Description: Drawing on more than two decades of fieldwork, Mark Meulenbeld's The Presence of Peach Spring reassesses Tao Qian's classic Daoist story "Record of Peach Blossom Spring" through the category of the sacred and connects it to its geographic context and ritual referents in northern Hunan.
Brief description: Mark R. E. Meulenbeld is Associate Professor in the School of Chinese at The University of Hong Kong.
Review Quotes: Mark Meulenbeld provides a thoughtful, deeply researched study of the multifaceted presence of Peach Spring in Chinese culture. By skillfully analyzing a wealth of primary materials, he illuminates the fluid boundaries between literature and ritual and opens up new perspectives on the ongoing re-creation of sacred space.--James A. Benn, McMaster University