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Introducing Chinese Religions is the ideal starting point for students exploring the fascinating religious traditions of China. This introduction covers the whole spectrum of Chinese religious history, from the multi-faceted religious heritage of pre-modern China, to the practice of different religions in China today, as well as the spread and influence of Chinese religions throughout the world. Mario Poceski, an experienced teacher of Chinese religions, explores the three main traditions of Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism, as well as the development of Western and popular religions in the region, such as Christianity and Islam. The book introduces students to the richness and diversity of Chinese religious life, pointing out mutual influences and intersections of the religions of the region, and how they interact with other elements of Chinese culture and society, including politics, literature and art. Illustrated throughout, the book also includes text boxes, summary charts, a glossary and a list of further reading to aid students` understanding and revision. The accompanying website for this book can be found at www.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415434065.

Abstract
The article explores the scope, content, and function of prophecies and premonitions presented in Chinese Buddhist literature, with a focus on the Chan school and the late medieval period. It is especially concerned with Chan narratives that feature premonitions about an upcoming death or demise, either one's own or of another person. Additionally, that is related to prevalent notions about the possibility of changing individual fate (or destiny), mainly at the point of facing death or when coming to terms with the daunting prospect of a terrible afterlife. While these themes resonate with the broader Buddhist tradition, the Chan school's production of narratives that feature this kind of thaumaturgic elements were linked to changing conceptions of exemplary religiosity, in which the Chan masters' real supernatural power is ultimately based on their possession of superior wisdom.