Kenneth Dean and Zheng Zhenman, Epigraphical Materials on the History of Religion in Fujian: Zhangzhou region, 3 volumes, 1500 pages (accepted for publication by Fujian People’s Press, forthcoming 2016).
Kenneth Dean and Hue Guan Thye, Chinese Epigraphy in Singapore: 1819-1911, Singapore: NUS Press (in press, publication date, Spring 2015), 1500 pages.
Kenneth Dean and Zheng Zhenman, Ritual Alliances of the Putian Plains: Vol. 1: Historical Introduction to the Return of the Gods, Leiden: Brill, 2010. 404 pages.
Kenneth Dean and Zheng Zhenman, Ritual Alliances of the Putian Plains: Vol. 2: A survey of village temples and ritual activities, Leiden: Brill, 2010. 1060 pages.
Book reviews of Ritual Alliances of the Putian Plains, 2 vols.:
Vincent Goossaert, Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions.156-39:
Ritual Alliances est l'un des livres les plus fascinants et importants parus depuis une décennie, dans le domaine des religions chinoises sans aucun doute, et peut-être des sciences sociales du religieux dans leur ensemble. …Ritual Alliances est donc d'abord le phare d'un nouveau paradigme : l'histoire des systèmes sociaux locaux. …on ne peut qu'encourager très vivement l'ensemble des chercheurs en sciences sociales des religions à lire le tome 1 ; ils y trouveront tous un immense profit.
Kenneth Dean, editor, Stone Inscriptions and Local Historical Research, special issue of Min-su ch’u-i (Studies in Chinese Ritual, Theater and Folklore), Vol. 169. Taipei: Shih Ho Cheng min-su chichinhui, 2011. 275 pages.
Kenneth Dean and Zheng Zhenman, Epigraphical Materials on the History of Religion in Fujian: The Quanzhou region, Vol. 1: Quanzhou and Jinjiang; Fuzhou: Fujian Peoples' Publishing House Press, 2004. 463 pages.
Kenneth Dean and Zheng Zhenman, Epigraphical Materials on the History of Religion in Fujian: The Quanzhou region, Vol. 2: Nanan, Huian and Yongchun; Fuzhou: Fujian Peoples' Publishing House Press, 2004. 494 pages.
Kenneth Dean and Zheng Zhenman, Epigraphical Materials on the History of Religion in Fujian: The Quanzhou region, Vol. 3: Xiamen and Tongan; Fuzhou: Fujian Peoples' Publishing House Press, 2004. 528 pages.
Kenneth Dean, Lord of the Three in One: The spread of a cult in Southeast China, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998. 494 pages.
Kenneth Dean and Zheng Zhenman, Epigraphical Materials on the History of Religion in Fujian: The Xinghua region; Fuzhou: Fujian Peoples' Publishing House Press, 1995. 528 pages.
Kenneth Dean, Taoist Ritual and Popular Cults of Southeast China, Princeton University Press, 1993. 304 pages.
Kenneth Dean and Brian Massumi, First and Last Emperors: The Absolute State and the Body of the Despot, Autonomedia, New York. 1992.
Film
Kenneth Dean, Bored in Heaven: a film about ritual sensation, (Kenneth Dean 2010)
80 minute documentary film on Chinese New Years popular religious celebrations in Putian, Fujian, China, featuring religious processions, Daoist rituals, and spirit medium trance dances. Directed and produced by Kenneth Dean, 2010. Premiered at the 20th International Ethnological Film Festival, Belgrade, Oct. 2011. US film festival premier, Forbidden No More Film Festival, Haverford, Feb. 2012. Available at: www.boredinheaven.com
“A tidal wave of incredibly powerful sensations and overwhelming imagery…20 years of fieldwork condensed into 80 minutes of film… A landmark in Chinese ethnographic film.” David Johnson, Professor of Chinese History, UC Berkeley
Reviewed by Jonathan H.X. Lee, AEMS News and Reviews, Educating about Asia through Film, Winter 2012, Issue # 3
http://www.aems.illinois.edu/publications/enewsletters/newsandreviews_winter2012.htm
Publications: Articles
“Parallel Universe: The Chinese Temples of Singapore”, in Peter van der Veer, ed., Handbook of Asian Cities and Religion, Berkeley: U. C. California Press (forthcoming, spring 2015).
“Pirates in Paradise: a history of violence within the Chinese temple network in Southeast Asia” in Chen Yi-yuan, ed., New Approaches to the Study of Chinese in Southeast Asia: Taipei, Lexue, (forthcoming, spring 2015).
Cora Dean and Kenneth Dean, “Making “Bored in Heaven: a film about ritual sensation”, Visual Anthropology Review, Vol. 30.1 (2014): 50–61
“Sources for the study of the Minnan coastal trading “empire” in Southeast Asia” Temple Networks, Ritual Traditions, Stone Inscriptions, Lineage Genealogies, and Local Associations”, in Chen Yi-yuan, ed., Collected Essays from the 2011 Cheng-kung University International Conference on Minnan Culture, Taipei: Lexue 2013: 664-706.
“Overseas Chinese Temple and Trust Networks and Jinmen island”, in Chen Yi-yuan, ed, 2012 Jinmenxue guoji xueshu yantauhui lunwenji 金門學國研討會論文集 (Collected essays from the International Academic Conference on Jinmen Studies, 2012): Jinmen: Jinmen wenhuaju, 2012:533-578.
“`Tainan as a Model Node within the Minnan Coastal Empire: The View from Daoist Studies”, in Chen Yi-yuan, ed., 海洋古都:府城文明之形塑 (An Ancient City by the Sea: collected essays on the evolution of Tainan prefectural city). Tainan: Ch’eng-kung University Press, 2012: 17-44.
“The Daoist Difference: Alternatives to Imperial Power and Visions of a Unified Civilisation”, Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 13.2 (2012): 121-134.
“Ritual Revolutions” in Encounters: An International Journal for the Study of Culture and Society, Special Issue edited by Peter van der Veer, 2011:17-42 .
“Spirit Mediums and Global Citizens: the transnational network linking the temples of Shiting, Putian to Southeast Asia”, in Tan Wailun ed., Essays on Chinese local religious ritual, Hong Kong: Chinese Studies Center, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011: 411-468.
“Daoists and Transnational Chinese Society: The Circulation of Daoist Priests, Three in One Self-Cultivators, and Spirit Mediums between Fujian and South-East Asia”, in David A. Palmer and Xun Liu eds., Daoism in the Twentieth Century: Between Eternity and Modernity, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011: 251-274.
“Local ritual traditions of Southeast China: a challenge to definitions of religion and theories of ritual”, in Yang Fengguang and Graeme Lang, eds., Social Scientific Studies of Religion in China, Leiden: Brill, 2010: 235-267.
“The return visits of overseas Chinese to ancestral villages in Putian, Fujian “, in Tim Oakes and Donald Sutton, eds., Faiths on Display: Tourism and Religion in Contemporary China, London: Routledge, 2010: 254-75.
“Introduction to the study of stone inscriptions and local historical sources”, in Kenneth Dean, Guest Editor, Stone Inscriptions and Local Historical Research, special issue of Min-su ch’u-i (Studies in Chinese Ritual, Theater and Folklore), Taipei: Shih Ho Cheng min-su chichinhui, Vol. 169 (2011): 1-69.
“The Gods Return”, in Kenneth Dean and Zheng Zhenman, Ritual Alliances of the Putian Plains: Vol. 1: Historical Introduction to the Return of the Gods, Leiden: Brill, 2010: pp. 3-270.
“Lineage and Religion on the Putian Plains: analysis based on stone inscriptions”, by Zheng Zhenman, translated by Kenneth Dean, in Kenneth Dean and Zheng Zhenman, Ritual Alliances of the Putian Plains: Vol. 1: Historical Introduction to the Return of the Gods, Leiden: Brill, 2010: pp. 271-326.
“Tourism or the exploration of transnational space? The return visits of overseas Chinese to ancestral villages in Putian, Fujian“, in Chen Yiyuan, ed., Minnan Wenhua Guoji yantaohui lunwenji (Collected Essays from the International Conference on Minnan Culture), Jinmen: 2009: 384-302.
“The growth of local control over cultural and environmental resources in Ming and Qing Fujian”, in Philip Clart, ed., The People of the Dao: Festschrift in Honor of Professor Daniel Overmyer, Monumenta Serica Book Series, Brussels, Monumenta Serica, 2009: 219-248.
“Further partings of the Way: Daoism in contemporary China”, in D. Wang, ed., Making Religion: Making the State: The politics of religion in Contemporary China, Stanford University Press, 2009: 179-210.
“Micro-sociology of the ritual event” (co-authored with Thomas Lamarre), in Anna Hickey-Moody and Peta Mahlins eds., Deleuzian Encounters: Studies in Contemporary Social Issues, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007:181-197.
“The Ritual Economy of Northern Vietnamese villages”, in Chen Yiyuan, ed., Dongya Han wenxue yu minsu guoji xueshu yantaohui lunwenji (Collected essays from the International Academic conference on East Asian Han literature and folklore), Taibei: Lexue shuju youxian gongsi, 2007: 155-189.
“Seven additional inscriptions to supplement ‘Collected materials and survey findings on water resources and folk society in Shanxi’”, (co-authored with Zhang Xiaojun and Pu Zhengming), South China Research Resource Station Newsletter, 42 (2006): 1-29.
“Daoist Priests”, “Jiao”, Sanyi jiao”, Spirit Mediums”, and “Temple fairs” entries in E. L. Davis, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture, London: Routledge, 2005: 140-141, 300, 522-523, 560-562, 588-89.
“Alternative Approaches to Chinese Ritual”, Journal of Chinese Religions 31(2003):151-166.
“Local Communal Religion in Contemporary Southeast China”, China Quarterly 173, June 2003: 336-358. Also published as a chapter in Daniel Overmyer, ed., Religion in Contemporary China, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003: 45-67.
“Ritual Matters” (co-authored with Thomas Lamarre), in T. Lamarre and Kang Nae-he, eds., Impacts of Modernities, Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong Press, 2003: 257-284.
“Lineage and Territorial Cults: Transformations and Interactions in the Irrigated Putian Plains” in Lin Meirong, ed., Belief, Ritual, and Society: Papers from the Third International Conference on Sinology, Taipei, Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, 2003:87-129.
“Exorcistic Ritual Dance (Nuoxi) in Anhui and Jiangxi, China”, in D. Overmyer, ed., Ethnography in China Today, Hong Kong, Chinese University Press, 2002: 159-176.
“China’s Second Government: Regional Ritual Systems in Southeast China”, in Shehui, minzu yu wenhua zhanyan guoji yantaohui lunwenji (Collected papers from the International Conference on Social, ethnic and cultural transformation) Taipei: Center for Chinese Studies (2001): 77-109.
“The Bureau of Smallpox:: Exorcism and Spiritual Power in the Irrigated Putian Plain”, in Yishi, xiju yu minsu guoji xueshu yantaohui lunwenji (Collected papers from the International Academic Conference on Ritual, Theater, and Folklore) Taipei, Shih-Ho-Cheng Min-su wen-hua chi-chin-hui, Min-su ch’u-i 130 (2001.3): 1-56.
“The politics of translation” by Wang Xiaoming, translated by Kenneth Dean for the first issue of Traces: A Multilingual Journal of Cultural Theory and TranslationVol. 1 (2001): 269-300.
“Contemporary Taoist Ritual”, in L. Kohn, ed., Handbook of Taoist Studies, Leiden: E. Brill, 2000: 654-692.
“Taoism Today” Calliope: 12 (Special issue on Taoism) (2000): 34-51.
"The transformation of state sacrifice at the she altar in the late Ming and Qing in the Xinghua region", Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, 10 (1998): 19-75.
"Despotic Empire / Nation-State: Local responses to Chinese Nationalism in an age of global capitalism" in Chen Kuan-hsing, ed., Trajectories II: International Conference on Cultural Studies, London: Routledge, 1998: 153-185.
"Popular Religion or Civil Society: Disruptive Communities and Alternative Conceptions", in T. Brook and B. Frolic, eds., Civil Society in China, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1997: 172-195.
"Les religions populaires à la base de la société", written with Brigitte Berthier, in Chine: Peuples et Civilisation, ed. P.Gentelle, Paris, Editions la Découverte (Les dossiers de l'Etat du Monde), 1997: 126 - 132. First published in L'Etat de Chine, ed. P.Gentelle, Paris, Editions la Découverte, 1990: 79‑83.
"Taoism in Contemporary China" chapter 24, in D. Lopez, ed., Chinese Religion in Practice, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1996: 306-326.
"The Revival of the Spiritual Tradition: The God of Theater", in D. Sommer, ed., Chinese Religion: An Anthology of Sources, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995: 317-27.
"The Development of the Three-In-One Religion in Southeast China," Proceedings of the International Conference on Temple Fairs and Chinese Culture, Taipei: Center for Chinese Studies, 1995: 601-670.
"Comic Inversion and Cosmic Renewal in the Ritual Theater of Putian: The God of Theater in Southeast China," in Wang Ch'iu-kui, ed., Proceedings of the International Conference on Popular Beliefs and Chinese Culture, Taipei: Center for Chinese Studies, 1994: 683-732.
"Irrigation and Individuation: Cults of Water Deities along the Putian Plains" Proceedings of the Conference on Chinese Ritual and Ritual Theater, Min-su ch'u-i (Studies in Chinese Ritual, Theater and Folklore) 91 (1994): 567-640.
"Group initiation and exorcistic dance in the Xinghua Region" written with Zheng Zhenman, Min-su ch'u-i (Chinese Ritual, Theater and Folklore) 85 (1993): 105-195.
"A Preliminary Investigation of the Historical Remains of the Three‑in-One Religion in Fujian" ("'Sanyijiao' zai Fujian lishi yijide chubu kaocha" (in Chinese)) written with Lin Guoping [Expanded version of article originally published in 1989 (see below)] Putian: Putianshi Wenshiziliao 8 (1993): 129-143.
"[A Preliminary Study of Fujianese and Taiwanese Taoism in relation to popular religious worship (in Chinese: Min Tai Daojiao yu minjian zhushen chungbai chukao), written with Zheng Zhenman, Bulletin of the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, 73 (1993) 33-52.
"Postmortem on the Presidential Body", with Brian Massumi, in M. Ryan and A. Gordon, eds., Body Politics: Disease, Desire, and the Family, Boulder: Westview Press, 1993: 155-175.
"Unity in Dismemberment: A Flowchart of Despotic Desire", Kenneth Dean and Brian Massumi, Social Discourse 3:3+4,1991: 7-20.
"The revival of religious practices in Fujian: a case study", J. Pas, ed., The Turning of the Tide: The Religious Situation in Contemporary China. Hong Kong Royal Asiatic Society, Oxford University Press, 1990: 51‑78.
"Mu‑lien and Lei Yu‑sheng ("Thunder is Noisy") in the Theatrical and Funerary Traditions of Fukien", in D. Johnson, ed., Ritual Opera Operatic Ritual: "Mu‑lien Rescues His Mother" in Chinese Popular Culture. U.C. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, 1990: 46‑104.
"Mu-lien and Lei Yu-sheng in Fujian theater and funerals" (Fujian xiju he sangzang fengsuzhong de Lei Yousheng he Mulian (in Chinese)): in Jin Qingxi, ed., Fujian Mulianxi yanjiu lunwenji (Studies in Fujianese Mulian theater), Fujiansheng Yishu yanjiusuo, Fuzhou, 1990: 105-113.
"Notes on two Taoist Jiao in the Minnan region "Minnan diqu liang Jiao zeji (In Chinese), in Zhang Guoju, etc., eds., Wu Zhenren Xueshu yanjiu wenji (Collected Essays from the Wu Tao Conference), 1990: 168-178.
"Taoism in Southern Fujian" in Studies of Taoist Ritual and Music of Today, ed. P. Y. Tsao and D. Law. Hong Kong, Society for Ethnomusicological Research in Hong Kong, 1989: 74‑89.
"A Preliminary Investigation of the Historical Remains of the Three‑in-One Religion in Fujian" (in Chinese)) written with Lin Guoping (Fujian Cultural Journal) (13, 14), 1989: 114 - 119.
"Funerals in Fujian” & “Manuscripts from Fujian", Cahiers d'Extrême‑Asie, 4, (1988): 19-79, 217 ‑ 27.
"Field notes on Two Taoist Jiao Observed in Zhangzhou in December, 1985", Cahiers d'Extrême‑Asie, Revue de l'Ecole Française d'Extrême‑Orient, Section de Kyoto, 2 (1986): 191 ‑ 209.