Sanctity and Self-Inflicted Violence in Chinese Religions, 1500-1700 - Yu, Jimmy (Sheng Yen Assistant Professor of Chinese Buddhist Studies, Sheng Yen Assistant Professor of Chinese Buddhist Studies, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA)

Jimmy Yu reveals that in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, self-inflicted violence was an essential and sanctioned part of Chinese culture. He examines a wide range of practices, including blood writing, filial body-slicing, chastity mutilations and suicides, ritual exposure, and self-immolation, arguing that each practice was public, scripted, and a signal of certain cultural expectations.