"Embodying Xuanzang: The Postmortem Travels of a Buddhist Pilgrim"

Ben Brose's new book explores the confluence of myth, narrative, and ritual. Beginning in the eleventh century and continuing to the present day, Embodying Xuanzang: The Postmortem Travels of a Buddhist Pilgrim describes how devotees summoned Xuanzang and his band of misfit pilgrims to promote excorcisms, guide the spirits of the dead, and possess the bodies of insurgents. The book traces the postmortem travels of China's greatest pilgrim and reveals the narratives and performative roots of China's best-known novel.