chinese religious culture

• Philip Clart, Die Religionen Chinas (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Rupprecht Verlag, 2009). Smart introduction if you know German.
• Goossaert, Vincent,  Dans les temples de la Chine: Histoire des cultes, Vie des communautés (Paris: Albin Michel, 2000. really good on lived religious culture.)
• Goossaert, Vincent and David Palmer, The religious question in modern China (Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 2012). Fundamental discussions of the way religion as a category came into being and how religious culture in a broader sense was dealt with during the twentieth century. Essential reading.
• Jochim, Christian, Chinese religions: a cultural perspective (Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, 1986)
• Nadeau, Randall, The Wiley-Blackwell companion to Chinese religions (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012). A very convenient collection of introductory articles with l up-to-date bibliographies.
•  Overmyer, Daniel L., Religions of China : the world as a living system (San Francisco : Harper & Row, 1986)
• Paper, Jordan,The Spirits are Drunk: Comparative Approaches to Chinese Religion (Albany: SUNY Press, 1995). Especially strong for taking the Chinese sacrificial culture as its point of departure and for its attention to shamanic (possession, ecstasy) culture. Full of useful ideas on religious practice.
• Mario Poceski, Introducing Chinese Religions (Routledge: London, 2009)
• Yang, C.K. (Yang Ch'ing-k'un),  Religion in Chinese Society : a Study of Contemporary Social Functions of Religion and  some of their Historical Factors (Berkeley: California University Press, 1961).[BL1802.Y3 1961] This is still the benchmark study on Chinese religious culture from a functionalist perspective, and the main paradigm with which to disagree.
• Xinzhong Yao & Yanxia Zhao, Chinese Religion: A Contextual Approach
(London: Continuum, 2010).

Brill handbooks

• Lagerwey, John and Kalinowski, Marc eds., Early Chinese religion Shang through Han (1250 BC - 220 AD) (two volumes) (Leiden: Brill, 2009)
• Lagerwey, John and Lü Pengzhi eds., ̈Early Chinese religion The period of division (220 - 589 AD) (two volumes)(Leiden: Brill, 2010)
• JOhn Lagerwey and Pierre Marsone eds., Modern Chinese religion I : Song-Liao-Jin-Yuan (960-1368 AD) (two volumes) (Leiden: Brill, 2015).
• Vincent Goossaert, Jan Kiely, John Lagerwey ed., Modern Chinese religion II : 1850-2015 (two volumes) (Leiden: Brill, 2016)

Finding information on Chinese religious culture

• For those able to read classical Chinese, the various works in the series Zhongguo minjian xinyang ziliao huibian   (Taibei: Taiwan xuesheng shuju, 1989) often provide useful introductory information, even when not necessarily historically reliable. They are certainly to be preferred over Werner's Dictionary of Chinese Mythology.
• Birrell, Anne Chinese Mythology : an Introduction  (Baltimore: John Hopkins Univ. Pr., 1993) [BL1825.B57 1993] Excellent introduction with translations to the classical mythology of China.
•  J.J.M. de Groot (C.G. Chavannes trsl.), Les fêtes annuellement célébrées à Émoui (Amoy) (Paris: Musée Guimet, 1886; San Francisco: Chinese Materials Center, 1977). This work and the following one by a great Dutch scholar and predecessor is partly based on specific fieldwork by someone who should be called the first professional ethnographer of Chinese culture. He was a former Roman Catholic believer and at the time of writing his Les fêtes an interpretor in the service of the Dutch colonial government in the Dutch Indies (which since became modern Indonesia). He was by no means a missionary. He had strong views on the Chinese state and was much more sympathetic to local Chinese culture. These two works are a mine of information on local cults in southern Fujian, demonology, Daoist ritual and possession cults, customs surrounding death, etc. They should be used with considerable care, however, because of their methodological weaknesses and because since the last decades good research on some subtopics has appeared..
•  J.J.M. de Groot, The Religious System  of China (six vols.) (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1892-1910). See above
• Münke, Wolfgang  Die klassische chinesische Mythologie (Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag, 1976) [BL1802.M83 REF]  Serious, but due to its language little known, piece of scholarly work on classical Chinese mythology. A new and expanded version was recently published, Mythologie der chinesischen Antike: mit Ausblick auf spätere Entwicklungen  (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1998).
• Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China (Cambridge UP, Cambridge, 1954- present). For a survey of the titles which have already come out, see http://www.soas.ac.uk/Needham/SCC (at the Needham Homepage). This is not merely an encyclopedic resource on virtually all aspects of "science" and "technology" in Chinese history, but also of a whole range of religious phenomena connected to these fields. It is a well-indexed work with excellent bibliographical sections. Therefore always keep this resource in mind when doing work on China's religious culture as well.
• Werner, E. T. C. A Dictionary of Chinese Mythology (Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, 1932 and New York: The Julian Press, 1961 reprint).[ BL1801.W35 REF]  Outrageously out-of-date, yet still one of the few Western language resources on mythology (legends) from the non-classical period. Not to be relied upon for serious scholarship, but a handy reference for people in a hurry.

Daoist traditions

• John Lagerwey, Taoist Ritual in Chinese Society and History (New York: MacMillan, 1987). Somehow not very useful as a general reference work on Daoist ritual, but contains much valuable information and points of view.
• John Lagerwey,  Le continent des esprits: la Chine dans le mirroir du taoïsme (Bruxelles: La Renaissance du Livre, 1991) (English and German translations exist)  My favourite introduction to Daoist religious culture.
• Isabelle Robinet, Histoire du taoïsme des origines au XIV siècle (Paris: Les Éditions du CERF, 1991)  (English and German translations exist)

• Daoist Studies, maintained in Northern America and full of useful news and academic information, including Livia Kohn's "Research Guide"" under the button "Information".
• Livia Kohn ed., Daoism handbook (Leiden: Brill, 2000). Divided into chapters and bibliographies treating the state of the field and important issues both relevant subjects and periods by the most relevant experts on these topics. Could be stronger for the last two imperial dynasties, but this also reflects the limited scholarship on the last six or so centuries. Index, not terribly well-edited.
• The Center for Daoist Studies website provides a wealth of information and further links, separating out more academic locations and the rest.It duplicates and exceeds much of the info on my own website.
• Fabrizio Pregadio,The Golden Elixer. This website is especially useful for bibliographical information on Daoist texts and links to concordances and indexes (see below), but also provides information of a more general nature. Partially replaced by the The Enclopedia of Taoism, edited by FP as well.
• Fabrizio Pregadio ed., The Enclopedia of Taoism (London: Routledge, 2008). Without a doubt the standard resource on Daoism. Basically an encyclopedia of the most important terms, phenomena, titles, figures, places and so forth in Daoist history. Each topical chapter is prefaced by a more general essay. Each entry has a bibliography. Detailed table of contents. index, overall bibloiography. In an Appendix (1311-1331) FP treats "Reference works for Taoist Studies", Western, Chinese and Japanese.

Buddhist traditions

• Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990 and many reprintings). Especially strong on explaining all aspects of Buddhist doctrine and practice (including devotional practice, ethics, ritual, meditation etc.). Also contains historical chapters, which are by necessity superficial (but I do not know anything better and more up to date for the Chinese case). Good bibliography and topical index.
• Louis Frédéric, Les dieux du bouddhisme: guide iconographique  (Paris: Flammarion, 1992) Really much more than "merely" a guide to Buddhist iconography, since he also treats ritual and cultic objects, mudras, as well as divine (Buddhist) figures, and discusses their religious meaning and significance. He takes Sanskrit, Tantric and Japanese iconography as his  point of departure, but the discussions are certainly also highly relevant for understanding Chinese Buddhist traditions. Also I know of no better overall surveys. It is organized according to topic, with rich illustrations, bibliography (not complete), and an index.
• Jonathan A. Silk, Oskar von Hinüber, Vincent Eltschinger, and Lucia Dolce eds., Brill's encyclopedia of Buddhism. Volume I, Literature and languages (Leiden: Brill, 2015). Quoted from the publisher (and not necessarily all wrong): "'Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism' aims to [provide] a comprehensive work [on all aspects of Buddhism], presented in two phases: a series of six thematic volumes including an index volume, addressing issues of global and regional importance, to be followed by an ever-expanding online resource providing access both to synthetic and comprehensive treatments and to more individuated details on persons, places, texts, doctrinal matters, and so on. 0Illustrated with maps and photographs, and supplemented with extensive online resources, the print version of the thematic encyclopedia will present the latest research on the main aspects of the Buddhist traditions in original essays written by the world's foremost scholars. The encyclopedia aims at a balanced and even-handed view of Buddhist traditions, presenting the most reliable accounts of well-known issues and filling gaps in heretofore-neglected areas. In doing so, it emphasizes that Buddhism is simultaneously constituted by a plurality of regional traditions and a far-reaching phenomenon spanning almost all of Asia, and more recently far beyond as well."

• UCLA Guide to East Asian Buddhist Studies (Robert Buswell and William Bodiford) Description: An excellent annotated bibliography listing collections of Buddhist texts, catalogues, some works on methodology and history of Buddhist studies, encyclopedias, dictionaries, bibliographies, concordances and indexes. Strong on Japanese research aids. Annotations are rather sparse. This resource is also helpful for Buddhologists outside the sinological and japanological fields, for it provides much information on tools relevant for the study of non-sinitic Buddhist traditions. Although last updated in 2005, it is still useful.
• Buddhist Studies WWW Virtual Library (T.M. Ciolek, Austrialian National University, Australia). This is a huge site with links related to Buddhism and Buddhist studies, in additiona to a list of links to further networked resources on religious culture. It does not provide substantial annotations, nor does it provide information on traditional reference works (unlike the UCLA Guide).

Dictionaries and encyclopedias: finding words and terms

Buddhist:

A number of the following resources can now be found digitally, for instance through Buddhist glossaries.
• Ciyi  ·O©É [chief ed.], Foguang dacidian (Gaoxiong: Fuoguang chubanshe, 1989) (8 vols., with one index vol.) [BL1403.M62y REF] Quite a good encyclopedia that also includes "popular" Buddhist traditions and is written in accessible modern Chinese. Also available online at Foguang dacidian 佛光大辭典.
• Ding Fubao¤B ºÖ «O ,. Foxue dacidian  (1921; many reprints). By now quite out of date, but as a one volume dictionary still quite convenient for those unfamiliar with the Japanese language.
• Louis Frédéric, Les dieux du bouddhisme: guide iconographique  (Paris: Flammarion, 1992). Excellent guide to Buddhist iconography. See above.
• Hôbôgirin: Dictionnaire Encyclopédique du Bouddhisme d'après les Sources Chinoises et Japonaises (Hobogirin ªkÄ_¸qªL; Tokyo: Maison franco-japonaise, 1929-1937; Paris: Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1967-now [?]) [BL1403.H6 REF] Editors: L'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Institut de France avec le Concours de L'Académie du Japon et de la Maison Franco-Japonaise [publ.] (over the decades its most important contributors were Paul Demiéville, Anna Seidel, Hubert Durt).  One of those remarkable products of French sinology, both because of the high quality of the lengthy articles contained herein, and the speed with which work has progressed (Vol. 7 was published in 1994). Nonetheless, this is a standard resource that should always be consulted and constitutes one of the many reasons why every student of Chinese religious culture should know French.
• Mochizuki Shinkô, Bukkyô daijiten (Tôkyô: Bukkyô daijiten hatsugyôsho, 1931-1936)  Vol. 1-5 (original dictionary); Vol. 6 Nenbyô (1963);  Vol. 9 and 10 Tsukamoto Zenryû Mochizuki Bukkyô daijiten : Hoi  (1963) [BL1403.M62y REF]  This is the classical and still extremely useful Japanese encyclopedia as well as dictionary for Buddhist doctrine, biography etc. Will often provide more information and doctrinal references  than the easier to use  Foguang dacidian. A zip-file with a list of all the index entries is available from the IRIZ website), together with the lists for several other important tools for research into Buddhitm. You do need Japanese for this crucial dictionary.
• Nakamura Hajime , Bukkyô go daijiten (Tôkyô: Tôkyô hoseki kabushiki kaisha, 1975) Vols. 1-3. Unlike Mochizuki's mammoth work, this is "merely" an excellent dictionary. The index can be downloaded as a zip- file from Charles Müller's homepage).
• Yves Raguin, Terminologie raisonnée du bouddhisme chinois: Caractères chinois, transcription, traduction.(Taibei: Institut Ricci 1985). Essentially a vocabulary list. (not seen for this bibliography)
• W.E. Soothill, and L.Hodous, A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms : with  Sanskrit and English equivalents and a Sanskrit-Pali index (London: Kegan Paul, 1937; reprinted T'ai-pei: Ch'eng Wen Publ., 1976) [BQ130.S65] Still a convenient Chinese-English dictionary, even though hopelessly out-of-date.
•  Website of Charles Müller including his online Dictionary of East Asian Buddhist Terms. This dictionary is a collective effort (but most of the work to date has been done by Charles Muller) to which each user can contribute. It can be downloaded to one's own computer and is quite easy to use. It does not replace existing Chinese or Japanese dictionaries, but comes a long way towards replacing Soothill and Hodous (1937). The website also contains many other useful links for a field that is increasingly well endowed with online resources.

 Daoist

• Daojiao dacidian (Beijing: Huaxia chubanshe, 1994, 1995 reprint). This dictionary incorporates the Daoism scholarship of the entire PRC, but as usual ignores most of what happens elsewhere. It can therefore not be considered authoritative in scholarly terms. Nonetheless, it is extremely rich in contents, with over an estimated 12000 entries and covering many aspects of doctrine and ritual practice (including alchemy). No illustrations. The material is in abbreviated characters, arranged in stroke order, without an index according to any alternative systems. It quotes extensively from the primary sources, but does not refer to secondary research. Its large number of entries makes it the closest thing to a dictionary, but to be used in combination with other dictionaries, rather than by itself.
• Dôkyô jiten (Tôkyô: Hirakawa shuppansha, 1994, 1996 second printing) This is quite a useful dictionary, largely based on Japanese scholarship and organized exclusively according to the Japanese pronunciation. It has 1141 entries, the index (pp. 727-785) covers over 4500 names, titles and terms. The Japanese is not overly difficult. Each entry contains very concise bibliographical references (some to Western literature), a transcription and an English translation (by Terry Kleeman), pictures, some crossreferences (for which the index is more useful). Appendixes include a description of contemporary Daoist ritual practices (pp. 629-681) and a table of systems for referring to the Daoist canon (but not yet incorporating the mainland reprint of 1988) (pp.683-734). Its contents is often conventional, but original in also including contemporary practice, non-Han Daoist traditions, local cults and the like.Nonetheless, this is still an encyclopedia and not a dictionary that can be of some use in translating and reading Daoist texts.
• Julian F. Pas in corporation with Man Kam Leung, Historical Dictionary of Taoism (Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 1998). Largely a one man job, really, and largely based on the Western secondary literature. It covers all kinds of names and terms from Daoist culture broadly defined, gives very readable discussions, some literature, but no Chinese characters and contains no overall index. It contains an extensive bibliography (pp. 377-412). Especially useful for the completely non-initiated, not so very useful for those inside the field. This work functions much like a normal introduction to "philosophical" and "religious" Daoist culture, and is not really a dictionary that can be of some use in translating and reading Daoist texts.

General

• Dôkyô jiten (Tôkyô: Hirakawa shuppansha, 1994, 1996 second printing). More than merely a dictionary of Daoist religious culture. See above.
• Eberhard, Wolfram  Lexikon chinesischer Symbole : Geheime Sinnbilder in Kunst und Literatur, Leben und Denken der Chinesen (Köln: Eugen Diederichs Verlag, 1983) (translated as A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought. (1988  and reprints) [German edition: DS721.E326 1983 REF] At least this author knew China as a person and a scholar, although I think that the book is still quite insufficient as a dictionary on Chinese symbols.
• Williams, C. A. S. Encyclopedia of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives : An Alphabetical Compendium of Legends and Beliefs as Reflected in the Manners and Customs of the Chinese throughout History (New York: The Julian Press, 1960 reprint) [GR335.W53 1961 REF]  Even though undoubtedly out-of-date, this work provides a lot of information also on pictorial symbolism.
• Zhongguo fengsu cidian (Shanghai: Shanghai cishu chubanshe, 1990). Typical PRC product which seems to treat folklore as something largely non-Han. Still, it also includes Han and especially a lot of of historical information, naturally without recourse to non-Chinese research. Over 12000 entries, arranged according to topic (festivals, marriage, birth, birthdays, medicine, burial and mourning, social exchange and communication, etc. etc.), with a table of contents and an important overall index to the entries (arranged in stroke order). Quotes extensively from Chinese language sources.

Indices and catalogues: finding texts

Dunhuang texts

•  International Dunhuang Project  interactive web database "Welcome to The International Dunhuang Project web database. This page already  gives access to information on over 26,000 manuscripts and printed documents from Central Asia in the British Library collection (it will expand to include manuscripts from other collections in the future). It also includes high quality colour images of manuscript fragments, with more images being added every week" This will be defintive access to all materials from Dunhuang and other Silk Road sites in London and elsewhere (see the website for a list).

• Soymié, Michel [et.al., red.] Catalogue des Manuscrits Chinois de Touen-Houang : Fonds Pelliot Chinois de la Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris: Éditions de la Fondation Singer-Polignac) Vol. 1 : n° 2001-2500 (1970), Vol. 3 : n° 3001-3500 (1983), Vol. 4 : n° 3501-4000  (1991), Vol. 5 : n° 4001-6040 (2 vols.) (1995). This will be the definitive catalogue of the material in the Pelliot collection and replaces earlier catalogues.
• Dunhuang wenxian series are being published for the collections in Russia (Saint Petersburg), Paris (Pelliot), Gansu, Shanghai, Tianjin and Beijing. They all have Dunhuang wenxian in their names and often also provide materials on Turfan.

Buddhist texts

• Taishô Shinshû Daizôkyô  (the Taishô canon) This is the standard compilation of (largely) Buddhist texts, mainly those before the Song period and including some Dunhuang works and many manuscripts works from Japanese monasteries. It takes the oldest extant, Korean canon as its point of departure and provides a minimal philological apparatus with alternative readings in other canonical compilations.
• Jiaxing canon  This compilation stems from the late Ming and early periods. It is still important for Song and later works.
• Manji Zokuzôkyô  (ZZK) This compilation is still important for Song and later works. Its editions are not always the same as in the Jiaxing-canon, but this canonical compilations is certainly more widely available and thus to be preferred in quoting.
• Zhonghua dazang jing this useful Taiwanese reprint includes part of the Song-Yuan Qishan canon, as well as the complete Jiaxing canon and the ZZK. (not to be confused with a mainland reprint project with the same title)
• See also the site with Electronic texts from the Taishô-canon in Taiwan. This is much more than merely a site with (links to other sites with) complete Chinese texts, but also contains a wealth of bibliographical materials on Buddhism as a doctrinal religious system and all kinds of interesting hyperlinks.  This site not only covers Chinese, but also Sanskrit/Pali and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. It has completely linked up to other Buddhist e-text-initiatives. The CBETA project can be used as an online concordance, by inserting the chinese character one loooks for with the abbreviation CBETA into Google or another search machine.
• Zen (Chan) texts and concordances or indices to them have been made almost completely available electronically through the IRIZ (International Research Institute for Zen Buddhism, located in Kyôto) . They seem to have moved their homepage to http://iriz.hanazono.ac.jp/index.en.html.

• Charles Müller, Resources for the Study of East Asian Language and Thought. This website provides links to a wealth of serious scholarly initiatives in making Confucian, Buddhist and Daoist classics available in electronic format, in
• Studies in Central and East Asian Religions Little known journal, until 1998 published in Copenhagen, then briefly by Brill (Leiden) and discontinued after 2001. Often contains critical bookreviews, especially on Buddhist (inspired) religious culture. Issues from nr 1-9 can be found on: http://www.shin-ibs.edu/publications/scear/. They have been refounded as an e-journal http://journals.ed.ac.uk/ejecar (but the website only has an issue from 2013).
cluding the Buddhist Taishô-canon. The author's own principal interest is in Buddhist studies and the strength of this website is in that particular field. Most of the time, resources on Daoist texts concern what is commonly called Daoist "philosophical" texts.
• Paul Demiéville, Hubert Durt and Anna Seidel comp. Hôbôgirin: Répertoire du Canon Bouddhique Sino-Japonaise. Edition de Taishô (Taishô Shinshû Daizôkyô) : Fascicule Annexe du Hôbôgirin: Dictionnaire duBouddhisme d'après les Sources Chinoises et Japonaises (Paris: Maisonneuve, 1978). Do note that this is only a -very convenient - index to the Taishô-canon and provides no information on the other Buddhist canonical compilations.
• Tong Wei Ershier'zhong Dazangjing tongjian (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1997) (not yet seen: Wilkinson 2000: 578 gives this as a handy tool to works in all major compilations of Buddhist canon up top the Taishô-canon)
• Taishô shinshû Daizôkyô sakuin , 1975-1988). This is a concordance for the different sections of the Taishô-canon. However, in my experience it is not complete and not the same in quality for each volume.

Daoist texts

• Schipper, Kristofer and Franciscus Verellen comp. and eds., The Taoist canon: a historical companion to the Daozang (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004). The end-product of an old European project from the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a result not always up-to-date, but an extremely convenient tool for accessing work sin the Daoist canon. Summarizes basic ontents of all texts included in the Daoist canon and its late Ming sequel.

• Website: download site Daoist canon and other texts (rather slow).
• Daming daozang jing (1444-1445) and Xu daozang jing (1607).   Three versions of this canonical compilation are extant on the mainland, as well as two incomplete  versions in Japan (including one in the Imperial Palace library), and others in France (Paris) and Russia. There are two modern editions in different printings, namely: a. the 1921-1923 Hanfenlou Zhengtong daozang threadbound edition (based on the copy preserved in the White Cloud Belvedere in Beijing), reprinted on Taiwan and most widespread in the 1977 bound version from Yiwen Publishers; b. the 1988 Daozang bound edition (Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin: Wenwu, Shanghai shudian and Guji, 1988) which is collated from different versions extant on the mainland. See Boltz (1993) and her further bibliography. A major problem is that these two modern editions use different pagination.
• Daozang tiyao (He Longxiang ed., Peng Wenqin e.a. comp.; most available edition is the Taibei: Xin wenfeng, 1986 reprint) This work is important for Ming and Qing Daoist works.
• Zangwai daoshu This important compilation reprints a wealth of materials from the late imperial period, such as ritual and doctrinal texts, as well as monastic rules, monastic gazetteers, mountain gazetteers, and so forth.

• Louis Komjathy, Title index to Daoist collections (Cambridge, MA : Three Pines Press, 2002). A simple index to most relevant published collections of Daoist texts.
• Charles Müller, Resources for the Study of East Asian Language and Thought. Further comments above.
• Fabrizio Pregadio, The Golden Elixer . This is one of the best websites for finding on-line materials on Daoist religious culture in China, especially concerning inner alchemy traditions. It includes elaborate links to substantial articles by serious scholars, indices to electronically encoded texts, indices to the Daozang and similar works, bibliographies, etc.Also see his earlier and less up-to-date paper predecessor. "Chinese Alchemy. An Annotated Bibliography of Works in Western Languages", Monumenta Serica, 44 (1996) 439-473.
• Schipper, Kristofer M. Concordance du Tao-Tsang : Titres des  ouvrages (Publications de l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient, nr. 102; Paris: École Française d'Extrême-Orient, 1975) Please note that there are presently two current ways of referring to works in the Daozang, namely by the Schipper or by the Harvard-Yenching (HY) system.  The Schipper index provides more access to alternative forms of single titles. Both the Schipper and the HY index are only indexes and provide no bibliographical or other information. An improved version can also be found at Pregadio's website.

• Judith Magee Boltz, "Notes on Modern Editions of the Taoist Canon", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies LVI:1 (1993) 87-95.  In this useful survey, Boltz discusses the 1988 mainland edition of the Daoist canon, including a list of duplicated passages and lacunae.
• Fabrizio Pregadio, The Golden Elixer, containing "The Taoist Canon: A Guide to Studies and Reference Works". A bibliographic essay on the study of the Taoist Canon: general works, history of the Canon, modern reprints, catalogues, indexes, concordances, other collections of Taoist texts, and bibliographies. He provides very systematic factual information and detailed bibliographical references.

• Boltz, Judith M., A Survey of Taoist Literature : Tenth to Seventeenth Centuries (Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 1987) [Z7835.T2 B64 1987 REF] The first resource for studying Daoist traditions from the tenth to the seventeenth centuries, with extensive annotations on the contents of the different works. See also the bookreview by John Lagerwey and Isabelle Robinet in Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie 4 (1988) 227-230. The author has provided a long list of corrigenda in the 1995 reprint of the Survey.
• Ren Jiyu [ed.] Daozang tiyao (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1991) [BL1900.A1 T268 1991 REF]  This is a convenient first introduction to all works in the Daoist canon with brief annotations, based entirely on Chinese research, however, without incorporating the very relevant Western and Japanese scholarship. See also the remarks by Judith M. Boltz, "Notes on the Daozang tiyao", China Review International 1:2 (1994) 1-33.

Precious Scrolls and other religious scriptures

• Baojuan (Taiyuan: Shanxi renmin, 1994). It was taken out of circulation in the PRC soon after its appearance, but not after it had been sold in a number of Western countries and Japan. Overmyer (1999) lists a number of libraries which have this series.
• Zhongguo zongjiao lishi wenxian jicheng: Minjian baojuan (Hefei: Huangshan shushe, 2005)

• Wang Jianchuan and Lin Wanchuan eds., Ming Qing minjian zongjiao jingjuan wenxian(Taibei: Xinwenfeng chubangongsi, 1999)
• Wang Jianchuan c.s. , Ming Qing minjian jingjuan wenxian xubian (Taipei: Xinwenfeng chuban gongsi, 2006)
• Wang Jianchuan, Li Shiwei and others eds., Minjian sicang: Taiwan zongjiao ziliao huibian: minjian xinyang, minjian wenhua (Luzhou: Boyang wenhua shiye youxian gongsi, 2009)
• Wang Jianchuan, Song Jun, Fan Chunwu, Zhongguo yuyan jiujieshu huibian (Taibei: Xin wen feng chu ban gu fen you xian gong si, 2010)

This list is already out of date, since numerous new series have appeared. A longe rlist can be found in http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199920082/obo-9780199920082-0151.xml. Entitle " Heterodox Sects in Premodern China" I discuss the main secondary literature as well as source publications as they have appeared as of 2017.

Relevant catalogues are:

• Che Xilun [ed.], Zhongguo baojuan zongmu (Taibei: Zhongyang yanjiuyuan wenzhesuo choubeichu, 1998). Essentially replaces previous mainland bibliographies of Precious Scrolls, with 1579 titles. The catalogue is arranged according to title in the order ot the Bopomofo (Guoyu zhuyin zimu) system. At the end of the book follow a masterlist of all the firsst characters in this order (293-302) and the first characters arranged according to the number of strokes (303-315). Also gives appendixes with alternative lists of Scrolls (some of them merely confiscated heretical texts) in pre-1949 works and all Scrolls quoted in the Qing archives, as well as indices to alternative names of Scrolls (316-352) and the institutions with holdings. According to other Chinese researchers on Precious Scrolls, it is not necessarily complete and not necessarily reliable on the Chinese holdings.
• Daniel Overmyer, Precious Volumes: An Introduction to Chinese Sectarian Scriptures from the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries  (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999). This book is not a catalogue, but does provide much introductory information on the genre, its contents, language and socio/religious context. Undoubtedly the single most useful work on the earlier Precious Scrolls and their religious contents in any language.
• Sawada Mizuho, Zôhôken no kenkyû (Tôkyô: Kokusho kankôkai, 1975). The classical Japanese introduction to the genre, with a huge bibliography of works which at that time were still largely in private collections. Please note that because he also gives summaries of the texts, this work is not replaced by newer works. Importantly, most of these works are now in public collections. A large part of his colleciton is now available online: http://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/furyobunko/index.html, which also includes other materials pertaining to Chinese religious culture.

Source books, anthologies, translations

General

• Lopez, Donald S., Religions of China in Practice (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1996)  Contains a broad range of original texts in translation, with a good introduction to the book as a whole, as well introductions cum bibliographies to the individual selections.

Daoist

•  Stephen R. Bokenkamp, Early Daoist  Scriptures (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997) Excellent translations with introductions and annotations to a number of crucial early Daoist texts.
• Livia Kohn, The Taoist Experience: An Anthology (Albany: State University of New York, 1993) Convenient anthology of translations by the editor and others from a broad variety of texts commonly labelled as Daoist.

Buddhist

• BDK English Tripitaka This is a huge translation project of selected texts from the Buddhist canon, including many works relevant to the Chinese tradition. It is a Japanese project (of the Bukkyô Dendô Kyôkai) carried out within the typically Japanese context of scholarly believers, but it provides students of Chinese religious culture  with convenient access to a broad textual base.  Should be used with other translations when available, and preferably with the original Chinese texts.
• Lopez, Donald S.  Buddhism in Practice   (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1995) [BQ1012.B83 1995] Contains a broad range of original texts in translation, with a good introduction to the book as a whole, as well introductions cum bibliographies to the individual selections.

Journals on Chinese religious culture

• Cahiers d'Extreme Asie  This journal was founded by Anna Seidel, who was also its driving force until her untimely death. After the first numbers, which usually covered a broader range of themes, the tendency has been to invite guest editors and devote each issue to specific themes. Because it has been publishing thematic issues, it is not so good for keeping abreast with general trends, although these issues themselves are extremely substantial. Good for Chinese as well as Japanese and Korean religious culture.
• Journal of Chinese Religions (1974-present). Journal with wide range of articles, bookreviews and news on Chinese religious culture, from Daoism and Buddhism to temple cults or new religious groups (sects). Its quality has varied over the years (but is more than excellent at this moment).
• Sanjiao wenxian: Materiaux pour l'etude de la religion chinoise. Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes/Research School CNWS. Paris/Leiden. No.1 (1997)- present. [BL1000.S3y]. This is a new journal which comes from the Beijing temples project initiated by K.Schipper (Paris/Leiden).
• Studies in Central and East Asian Religions Little known journal, until 1998 published in Copenhagen, then briefly by Brill (Leiden) and discontinued after 2001. Often contains critical bookreviews, especially on Buddhist (inspired) religious culture. Issues from nr 1-9 can be found on: http://www.shin-ibs.edu/publications/scear/. They have been refounded as an e-journal http://journals.ed.ac.uk/ejecar (but the website only has an issue from 2013). Its coverage extended from Japan, China and Korea to the Central Asia cultures (esp. Tibetan). Has published quite a nice range of articles, critical book reviews and news items of all sorts, concerning all aspects of Buddhism, Daoism and temple cults.
• Taoist Resources (1989-1997) has since fused with the Journal of Chinese Religions. Contains excellent contributions on Taoist religious culture, but was not distributed as widely as it deserved.
• Tôhô shûkyô  (1952?-present) This is the most important Japanese journal which publishes articles, bookreviews and institutional news on (mainly) Chinese religious culture. Because Buddhist culture is also covered in a wealth of other journals, the overall focus is on other traditions.
• Shijie zongjiao yanjiu  Major mainland journal for the study of Chinese and world religious cultures, but more than than not out of touch with Western language scholarship.

Compilation criteria

• Unlike many Internetresources, this bibliography aims to incorporate both traditional style printed works and on-line resources. I will not provide a complete bibliography of anything that is available, but attempt to survey those works and websites that directly assist in the business of doing research on Chinese religious culture. In the same way, the user of this resource  is advised to obtain complete bibliographical information (especially the full collective authorship of larger works) from the works concerned. My information here will be restricted to the run-of-the-mill information needed to find the book, journal or website in question.
• Religious culture in China is taken by me to refer to those activities (including writing) in sinitic (or sinitic influenced) culture that give meaning to birth, disease, life and death, or that provide explanations and solutions to all kinds of problems by invoking an extra-human referent or dimension. It does not include early "Daoist"  works such as the Daodejing or the Zhuangzi, except when they have been incorporated in a larger religious context. But principles only go that far, and the user of this guide will find that most websites included in the present bibliography that provide information on Daoist (inspired) religious culture also (and often even predominantly) include these two works.
• Terms such as Buddhist, Daoist and general are intended here only as categories for organizing material, but should not to be taken to correspond to religious categories as lived by (most) Chinese in the pre-modern period.
• All entries and evaluations in this bibliography are my own, based on my own more or less frequent use and consultation of these works and internet sites in research and teaching. Hence, this guide ultimately reflects my own research and teaching interests, including my likings and dislikings of certain websites, books and articles, and most of all my personal research opinions. I do not intend to build a resource that is merely the largest common denominator of the field and as a result my judgements may of course be unbalanced or simply wrong.

Practical aspects:

• Transcriptions of Chinese characters are in pinyin, but note that the Leiden library and many other libraries still predominantly use Wade-Giles. Long vowels in Japanese have generally been indicated by adding a second vowel, rather than using diacretics (which become Chinese characters under BIG 5)
• largely collective works have been recorded under their title, unless the work is better known under the name of its editor in chief.
• All URL are checked upon incorporation into this bibliography, but mistakes do happen and URLs are also often dropped or changed without notice. If people using this resource find any mistakes in this respect, please inform me as soon as possible.