Dreams and Conversions: A Comparative Analysis of Catholic and Buddhist Dreams in Ming and Qing China: Part I

Dreams, though often viewed with suspicion by theologians and church authorities since the early Church fathers, remained a powerful and widespread form of religious expression among ordinary people. In Ming-Qing China, where European priests were scarce, lay converts relied heavily on holy dreams to build and strengthen a distinct religious subculture. This text is a version of a keynote address delivered at the Fourth Biennial Meeting of the Religious History Society in July 2004 in Newcastle, Australia.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Since the Church fathers, oneirology and dream revelations were regarded with considerable suspicion among theologians and ecclesiastical authorities, though dreams remained a powerful and pervasive feature of religious expression at a popular level. Among converts in Ming-Qing China, where lay initiatives were necessarily important given the paucity of European priests, holy dreams were crucial in the formation and consolidation of a powerful religious subculture. The following is a version of the keynote address delivered at the Fourth Biennial Meeting of the Religious History Society, in July 2004 in Newcastle, Australia.