Table of contents : Contents Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: Gods and Society in China 2. Personal Relations and Bureaucratic Hierarchy in Chinese Religion: Evidence from the Song Dynasty 3. Enlightened Alchemist or Immoral Immortal? The Growth of Lü Dongbin’s Cult in Late Imperial China 4. The Lady Linshui: How a Woman Became a Goddess 5. Myths, Gods, and Family Relations 6. Vernacular Fiction and the Transmission of Gods’ Cults in Late Imperial China 7. Transmission in Popular Religion: The Jiajiang Festival Troupe of Southern Taiwan 8. Matricidal Magistrates and Gambling Gods: Weak States and Strong Spirits in China Glossary Index Contributors