In this well conceived, elegantly written, generously illustrated and beautifully produced book, Tracy Miller offers a multifaceted analysis of the evolution of the Jinci (Memorial Shrines of Jin), a ritual complex in Shanxi Province that was first recorded in historical texts some 1500 years ago. Never losing sight of the shrine's architectural and artistic features, she brings to bear a wealth of insights from recent scholarship, not only in art history but also anthropology, religious studies, and social, economic and intellectual history. The book is divided into eight chapters and has two appendices, one cataloguing each of the Jinci's extant buildings and the other providing a useful glossary of architectural terms.
Miller makes a convincing argument that the Jinci, located above the springs of the Jin River near Taiyuan, originally was a place for worshiping the goddess of the springs, whose waters were crucial to livelihood in this dry region....