The ancient forms, evolution, history and present aspect, manners, customs and social institutions connected with the religious system of China. This volume contains Part I (Soul in philosophy and folk-conception) of Book II (On the soul and ancestral worship). Contents: Psychological philosophy; Cosmo-psychological philosophy, and Taoism; On the multiplicity or divisibility of the souls of man; On the parts of the body in which the soul specially dwells; Animistic ideas as suggested by shadows; On disease of the soul, its debility and derangements; On absence of the soul from living man; On reanimation after death; On the reincarnation of souls through birth; On Zoanthropy; On the descent of men from animals; On plant-spirits; On the animation of lifeless matter; On food and medicines prepared from animals and men; On apparitions, and their influence upon the fate of man; On retributive justice exercised by spirits.

高延（J.J.M.de Groot，1854-1921）

荷兰莱顿大学汉学教授。是荷兰籍汉学家、进化论人类学家，欧洲最早研究中国宗教的学者，中国宗教田野研究方面的先驱者。不仅以他对中国宗教的开拓性研究著称于世，而且也以他对汉人社会所做的最早的人类学研究而闻名于西方学术 界。被认为是西方到中国的第一个真正的民族学学者。本书是其汉学研究代表作之一。

本书译者芮传明 等均为国内目前宗教文化、民俗学、人类学等研究领域内的佼佼者，有的更是相关研究机构及其学科的带头人，他们为本项目的实施提供了高学术专业水准的保障。