Sanctity and Self-Inflicted Violence in Chinese Religions, 1500-1700In this illuminating study of a vital but long overlooked aspect of Chinese religious life, 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