Gil Raz
Associate Professor
Appointments
Associate Professor of Religion
Area of Expertise
Early China,
Chinese mythology,
religions of China,
Daoism,
body and sex in Chinese religions,
magic, science and religion in traditional China
Biography
Gil Raz specializes in Chinese Religion, with a particular interest in Daoism, and the interaction between Daoism, popular religious practices, and Buddhism. Between studies in History and Religious Studies in Hebrew University (B.A., 1992) and Chinese Religions in Indiana University (M.A., 1996; Ph.D., 2004), he spent several years in China and Taiwan, studying and working with Daoist priests. His recent book Emergence of Daoism: Creation of Tradition (Routledge, 2012) examines the formation of the Daoist religious tradition between the second and fifth centuries C.E. His research interests include Daoist ritual, both historical and contemporary, Daoist sacred geography and mythology, traditional divination systems, and concepts of the body and sexual practices in Chinese religions.
Education
B.A. Hebrew University, Jerusalem
M.A. Indiana University
Ph.D. Indiana University
Taught Courses
Publications
"Imbibing the Universe: Methods of Ingesting the Five Sprouts," Asian Medicine, Tradition and Modernity 7 (2013).
"The Way of the Yellow and the Red: Sexual Practice in Early Daoism," Nan Nü, Men, Women and Gender in China 10 (2008).
"Time Manipulation in Early Daoist Ritual: The East Well Chart and the Eight Archivists," Asia Major 18 (2005)
The Emergence of Daoism: Creation of Tradition. (London: Routledge Press, 2012).
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