Land of the Five Hundred Million: A Geography of China . By George B. Cressey. New York: McGraw Hill, 1955. xv, 387. Maps, Bibliography, Index. $10.00.

Abstract

The mediums assert that they fall in a trance and in this condition lose their sense of feeling. Thus, fire walking, lying on a knife bed, climbing of sword ladders, perforation of both cheeks with long spears, and cutting of the tongue are often performed, and at least some of these activities are regarded as necessary to arouse the interest and participation of the worshippers in the cult. Elliott does not believe that these mediums are psychotics, as has been asserted of Siberian shamans; for him, to be a medium is a calling and a profession for which some ability is necessary, but also a good deal of hard training. Although the mediums are never paid for their work, they expect "gifts"; often, in addition, they have a financial interest in the temple or the cult organization. The most interesting part of the book is perhaps Elliott's analysis of the organizational aspects of these cults. A special chapter (Ch. iv) is devoted to a detailed description of one of the cults of the "Great Saint," and the Appendices bring some examples of invocations and oracles. Differing from analysts of secret religious societies in North China, the author seems to see very little true religious feeling behind these cults, although "there is much historical evidence to show that spirit mediumship represents the dominant religious orientation of the Chinese of the type who came to the South Seas during the days of mass emigration" (p. 164). There is, along with a general trend towards secularization, some decline of spirit-medium cults in Singapore, but "it is difficult to find an alternative to the orientation that spirit mediumship represents as a formative influence in religious ideas" (p. 167). While on the mainland, the new government, attacking such cults, believes that the new ideology presents such an alternative, no acceptable alternatives seem to be presented to the Singapore Chinese.