Though by training an ethnomusicologist, Stephen Jones has written a book on the Daoists of Shanxi villages that is not in any way limited to the narrow field of either “ethno-” or ”-musicology.” His Daoist Priests of the Li Family: Ritual Life in Village China is an extremely thorough study of various aspects of the local history of the village of Yanggao, including family genealogy, social change, manuscript culture, music, ritual and so on, often set against the background of political history writ large. The subtitle of the work is indeed to be taken very seriously, as the book truly describes the “ritual life” of a Daoist family in its broadest sense.

Starting with the Introduction (pp. 1–34), moreover, the author builds a passionate case for the crucial relevance of doing fieldwork even for scholars of Chinese history. Indeed, it is clear throughout the book that to develop personal relationships with the “subjects” one studies virtually guarantees access to a rich trove of data. In his own words, “the importance and complexities of rapport,” which, as he points out, are “hardly on the agenda of Daoist ritual studies,” has the capacity to make even “archival work … take on a fresh glow” (p. 22; also see similar critique on p. 33).

After the Introduction, the author goes on to “punctuate the chronological flow of biographical chapters with sections on specific rituals.” What this means in practice is, for instance, that chapter one opens with a biographical sketch of Li Qing (1926–99), “Master Daoist” and father of the book's main protagonist, Li Manshan (b. 1946). This biographical part is unexpectedly rich in various insights: meaningful, lively descriptions of detailed family relations, circumstances of disciples, surveys of the local religious life, accounts of local temples, and a first exploration of “ritual life” during the time of Li Qing's greatest activity. Within these sections, interesting glimpses are provided into the rich history of the locality, such as the presence of female spirit-mediums (known as “great immortals” daxian, p. 47), the memories and scarce remains of local temples, or the lack of ordinations for Daoists (with some locals claiming that one is “born a Daoist,” p. 51). The chapter subsequently ends with a first description of ritual more strictly speaking. In particular, Jones describes “Delivering the Scriptures” – a ritual segment he calls “today the most constant of all the Yanggao Daoists’ rituals, the basic minimal program for both funerals and temple fairs” (p. 52).

In other chapters, a constant flow of fascinating anecdotes is maintained. Chapter two, “Occupation and warfare: the 1940s,” mentions Li Qing's unorthodox recollection that “the Japanese troops, themselves devout, even made donations” when they saw Daoists performing rituals (p. 59). It also shows how fieldwork with living people can teach us about the past, when Li Manshan explains the social configuration of Daoists that is cursorily alluded to in a local stele inscription (p. 61). Chapter three, “The Hall of Auspicious Virtue,” purports to trace local history as far back as possible, which is mostly to the 18th century – though Jones provides very apt speculations about Yanggao's beginning as a military encampment (pp. 73–74). It is in this context that the author fulminates against the perception that traditional culture represents something like a “living fossil” (p. 70), an argument that he expands on pp. 368–74. Chapter four, “Liberation: the early years, 1948–1957,” is valuable for its recollections of religious activity in the 1950s (p. 105). Chapter five, “Years of trauma: 1958–1964,” details the harsh circumstances of the period before the Cultural Revolution. Chapter six, “Silence descends: 1964–1978,” is a short chapter about the uncertain years of political revolutions. Chapter seven continues with the happy news of religious revival, chapter eight is an extremely insightful chapter about the (re-)copying of manuals, and chapter nine describes the revival of temple fairs and the possibility of seeing the 1990s as a “golden age” of Daoist ritual in Yanggao. One of the longer descriptions of ritual is attached to this chapter: “Solo activities of the Daoist.” In it, Jones provides an overview of various small but commonly performed rituals in Li Manshan's daily praxis.

Chapter ten makes the case for studying ritual manuals alongside ritual performances while being cognizant of the fact that these two never match completely. Jones even states that “the practice of the Li family since at least the 1980s hardly requires the use of ritual manuals” (p. 203). Importantly, he argues that this phenomenon is not to be understood as some sort of “impoverishment” of ritual (p. 204). This is a crucial chapter, providing nuanced discussion of meaningful analytical differences between descriptive and prescriptive materials, and of classification of rituals. Chapter 11 delves into the ancestry of texts, offering some regional comparisons. Chapters 12 and 13 describe core rituals of the region.

Finally, chapters 14–16 are what Jones calls “the heart of the matter,” namely performance, representing “The sound of ritual.” Here the author surveys vocal liturgy (p. 256), ritual percussion (p. 279) and melodic music (p. 290), while he revisits some of the previously discussed rituals from a musicological angle. The last few chapters (17–19) situate the local Daoist “ritual life” of Yanggao against the background of the 21st century, a changing world (and the Daoists themselves travelling abroad, first to Amsterdam, New York, then Hong Kong, Venice, Milan, Leipzig and Genoa). The last chapter ponders on the inevitability of a “decline” narrative, while hoping to avoid a romantic “nostalgia for some former Golden Age” (p. 343).

For the semblance of objectivity, let me voice some critical notes. First of all, while the narrative structure of historical chronology and ritual intermezzi is interesting, the downside is that it makes comprehension more difficult and does not allow the reader to get into a flow – but maybe the author intended his audience to remain on edge? Also, one might have hoped Jones would have taken the time to find a better publisher. Although it is true that the Three Pines Press must be commended for allowing the author to publish such a large manuscript, the make-up is at times clumsy (e.g. p. 88) and therefore adds to the confusions of the complex narrative.

Most important, though, this book is exuberantly written while always seeking nuance. It is light-hearted (often jocular and deliciously inappropriate), yet serious and meticulously researched. It is one of the richest fruits of intensive fieldwork I have ever read.