China: religion in everyday life

Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 45 Chapter 2 China Paul Hedges INTRODUCTION What do we think of when we speak of religion in China? Maybe images of Buddhist deities spring to mind—such as the graceful figure of the bodhisattva/goddess Guanyin,1 in her long flowing white robes and the fat, jolly Milofo—or figures of wise sages with flowing beards; or do we think of images of suppression, perhaps in reference to Christianity or Falun Gong? Whatever image comes to mind, it is likely that it cannot capture the diversity or full picture of religious life in China, especially in the daily life of the Chinese people. Indeed, before we try to picture it, we must address certain problems of our understanding. For a start, what we ordinarily understand by the term religion (assuming our basis is a modern, Western one) may be quite different from the way it is understood in China. For instance, one major strand of Chinese thinking is Confucianism, yet there is no unanimous agreement over whether this should be seen as a religious tradition. Moreover, the Chinese have no native word that directly relates to our modern Western usage of religion; the word used in modern Chinese (zongjiao) is inspired by a term coined in Japan to create an equivalent to our term religion. What this means is that when we approach “Chinese religion” we approach “alien territory,” and so we have to be careful not to impose our preconceptions of what religion is, or what religions do, on their traditions. Indeed, some things we may see as religious are not always seen by the Chinese as falling within the scope of religion; instead, they describe them with indigenous terms such as mixin (superstition) or baishen (worshipping the gods).2 Nevertheless, it is Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 46 10:30 AM Page 46 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History meaningful to speak of the religious dimensions of their culture, but we must do so in terms meaningful to this context.3 Another problem is the vast size of China, for we are speaking of a single country that today holds around one-quarter of the world’s population, and which historically may be considered an empire rather than a single nation. Therefore, we have to speak of an area the size of Europe that includes 55 ethnic minority groups and encompasses much diversity of belief and practice. Of the various ethnic groups, the majority are Han Chinese, on whom we concentrate; other ethnic groups are the Tibetans and Mongolians (who live along the borders of China), the Islamic Uighur people, the Manchu (who were the “barbarian” invaders who formed China’s last imperial dynasty), and a host of small tribes in the Southwest. In recent years, Chinese religious practice has suffered from repression on mainland China. Consequently, the longest-surviving forms of practice are found outside the mainland, although the revival of traditional religion is a significant feature of contemporary life in the People’s Republic of China. The three major religious traditions in China are Daoism (Taoism), Confucianism, and Buddhism. Daoism and Confucianism are native traditions, whereas Buddhism was introduced from India around two thousand years ago. Alongside these, many other religions are practiced, including Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and a number of tribal or indigenous faiths. However, popular or folk religion is the mainstay of Chinese religious practice; this, especially in its interaction with the three main traditions, will be our focus. TIMELINE Selected Dynasties c. 18th–12th centuries BCE: c. 12th century–221 BCE: c. 6th century BCE: 221–207 BCE: 206 BCE–220 CE: c. 2nd century BCE: c. 1st century CE: 142 CE: c. 2nd century CE: 618–906: 842–845: Shang Dynasty Zhou Dynasty Life of Confucius and legendary date for Laozi. Qin Dynasty Han Dynasty Confucianism becomes state orthodoxy. Buddhism enters China. Celestial Masters tradition founded. Dao De Jing edited into standard version. Tang Dynasty Great Persecution of Buddhism. Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 47 China 1130–1200: 1279–1368: 1368–1644: 1644–1911: 1911: 1911–1949: 1949–present: 1949: 1966–1976: 1980–present: 47 Life of Zhu Xi. Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty Ming Dynasty Qing (Manchu) Dynasty End of Confucian educational and ritual system. Republican China (on mainland, continues in Taiwan) People’s Republic of China Communist victory on mainland, many religious figures flee to Taiwan. Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China. Liberalization of religious control and practice in the People’s Republic of China. THE CHINESE COSMOS To understand Chinese religion, it is necessary to consider the traditional Chinese conception of the universe and its workings. We will therefore discuss a number of important concepts that belong to the elite traditions but which infuse the whole of Chinese culture and construct the world of everyday religion. Three important concepts are qi (chi), yin-yang, and the Five Agents. Many Chinese may see them not as religious, but as part of the way things are, that is to say, what the universe is like and how it operates. Nevertheless, they are ideas that are inherently spiritual, and they have explicitly religious connotations or sources. Literally, qi can be translated into English as air or breath.4 However, the term implies far more in traditional cosmological thought, where everything is composed of qi, and so it may be thought of as material energy, or spiritual matter, although neither of these concepts is adequate, for it is breath, spirit, matter, and more. It is therefore best not to translate the term. Indeed, because China has many different schools of thought, there are also many different interpretations of qi. For some, the physical world is a gross form of qi that has become hard or solid, whereas our minds are more subtle qi. It has also been interpreted in moral terms, with good behavior being seen as a pure form of qi, and immoral behavior as a less pure form. In mainstream Chinese cosmology, everything in the universe is composed of the same stuff, and it can be purified through certain practices. Probably the best known is taiji (tai chi), practiced daily by young and old in parks across China, especially early in the morning. Taiji is now practiced worldwide as well. Yin and yang are terms now well-known in English, and they refer to the operation of qi, which can be in either mode. Yang is seen as light, male, active, Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 48 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 48 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History heavenly, and hot. Yin is seen as dark, female, passive, earthly, and cold. However, we should not read positive or negative, better or worse in these distinctions. In reality, neither can operate without the other, and so they are sides of the same thing. Although yang is seen as active and yin as passive, yin is in some ways more potent because yang may exhaust itself. The Five Agents are also referred to as five elements, but the latter term is misleading. These Five Agents are fire, earth, metal, water, air, and so seem to relate to the Western notion of five elements; however, like yin-yang, they are more modes of being, always in dynamic movement. Everything moves through these different modes.5 We will see below how these ideas feed into the everyday world of Chinese religious life. Finally, we will discuss two common terms, dao and tian. Dao, which gives us the term Daoism, literally means “way” (although it has other connotations, too), and as a concept runs through much Chinese thinking. Tian literally means “sky,” and it also means “heaven,” which can be seen as a personified entity or as a general cosmic force. Daoists, Confucians, and practitioners of folk traditions will refer to dao as the way to be followed, and to tian as the sense of the divine. However, various thinkers and traditions use these terms in different ways. THE THREE TRADITIONS Sanjiao (the Three Traditions) is a native Chinese term to refer to Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Sometimes they are seen as forming a connected whole, each having regard to a particular area of life. In this view, Confucianism is concerned with the public life and duties of man (I purposely say “man” because roles in the public sphere were traditionally performed by males). So a man would be a Confucian in public, whereas in personal life he would look to Ch’an Buddhism and Daoism for spiritual transformation—the former for meditation and awareness training, and the latter for methods of bodily cultivation. The different nature of each religion is expressed picturesquely by Li Shiqian, a scholar of the sixth century CE, who said that Buddhism is like the sun, Daoism like the moon, and Confucianism like “the five planets.”6 Others have suggested that the three religions are all teaching the same thing in different ways. Whichever view one takes, it is certainly the case that popular practitioners rarely see a contradiction between following various traditions; indeed, it is quite probable that many people are unaware that their practices cross the boundaries quite as much as they do. However, at the same time, there were also movements in each tradition that saw themselves as exclusive, and there are Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 49 China 49 clear differences between the three traditions. The blending of the three traditions, often unconsciously, while integrating local customs, is typical of folk religion, which exists separately and in relation to the three traditions.7 Confucianism Confucianism has been for most of the last two thousand years the state ideology of China. It has provided a form of training for government and administration, and has also been seen as providing normative models for ethics, etiquette, and culture. In the Han Dynasty, it achieved the status of state orthodoxy, with Confucian classics providing the basis for both the examination system to appoint government officials and the rituals for state and imperial observance. The exams involved writing commentaries on the Confucian classics, based on the commentaries written by the great scholars of the past, following standard formats, for although “individual creativity was acceptable, it could only be added on top of the basic information about the texts.”8 Confucianism is thus involved with areas of thought and practice we would not normally see as religious. However, to make such a distinction of “religious” and “non-religious” (“secular”) spheres is to impose our standards on China, as well as to misunderstand much of Confucian and Chinese thinking. As a tradition, Confucianism is especially associated with one man, Kong Fuzi (Master Kong), known in the West as Confucius, who lived around the sixth century BCE.9 We are misled, however, if we see his name as implying he is the founder of Confucianism. The Chinese term for Confucianism is rujiao—literally,“the tradition of the scholars,” of which he is seen as a consolidating figure. Confucius never claimed to be an innovator, but merely someone who helped pass on ancient tradition, particularly the teachings of the then-declining imperial dynasty, the Zhou (Chou). Distinctively, Confucianism is also a tradition of books and learning. Confucius is traditionally seen as the editor of the Five Classics, which were the mainstay of Confucian learning for a long time. According to the following passage from Sima Qian (Ssu-ma Ch’ien), a famous ancient historian of China, each text had a function: All Six Arts help to govern. The Book of Rites helps to regulate men, the Book of Music brings about harmony, the Book of History records incidents, the Book of Poetry expresses emotions, the Book of Changes reveals supernatural influence, and the Spring and Autumn Annals shows what is right.10 Although six texts are mentioned here, it was the Five Classics that became the norm in Confucian learning, because the Book of Music was said to be lost Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 50 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 50 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History under the book burning instigated by Qinshi Huangdi, the man known as the First Emperor, who eliminated books by rival systems to his own preferred Legalist system.11 As time went by, this collection grew to become the Thirteen Classics, but in the twelfth century they were replaced by a new collection of Confucian texts, the so-called Four Books, which are entitled as follows: • • • • The Analects The Book of Mencius The Doctrine of the Mean (Central Harmony) The Great Learning The Analects is the best-known Confucian work today and is believed to contain the words of Confucius himself, being a collection of dialogues with his students; the earliest layers of this text are probably genuine. The Book of Mencius is the work of an early Confucian, whom we shall meet shortly; and the last two are chapters from the Book of Rites. It may therefore seem that Confucianism is far removed from being a “religion” as we understand religions. The learning and study of Confucianism is related to ministerial or civil service advancement, not spirituality. Indeed, a number of scholars and Confucians believe that Confucius himself was an atheist, or had no interest in the spiritual world. Certainly, there are trends in Confucianism, represented by Xunzi (Hsun-tzu) (312–238 BCE), that go this way. According to him, belief in supernatural influence is simply primitive thinking, and he influenced a rationalist trend in Confucian thought: You pray for rain and it rains. Why? For no particular reason, I say. It is just as though you had not prayed for rain and it rained anyway. . . . You consult the arts of divination before making a decision on some important matter. But it is not as though you could not hope to accomplish anything by such ceremonies. They are done merely for ornament. Hence the gentleman regards them as ornaments, but the common people regard them as supernatural.12 We certainly know that many Confucians looked down on the religion of the people as superstition; however, Confucianism is bound up in overtly religious concerns, including a mystical strand associated with Mencius (c. 372–289 BCE), and highlighted in Neo-Confucianism. A recognition of this means most scholars now classify Confucianism as a religion, or at the very least, a tradition deeply imbued with spiritual and religious elements.13 However, Xunzi’s skepticism has undoubtedly influenced the elite/official disapproval or suppression of what is seen as the superstition of the masses. Finally, we must note the core Confucian values. One is the Three Guiding Principles, which describe the relationships between an emperor and minister, Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 51 China 51 a father and son, and a husband and wife, and to which two more relationships are often added—those between an older and younger brother, and an older and younger friend. These are held to mirror each other, with a comparable hierarchy of relationships existing from superior to inferior, but it also requires a reciprocal relationship of care and respect on each side. This Confucian value still infuses Chinese society deeply, so that, for instance, the oldest male in a class will often be seen as a guiding authority figure and referred to as dage (big brother) by his classmates. Confucianism also has Five Constant Regulations, which form a list of its main virtues: humaneness, righteousness, ritual/propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness.14 Of these, humaneness and ritual/propriety are absolutely fundamental, as is another virtue, often seen as Confucian: filial piety, the duty owed by a child to a parent. Humaneness (ren) refers to the correct relationship of people, and it is summed up in Confucius’s version of the Golden Rule: “never impose on others what you dislike yourself.”15 Ritual/propriety (li) is a much harder concept. It involves correct ritual behavior as well as personal conduct and manners. For this reason, Confucianism is often parodied as a tradition greatly concerned with formal and outward behavior. Although this is true of Confucianism in its worst forms, correctly understood li is about the inner cultivation of morality and relationship with dao or tian. One who has perfected these virtues becomes a “gentleman” or “person of virtue.” These translations come from Confucius’s terms for the perfected person, junzi, literally “a ruler’s son,” but he made it very clear that a true gentleman is not necessarily someone of good birth, but someone with good moral character.16 Though all these virtues are generally seen as Confucian, in many respects they belong to Chinese culture in general. For instance, the formality associated with li can result in beautiful formalized ceremonies—such as the tea ceremonies found throughout the Far East, where the ritualized movements show social deference and are a way to harmonize with the cosmos— that go far beyond the bounds of Confucianism.17 Daoism New scholarship of the last 30 years, which has only recently gained significant ground among an audience beyond specialists, has shown that our traditional picture of Daoism is wrong.18 According to the old model, Daoism existed in two forms:“philosophical Daoism” (daojia), which consists of an otherworldly philosophy propounded in ancient texts—principally the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching), Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu), and Liezi (Lieh Tzu)—of the sixth and fifth centuries BCE; and “religious Daoism” (daojiao), which consists of “corrupted” philosophical Daoism and “superstitious” beliefs and practices, Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 52 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 52 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History such as exorcism and the writing of magical talismans to protect people from supernatural forces, that developed later. However, no such distinction exists: the early texts were written disparately and edited into their current forms only in the early centuries CE. The reality is both more interesting and compelling, showing that actual Daoist traditions incorporated a variety of practices stemming from philosophical texts, shamanic practices, and elsewhere. Shaman is a term used to describe the “priests” of many indigenous religions, who practice healing, possession by spirits, and communication with the spiritual world, and who, in the Chinese context, are ritual experts of early religion. These priests still exist among some ethnic groups, for instance the Manchu people of northeast China.19 From these various strands of proto-Daoisms we find the first Daoist traditions emerging.20 DIVINE PEOPLE One distinction between many Eastern and Western religions involves differing conceptions of the divine and the human. Whereas in the West we tend to see God as separate, in China (and elsewhere) it is possible for humans to become gods, either as immortals or as particular deities with a function in the heavenly pantheon. Whatever the case, it is important to note that the borderline between the human and divine worlds is thin and permeable, especially in folk religion. Confucius makes a good example here. Distinct views have arisen over whether Confucius should be worshipped. In 59 CE, an imperial edict made sacrifice to him compulsory in educational institutions, and over time, he came to be viewed as a deity, being given in 657 CE the title of “the perfect sage and ancient teacher,” and from this time on until the sixteenth century he was treated as if he were a god. However, in response to questions raised by Christian missions at that time as to whether Chinese converts to Christianity could make sacrifices to Confucius, the emperor of the day, Kangxi, declared in 1530 CE that Confucius was not a god and that the sacrifices were simply done out of respect for him as a great human teacher and educator. The Daodejing is attributed to a figure called Laozi (Lao Tzu), who supposedly was Confucius’s elder. However, we know the text did not reach a finished form until centuries later, in the Han Dynasty.21 Moreover, it seems it may originally have been intended as a text, like the Confucian Classics, to guide governors in ruling the state.22 Nevertheless, the legend is important because Laozi is a symbolic founder who became a god in the later tradition. The Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 53 China 53 Daodejing has links with some other early texts, in particular the Neiye, which ties it to the Huang-Lao school of the Han Dynasty that sought to promote a united physical-spiritual well-being.23 Today, only two major schools of Daoism survive, the Celestial Masters and Complete Perfection. The Celestial Masters school is today based in Taiwan (the Celestial Masters fled from the Communists in 1949), and is often seen as a more popular form of Daoism: its priests are allowed to marry, and they are concerned mainly with performing exorcisms and writing amulets and other protective talismans for money. The practice of exorcism goes back to the earliest Daoist traditions, where the standard formula of words “swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes and ordinances” was formed as an integral part of the ritual, and is still used in all exorcisms today.24 Various amulets with sacred symbols to ward off demons, along with wooden swords, incense, and bells, can be found in exorcism ceremonies. The Complete Perfection school is, by contrast, a monastic tradition, its priests being more highly trained and ascetic, with their focus being on spiritual transformation and development. Its headquarters, based at White Cloud Monastery, Beijing, is now the center of the Daoist Association of China.25 These traditions came to elaborate a vast pantheon of deities. Different traditions elaborate different versions, but the following provides a normative guide. The highest level of deities comprises the Three Pure Ones, including the deified Laozi, who are manifestations of the dao. However, because the Three Pure Ones are too exalted, the most significant deity, in popular thinking, has generally been the Jade Emperor, who rules the Daoist heaven. In this, there are many deities, including his wife, the Queen Mother of the West, and various deities who rule over particular areas of life. There is a god of culture, Wenchang, who can be seen as a deity for the Confucian tradition and to whom sacrifices could be made for success in the imperial exams. There are also gods of particular cities and towns, as well as gods of the earth, who exist in Daoism and folk tradition.26 Reverence to these deities differs between popular and elite Daoist practices: in the former, each is interceded with for benefits, whereas, for initiates in the latter, the deities are envisaged as representing spiritual principles and devotion to them is concerned with internal purification.27 It is hard to say what characterizes Daoism, in that it has existed in many different forms at different times.28 It has been described as China’s countercultural tradition, although from the Daodejing onward it has also been associated with elite traditions and government. Nevertheless, because it has become subordinate to Confucianism, it has offered an alternative vision. Notably, principles such as nonaction (wu-wei) mean that one should act in accordance with dao, and not be concerned with human reputation or cunning, while withdrawal Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 54 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 54 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History from public life to seek inner cultivation is often seen as Daoist. Certainly, in the forms in which they became most widely known, both the Daodejing and Zhuangzi mock Confucian virtues and concerns, and offer a vision of life free from stress and convention. Whereas Confucianism focuses on government service, Daoism focuses on inner spiritual cultivation, but both seek to align themselves with the dao, which may involve withdrawing from the world and living in a mountain hermitage, and practicing internal alchemy to ensure that one’s inner spiritual life—which is closely tied to the body—is in harmony. Finally, we must address a vexed question: the relationship between Daoism and popular religion. In the past, Western and Confucian scholars have equated popular religiosity to Daoism, whether this is belief in fox spirits or immortals, with most itinerant priests or local temples having been seen as Daoist. Contemporary scholarship, which has examined what was once dismissed as “superstitious religious Daoism,” overturns this; most itinerant priests, probably descended from ancient shamans, are simply ritual experts, who may also practice exorcism and fortune telling to make a living, but who possess no connection to organized Daoist traditions, while the local temples would be constructed by the community as a place to hold shrines of deities that were significant to them. Established Daoist lineages are philosophically developed and spiritually refined, and distinct from folk religion and its priests, shamans, and mediums. However, issues remain: Celestial Master Daoism, as discussed above, is closer to popular religiosity than is Complete Perfection Daoism; traditions closer to folk religion, such as the Red Hat Sect and the associated Lushan ritual tradition, which emphasizes exorcism, possession by spirits, and other practices29—claim Daoist descent. Moreover, Daoism is associated with some deities of popular religiosity, such as the Three Star Gods, whose images are found in Daoist temples.30 As with most traditions, there is no clear line between the officially approved religion of the elite hierarchy and the activities of devotees and popular expression. However, mainstream Daoism has always sought, officially, to distance and distinguish itself from superstition and popular religion.31 At this stage it is important to discuss immortality. The idea that human beings can attain physical immortality (or, at least, greatly expanded lifespans) is widespread in Chinese thought, as is the belief in immortal beings (xian) and in an elixir of immortality (often sought by alchemists). This idea has influenced elite religious thinkers, including emperors and Confucian scholars; for instance, we know the First Emperor sent envoys to find the lands of the immortals. The concept of immortals has also inspired popular deities, but is most commonly associated with Daoism. These traditions tell us that immortals lived to a great age and had magical powers. The following poem, for instance, tells us that: Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 55 China 55 In this world there is a Great Man, living in the middle continent. His abode extends over ten thousand miles, yet is too small for a short sojourn. Grieved at the world’s unpleasant state, he easily rises and soars away. He rides a pure rainbow streaming down, mounts cloudy ether and floats upward.32 However, Daoist traditions of personal cultivation have focused on “internal alchemy,” rather than on the “external alchemy” of popular and elite belief in physical immortality. Daoists have sought to become “spiritual immortals” or “perfected people”.33 Although both the popular and Daoist traditions may be linked through ancient shamanic figures, the fangshi,34 they should be distinguished. However, confusion arises as traditional Daoists hid their teachings of internal alchemy in talk of external alchemy, and one popular group of deities, the Eight Immortals, is recognized by the Complete Perfection tradition. Therefore, it is hard to clearly distinguish between popular and Daoist beliefs.35 Buddhism Three aspects of Chinese Buddhism deserve our particular attention: (1) it is Mahayana Buddhism; (2) indigenous schools developed in China; and (3) despite adaptation, it was sometimes identified as a foreign religion, resulting in persecution and hostility. Buddhism has always perceived the Buddha as someone who went beyond the realms of normal human limitations; the Mahayana further developed this perception of the Buddha, seeing him as a deity or as a manifestation of universal Buddha-Nature. From this base, Chinese Buddhist schools developed, including Ch’an Buddhism, known as Zen, its Japanese name. Ch’an Buddhism is a meditation school according to which one can break down one’s rational, everyday mind, which prevents one from seeing one’s own inherent Buddha-Nature, by looking internally through quiet meditation and the use of nonsensical riddles (Chinese gongan and Japanese koan). It is also known for its iconoclasm, sometimes mocking traditional teachings, scriptures, and practices.36 The other major Chinese school is the Pure Land. This school is more devotional, believing that we live in a period of decline of the dharma (Buddha’s teachings); as such, it is impossible to achieve enlightenment for ourselves. Instead, we have to rely on spiritual guides. The Mahayana tradition teaches that throughout millennia many buddhas have appeared, while other figures, bodhisattvas, having attained the qualifications for enlightenment, choose to help others on this path. Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 56 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 56 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History Of particular importance for the Pure Land is Amida Buddha, who created a paradise (Pure Land) in which people who call his name for help can be reborn and be assured of attaining enlightenment. The basic practice of this school is the reciting of the name of the Buddha (namo omitofo).37 However, one of Amida’s assistants, Guanyin (Kuanyin), became the most significant figure in Chinese devotion. Originally depicted as male, and believed to be capable of helping anyone who need assistance, Guanyin increasingly assumed a primarily female depiction, most commonly dressed in white. The Pure Land has become far and away the most popular form of Buddhism in China and beyond, being the world’s largest Buddhist school, and Guanyin is among the most revered deities in the Far East.38 The Fourth Tradition: Folk Religion Scholars are seldom interested in recording the history or enumerating the practice of the common people. Moreover, because such practice is unregulated, there are few or no guiding regulations or precepts, a fact further complicated by China’s vast size, which means that many regional differences exist. Yet, it is related to the major traditions in terms, for instance, of deities. Guanyin is invoked by Chinese in all walks of life as a protecting goddess (debates abound over this term goddess because she is technically a bodhisattva; yet the term goddess seems to match her role and the understanding people have of her). Likewise, many of Daoism’s deities were once gods or goddesses of the people who became incorporated into the official pantheon, and who coexist with deities at the edges of official acknowledgement. The Stove God, for instance, who reports annually to the Jade Emperor, is best seen as not being a Daoist deity, yet he interacts, at the level of popular belief, with the supreme lord of the Daoist heaven. Very popular is a triad of deities named the Three Star Gods: Tianguan, Wenchang, and Shouxing. Tianguan bestows blessings and happiness; Wenchang, already mentioned, is also a god of wealth; and Shouxing bestows longevity. Another significant god of wealth is Guandi, who is commonly venerated in business centers.39 It is also important to note that many of these deities were once human beings—many of whom are locatable historical characters— who through their particular virtues became deities after death.40 The Eight Immortals, who became incorporated into the Daoist pantheon in the late imperial period, are also very popular. They appear in popular tales and stories as champions of justice, and the most important of them, Lü Dongbin, is frequently manifested in spirit writing sessions, in which divine figures reveal instructions or new scriptures to shamans in a state of trance.41 Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 57 China 57 The common people also go to both Buddhist and Daoist temples, and seek out Buddhist or Daoist priests or Confucian scholar-officials for particular rites or practices, because all three traditions provide support for some popular practices. Simply put, there is no single or clear relation between Chinese folk religion and the “great traditions.” Rather, there is a variety of interactions and interrelationships at various levels, and the boundaries of elite and popular tradition are not easy to determine. Indeed, many aspects of folk religion are found in all levels of the social spectrum, and others are more particular to the common people.42 What then marks out folk religion? Some have suggested that the concept of reciprocity (shu) is fundamental, whereby a duty is owed between humans and supernatural beings, and favors are returned.43 Preserving harmony (he), both in relationships and within the natural order, is also central.44 The concepts of salvation and good rebirth have also been suggested as being fundamental to folk religion.45 However, all these factors can be found in more established traditions. The sociologist C. K. Yang therefore distinguishes between “institutional” and “diffused” religion—the former consisting of things that occur within established frameworks and temples, the latter occurring in areas that are not overtly religious, such as the home—and suggests this division is characteristic of folk religion.46 For instance, one prime site for folk religion was the home shrine, an area set aside for devotion to a range of deities. However, folk religion has its temples, and this division maintains a divide between “secular” and “sacred” areas that makes little sense outside the modern Western (and Western-influenced) world. But if we use the terms with a notion of things that are institutional (belonging to established lineages and centrally defined traditions) and things that are diffused (either part of the general culture, meaning both the common people and the elites, or localized traditions without any centralized institution), it will help us to move toward an understanding of what folk religion is in the Chinese context, as well as helping us see what belongs to the religion of daily life. However, this definition is provisional and does not provide clear edges, in that many traditions, practices, and customs exist within, outside, and between the names we use to fix boundaries between the faith traditions. The folk and official religious systems are, however, distinct.47 HISTORY China sees itself as having a five thousand-year record of unbroken cultural transmission, going back through the mists of ancient history and mythology to the three dynasties (Zhou, Shang, and Xia) and beyond. Ignoring the historical questions, which are not our concern, much of Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 58 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 58 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History Chinese religion looks back to golden eras. Indeed, many popular practices go back to this period, particularly shamanic traditions.48 As we have seen, the Zhou Dynasty is important for Confucianism. Daoism also traces its roots, in Laozi, to this period. However, the most important period in the development of Chinese religion was the Han Dynasty, which saw the formation of Confucian and Daoist traditions, as well as the introduction of Buddhism.49 A scholar called Dong Zhongshu (179–104 BCE) is important to Confucianism, for he helped persuade the emperor to set up an imperial academy for studying the Confucian texts, as well as to award government positions to scholars trained in the Confucian tradition. This training lasted almost continually for over two thousand years, ending with the last imperial dynasty, in the twentieth century.50 Daoism’s evolution is more complex. Various proto-Daoist schools and textual traditions existed in the early Han period. Among these, the Huang-Lao tradition is arguably the earliest Daoist tradition. But the tradition most commonly seen as the earliest form of Daoism is the that of the Celestial Masters. This tradition, which worshiped Laozi as a deity, formed in the area of presentday Sichuan Province. At that time, this province was outside the growing Chinese Empire, and as such, it existed as its own independent state. As China expanded, it eventually incorporated the province, and the Celestial Masters gave up their claims to rule and began disseminating their faith throughout the empire. Although this school appears to have died out, the present-day school called Celestial Masters claims direct descent from the first, with its present head being acclaimed as the sixty-fourth patriarch.51 The religion of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, came to China in the early centuries CE. According to legend, emperor Mingdi dreamed of a golden giant from the West and asked his advisors who this was. They told him of a holy man who had lived and taught beyond the borders of the empire, which resulted in an invitation to Buddhist monks to come and preach. The actual facts of Buddhism’s arrival are lost in time, although we know Buddhist monks often traveled on missionary journeys and may also have served communities of foreign traders in other lands, which probably accounted for the earliest Buddhist presence. Soon Buddhism became a noticeable presence in many parts of China.52 The following few hundred years—from the third to seventh centuries CE, a period of turbulence until stability was restored by the Tang Dynasty—saw various trends emerge: various Daoist traditions developed that helped build up a set of texts and practices that consolidated a Daoist identity; Buddhism grew to become the largest religion; and Confucianism consolidated its role, Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 59 China 59 with Confucius himself becoming a deity. The period in which the Tang Dynasty ruled is often seen as the golden age of Daoism and Buddhism. There are several reasons for this; one is that Confucianism at this time was essentially a dry intellectual study for the civil service, and so those who wanted spiritual attainment looked for it in the other two faiths; another is that these two faiths enjoyed much imperial support and patronage. The Tang Dynasty thus changed the religious map of China. Although Buddhism had outgrown Daoism as a popular form of religion, the hostility often came from Confucian scholars, not from Daoists. Complaints included the notions that reincarnation was absurd and that the Buddhist monastic life conflicted with Chinese values of filial piety, whereby a child’s primary duty is to look after parents and continue the family line. However, most important, by the time of the Tang Dynasty, so many people were entering the monasteries that labor supplies were short, and so much gold and other precious metals were being used for statues that supplies for coinage were seen as threatened. The resulting suppression of Buddhism (842–845 CE) landed a blow from which the religion never fully recovered, with most schools of Chinese Buddhism disappearing. Although the persecution was reversed in 845 CE, government restrictions remained. These restricted numbers of monks and imposed a central ministry of religion that regulated religious institutions. Thereafter, imperial support was sporadic, and Buddhism became increasingly seen as unsophisticated.53 Daoism also found itself bound by the same regulations and pressures. In part, this was due to the development of Neo-Confucianism, to which we now turn. By the tenth century CE, a movement of scholars expressing dissatisfaction with the dry learning of Confucianism was gaining strength.54 This movement became known as Neo-Confucianism, which found its greatest spokesperson in Zhu Xi (1130–1200). Zhu Xi changed the focus from the Five Classics to the Four Books, and his commentary on them became the basis of civil service exams from the twelfth until the twentieth century. Confucianism also started to discover its spiritual side, and it learned and incorporated methods of meditation and self-transformation from Daoism and Ch’an. It also looked back to Mencius, who became the second great sage of the tradition.55 Despite continued spiritual borrowing from Daoism and Buddhism, a normative pattern emerged of Confucian scholar-officials dismissing these traditions, in institutional forms, as suitable for uneducated people and composed of superstition. Possibly for the first time, people began to understand themselves as Confucians rather than Daoists when it came to alternative indigenous traditions. Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 60 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 60 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History THE MONKEY KING? THE STORY OF THE JOURNEY TO THE WEST Xuan Zang, a Buddhist monk known to have been a historical figure, embarks on a journey to India to retrieve Buddhist scriptures, accompanied by three companions: Sun Wukong, the mischievous but powerful Monkey King; Pigsy, a pig spirit who had once been a general in the heavenly armies but who was punished for misdeeds by this rebirth; and Brother Sand, another celestial figure reborn as a water demon. He is also eventually accompanied by a horse who is actually a dragon. This unlikely party partakes in one of the best known and most loved stories of China, the Journey to the West. This story exists in many versions, but the basic form remains the same throughout and pokes fun at the established religious hierarchy of heaven and the human realms. In the story, Monkey mocks heaven but is brought under control by the Buddha, and is the real hero of the story. The story represents a lighter side to Chinese religion than is normally found, and shows an iconoclastic approach to religion. Zhu Xi’s thinking formed the dominant form of Confucian thought until the twentieth century, although some other interpretations of Neo-Confucianism existed, with a scholar called Wang Yang Ming (1472–1529 CE) offering a significant alternative stance.56 Buddhism and Daoism survived in two main schools, though other forms existed. For instance, the Qing Dynasty sponsored an esoteric form of Mahayana Buddhism, the Vajrayana. However, things were far from static, with the Ming and Qing dynasties seeing new folk traditions developing, including established sanjiao (three traditions) schools, spirit writing of new scriptures—often on the borders of Daoism and folk religion—and the emergence of new deities.57 Once again, though, the religious landscape of China was to be rocked to its core. By the late nineteenth century, Confucianism had become associated with feudalism and had fallen into disfavor, so with the end of the last imperial dynasty, the Qing, Confucianism ended its reign as state ideology. As such, all Confucian religious and ritual practices ceased. The beginnings of Communist rule also saw official condemnation of Confucianism, but also of all religion, which was officially suppressed in the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976 CE). Many believed traditional Chinese religion had disappeared at this time; however, because of a relaxing of suppression and a new openness to religion, it has resurfaced with great force. Confucianism has also been revived as an indigenous philosophy and ideology by the Chinese government. Meanwhile, traditional religion in folk, Buddhist, and Daoist form continued in Taiwan, in Hong Kong, and in overseas Chinese Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 61 China 61 communities. Today, the People’s Republic of China is officially an atheist state, but religion is thriving in various forms.58 For instance, temples of Buddhism, Daoism, and folk religion are being rebuilt, and Christian churches are growing, with many people seeking out these or other forms of spiritual direction or inspiration in their lives. Many ethnic minorities still find their own traditions to be of great importance; for instance, the Uighur people of northwest China are deeply committed to their Islamic traditions, whereas the Tibetan ethnic minority’s culture and traditions are deeply entwined with its Buddhist tradition. DAILY LIFE Filial Piety and Ancestor Veneration We start our discussion of the daily practice of religion in China with filial piety, because this notion is foundational for Chinese culture. Indeed, filial piety is a Chinese cultural virtue rather than a Confucian one (to some extent, this is true of much that is said to be Confucian). Filial piety is the respect owed to one’s parents, and it is related to wider duties to family and state. There are scriptural roots to ground filial piety in Confucianism in The Classic of Filial Piety, one of the Thirteen Classics, attributed to Confucius. (That this late work is attributed to him probably says more about how highly the virtue is regarded than it does about its Confucian basis.) On a popular level, the so-called Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety were important inspirations.59 These were stories of children who sacrificed or dedicated themselves to caring for their parents. In one story, a poor peasant barely earns enough money to buy medicine for his father, and when his father dies, he is unable to afford his funeral. This being the case, he sells himself into servitude to pay the costs. In another, a grown man continues to behave like a young child before his aged parents simply because it amuses them. Yet another tells of a son whose mother wants fresh fish in midwinter; to please her, he goes to the frozen river. There, he takes off his shirt and coat, lies down on the ice, and cries to melt the ice with his tears so he can find some fish. Enshrined in tradition, these tales exemplify ideals for all Chinese children. Although such a virtue may not seem to be a specifically religious affair, such a perception is to misinterpret the way that daily activities and religion intertwine in traditional Chinese thought. Moreover, the specifically religious endorsement of filial piety can be seen in the Chinese legends around Guanyin, which we discuss below. Related to filial piety is a more overtly religious activity, ancestor veneration. In one form or another, this goes back to the Shang Dynasty. Traditionally, in mainland China, different clans had ancestral halls where spirit tablets, usually small wooden boards recording the name of the deceased, were kept. These were venerated in memory of the dead using food, incense, and other offerings. The “other offerings” are noteworthy. Anyone who frequents Chinese supermarkets may have Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 62 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 62 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History noticed, often near the back, a stack of yellow paper and printed money (which may seem to be for a game at first sight) bearing the words “Hell Bank Notes,” usually of various denominations, in millions of dollars or more. These will be burned at funerals, and at annual commemorations of the dead. The reason for this ritual relates to Chinese beliefs about the afterlife. Buddhist, Daoist, and folk traditions speak of a number of hells, typically 10, that must be traversed. These are overseen by judges, but like in human courts, they are open to bribery, hence the money. Also, many Chinese believe that in the afterlife, people live a similar life to the one lived here, so offerings of money come in handy. Also burned are other funerary items, typically paper models of horses that provide transport in the afterlife. Today, such items can include models of houses, cars, mobile phones, and washing machines. The offering should befit the status of the person in this life. The reader may here make connections to the famous terracotta warriors found near Xi’an, in China, where the emperor Qinshi Huangdi was buried alongside a whole army to provide him with suitable protection in the next world.60 Life-size terracotta warriors at the grand tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (reigned 259–210 BCE), the founder of the Qin dynasty. Peasants discovered by chance the army of life-size terracotta warriors, with their horses and chariots, in 1974 about 25 miles east of Xian. There were more than 8,000 statues found in the emperor’s tomb. The soldiers, all facing east, stand in 11 rows, their formation stretching more than 200 meters. (Photo by Corbis.) Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 63 China 63 It may be asked, however, whether Chinese people today really believe in the efficacy of such practices. Certainly, in mainland China oppression saw such practices driven underground. However, recent freedom of religion means that these practices are being revived; certainly in the countryside they are becoming increasingly prevalent. They can also be witnessed in many cities, too, and are practiced not just by the uneducated classes but also by educated people, including members of the Communist Party, all of whom are officially atheist. Here, a certain ambivalence enters the picture.61 Some may do it simply as a cultural practice to show their respect for the dead, but others seem to think that perhaps their thoughts and prayers may reach their ancestors. Government and Authority Religion and government have always been closely linked in China. As we indicated earlier, both Confucianism and Daoism have their origins, at least partly, in texts written for rulers, whereas the early Daoist community, the Celestial Masters, combined in themselves a source both of spiritual authority and of temporal government. For all these groups, correct ruling relied on following cosmic principles, dao or tian. Meanwhile, the government of the country lay with the emperor as the Son of Heaven, holding his rulership by virtue of the Mandate of Heaven. Although such things are somewhat removed from daily life, they nevertheless lay out a pattern: the order of things is designed and run by higher principles; this being the case, government is not just a secular affair, but also a religious one. Moreover, pattern follows through: the nine kowtows (deep bowing, or literally, “head-knocking”) that the emperor performed before the altar of heaven had the same ritual form as those performed by a peasant farmer at his father’s funeral. Thus there was a sense of connectedness between all layers of religious life. In terms of religious control, China never had an overarching religious hierarchy. In Confucianism, although some scholars are highly regarded, every individual is in large part responsible for his or her own spiritual life. Buddhist monasteries are also largely self-regulating, with each monastery having its own abbot. Some larger monasteries had offshoots, but these networks were never large enough to become dominant. One monastery, however, did have a precedence of respect: the Shaolin Temple, seen as the original Ch’an temple because of its association with the semilegendary founder, Bodhidharma. The Shaolin Temple was therefore declared by imperial decree to be “the first temple under heaven.” However, this had little practical effect. Moreover, as Pure Land Buddhism was the larger school, such respect was not universal. Indeed, because of its association with gong fu and the fame this has generated, the Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 64 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 64 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History Shaolin Temple is today regarded with some contempt by other monks— many think monks train there only because they want to become famous— which makes it difficult for monks trained at Shaolin to transfer to other monasteries. The organization of Daoism has more central control, but not dominance. At various periods, the heads of both the Complete Perfection and Celestial Masters schools have been declared supreme head of all Daoists by different emperors (some older texts even call the Celestial Master the “Daoist pope”). However, control over the whole tradition was never established in practice. At its turn, folk religion is largely practiced at the local level, and so has no hierarchy. In some places, authority resides with community elders, and some roles are held on the basis of powers, as is the case with healers and mediums. The main form of religious control has therefore come from the imperial government, a practice firmly established in the Tang Dynasty. Besides controlling (or monitoring) numbers and regulations, government has traditionally decrees which traditions are “orthodox” (i.e., accepted religions) and which are “heretical” (i.e., unacceptable religions), a function still maintained today by the Communist government.62 It is notable, therefore, that what many Westerners condemn as unwarranted political interference in matters of religion is actually a long-established part of Chinese culture. Certainly, the current government is not the first to employ its control mechanisms for reasons more “political” than “spiritual.” This has seen a continuation of the condemnation of many folk traditions as superstition. Rituals, Temple Devotion, and Festivals Chinese religious life is marked by a variety of rituals and festivals. These relate to Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and folk traditions. The Confucian rituals, of course, are no longer used, an operating Confucian ritual system today being found only in Korea. However, in the past, many of the theoretically most important festivals—including annual sacrifices to city gods and gods of the earth, the legendary protectors of particular localities—were enacted by Confucian officials, whose performances were nevertheless not closely linked to the activities of the ordinary people. For instance, every city had its own god, and the annual celebration was done by Confucian officials. However, such temples were often Daoist or part of the local/folk tradition, and people did not attend the dry Confucian ritual, but rather the more colorful ceremonies of the other priests. Most of the key festivals in China included temple fairs.63 Over a day or more of celebrations, vendors of all sorts and popular entertainers would set Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 65 China 65 up tent outside the temple, and a general period of festivity would take place. With musicians and sideshows, these were loud and colorful events, and theatrical presentations of myths were often a center point. Today, such fairs are once again being revived in mainland China, and outside large temples, during major festivals, one can find all types of activities and sellers, as well as many worshippers, whose numbers appear to be increasing—although how much is “religious” and how much is “cultural tourism” is hard to assess. Festivals entail both ritual activities enacted by the priesthood as well as the offering of individual devotions. In the latter, people go to various shrines within the temple complex and offer prayers before the images of particular deities. Primarily, this consists of the burning of incense. Sellers of incense can be found both inside and outside many temples. Devotees hold the lighted incense outside specific shrines with both hands, often held at the forehead, and typically make three bows before inserting the incense sticks into large containers—generally filled with sand—set up for this purpose. Generally, there are places to kneel at the shrine, and once here the most devout stand and kneel three times, touching their heads three times on each occasion—thereby making the ninefold “imperial” kowtow referred to above. Exact performances can differ depending on the devotee and other particulars. The personal devotions can be performed at any time, not just during festivals. The main festivals and rituals, based on the lunar calendar, include the anniversaries of the Buddha’s birthday (the fourth day of the eighth lunar month—usually around one to two months later than our solar calendar) and enlightenment (the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month); New Year (Spring Festival—the first fifteen days of the first lunar month); the birthday of Laozi (the fifteenth day of the second lunar month); the Qingming Festival (the third day of the third lunar month); the birthday of the Queen of Heaven (the twenty-third day of the third lunar month); the Dragon Boat Festival (the fifth day of the fifth lunar month); the Ghost Festival (the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month); and Confucius’s birthday (the twenty-seventh day of the eighth lunar month). These events may include elements specific to one major tradition but can also merge folk religion with mainstream tradition; furthermore, some are associated only with particular geographic regions. Because it is impossible to discuss all rituals and festivals, we will just mention some aspects of the New Year celebration. Traditionally, the home shrine included the Stove God, who, on the eve of the New Year, reported to the Jade Emperor the conduct of the family. Thus, on this day, the family would eat sweet sticky buns and offer some to the Stove God, believing either that you could bribe the deity with this offering or that the sticky buns would plug his mouth, making him unable to report the misconduct of the family to the Jade Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 66 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 66 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History Emperor. These activities have been banned, but they are returning in the South and in the countryside. However, questions arise over whether various parts of the New Year celebrations are religious or cultural. Some actions that might be seen by some as having religious implications might not be read this way by others. For instance, one activity still widely practiced is the attaching rhyming poetic couplets to the outside of the door, along with posters of the character fu, which means “good luck.” These are traditionally seen as auspicious symbols that will bring good fortune in the coming year. However, for many educated people who do it today, it is done with an awareness of its meaning but without any sense that it is overtly religious, or even with a belief that good fortune will come from it. Is the continuity of such practices residual religion, simple superstition, or merely a yearning for cultural identity and continuity? Probably none of these hypotheses is adequate, because the terms we use carry a lot of presuppositions with them. The New Year Festival ends with the Lantern Festival, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Today largely a secular event, it has traditionally been associated with Daoism. Many legends associated with the day probably have roots before Daoism evolved, and are generally associated with the Jade Emperor and fire (the lighting of lanterns being a significant part of the popular celebration—during the rule of the Ming and Qing dynasties fireworks were employed). According to one legend, when once a celestial swan descended to the earthly realms and was shot by a hunter, the Jade Emperor, in his anger, vowed to burn the earth, so lanterns were placed outside people’s houses to trick the heavens into thinking their houses were already on fire. In more established Daoist ritual, however, the day is associated with the elemental deity of Heaven. Sacred Places Chinese temples tend to have a similar pattern, which reflects imperial architecture. It may be fair to say, though, that both imperial and religious architecture share common features of traditional Chinese style, one being a series of courtyards and halls. Usually housing monastic communities, larger temples have living quarters for either monks or nuns, whereas smaller temples, especially those of the folk traditions, have just a single resident priest, or even no staff at all. In the past, itinerant priests were hired by the community as needed.64 This practice is on the increase once more, especially in South China. Temples usually are enclosed within high walls, and the main gateway is an elaborate affair, flanked on either side by a pair of lions—guardian figures common to many Chinese buildings. The size and importance of the building Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 67 China 67 is reflected in the size of the lion guardians, some being only a couple of feet or less, others being towering figures set on large pedestals that dwarf the people who come to the temple. Traditionally seen as supernatural guardians, lions are still used today mainly for decorative purposes, and especially to give a building a traditional Chinese architectural style. Many animals—either real (such as the tiger and the bat) or mythical (such as the dragon, the phoenix, and the qilin, sometimes called Chinese unicorn)—have symbolic roles in Chinese popular thought. These creatures often symbolize protection, power, or good fortune. The entry way of a temple leads into the first courtyard, at the end of which is a large hall with a shrine to one of the deities worshipped at the temple. Large temples have (at least) a second courtyard behind the first; major temples have multiple courtyards leading off to each side, and sometimes also other buildings (including monastic living quarters) and areas, such as a garden, or lily pools. Shrines also are found in many temples, around the outside of the courtyard. Larger monasteries tend to have a bell tower and a drum tower, and many temples, whether large or small, have inscribed stone plinths (called stelae) that often serve some commemorative function.65 Inside the halls, which often have large doors, worshippers can get close to the images (but in general they are not allowed to approach them directly, and offerings are given to a monastic attendant, who may be a religious or lay person). It is not unusual for various smaller shrines to be found within the same hall, although one deity (or a row of deities, such as three buddhas) is normally given prominence. In their general design, Buddhist and Daoist temples are not very different, but Daoist temples tend to have guardian deities represented as ferocious warriors at the gateways. Sometimes these are anonymous, fierce deities, but three notable guardian deities include the Divine General Wang, who has a red face, long beard, and three eyes and who wears gold armor and carries an iron whip; Guan Yu (or Guandi), a general of the third century CE, often depicted seated and with a long beard and red face, whose weapon is a Chinese halberd (his exploits are often portrayed in Chinese opera performances); and Zhen Wu, also called Xuan Wu (the Dark Warrior), Lord of the North, who is often depicted with a snake and turtle.66 Many temples and other buildings carry images of two Door Gods, who are variously identified.67 Another common feature is the alchemical burner, a large covered furnace that represents the pursuit of alchemy. Buddhist temples may have a luohan (Pali arhant) hall, a room with life-size statues of the Buddha’s disciples—often 108 in number, though sometimes 500 are displayed—some of whom may be in grotesque or comical form, an influence of Ch’an’s iconoclastic strand. Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 68 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 68 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History The layout of Confucian temples, traditionally known as wenmiao (literally, “temples of culture”), is similar to that of other temples. Their primary function is as a place for the education in the Confucian classics. However, they also hold a shrine to Confucius and, generally, to quite a few of his disciples who later became prominent scholars. The principal sacrifice enacted annually in all Confucian institutes has been the tailao, which involves sacrificing a pig, a cow, and a goat. Mountains are also of the utmost significance in Chinese religion. China has five great mountains: Taishan (Mount Tai), Huashan, Songshan, Northern Hengshan, and Southern Hengshan. These are considered Daoist sacred mountains, but they are not exclusively Daoist—for instance, the renowned Buddhist Shaolin Temple is on Songshan, whereas Taishan was the site of sacrifices to heaven made by the emperor, according to the Confucian rites. Buddhism also has its own list of major sacred mountains—Wutaishan, Emeishan, Jiuhuashan, and Putuoshan—but, again, not being exclusively Buddhist, they also house Daoist temples. Many other sacred mountains exist, such as Wudangshan and Laoshan. Most mountains have housed temples or hermitages in the past, and are sites of popular devotional practice. Women and Gender Men and women have experienced religion differently in Chinese history. Barred from any role in Confucianism,68 women have found more opportunities in Buddhism, Daoism, and folk religion. However, social customs and expectations have to some degree limited the religious roles available to women. Becoming a nun has been acceptable in Buddhism, but Confucian thought disapproves of this. A model of, and justification for, female celibacy was found, however, through the bodhisattva Guanyin. In becoming indigenized into Chinese culture, Guanyin became associated with the legend of a Chinese princess, Miaoshan. According to this legend, Miaoshan wishes to follow a celibate life and so flees from her father’s palace to a local nunnery. But her father destroys this establishment, and Miaoshan has to go off into the wilderness to become an ascetic. Time passes, and her fame as a religious figure grows. But back home, her father has grown old and ill. Having tried everything to cure Mioshan’s father, his servants set off to seek out a famed holy master who they believe can perform miracles; this master is, unknown to them, Miaoshan. Despite her powers, Mioshan can only cure her father if she cuts off her hands and gouges out her eyes to make the medicine, which she willingly does. The father is cured, Miaoshan returns home, and her deed is discovered. Because of her act, Miaoshan not only symbolizes filial piety, but Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 69 China 69 she can also become a Buddha, for having willingly sacrificed herself for another being. Despite being gruesome, this story helped make female monasticism acceptable, suggesting that leaving society to pray and work for others could be an expression of filial piety.69 A Chinese rationale for monasticism was thereby formed. In due course, it also established a pattern for women to leave their married life, either temporarily or permanently, to enter into lay religious orders. Therefore, as some scholars have argued, the story of Miaoshan and Guanyin helped establish the norms of Chinese culture, and it also offered an alternative route for women who did not wish to marry or who desired to leave their marriages. KILLING OR PRAYING? MARTIAL ARTS AND RELIGION Did you know that the traditional Chinese martial arts of gong fu (kung fu) and taiji (tai chi) have roots in Chinese religious practices? Gong fu is believed to have its origins at the famous Shaolin Temple, where the first patriarch of Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism is said to have taught. Whether this legend is true, Shaolin is famed for its gong fu, with Shaolin monks now regularly performing their amazing feats around the world. The origins of the relationship between this meditation school and martial practice is obscure; some suggest it may have originated in exercises designed to strengthen the body after long hours spent in seated mediation, whereas others speculate that fighting was a skill needed by monks on the dangerous paths that led from India to China. Yet, it is not Buddhism alone that has such associations between meditation and martial arts: taiji is thought to have been developed by a Daoist monk named Chang Sanfeng, and its spiritual home is on the famous mountain Wudangshan. The philosophy behind each martial art has a spiritual basis—something retained particularly by taiji, whose rhythmic movements are believed to harmonize mind, body, and spirit, and to help one become attuned to dao. Daoism and folk religion offer the most opportunities for women; Daoism even allows them to reach the upper hierarchy of some Daoist lineages. However, on a day-to-day level, most Daoist priests would have been men, although the majority of devotees were probably, as today, women. Female deities exist in both Daoism and folk religion. In Daoism, the Queen Mother of the West, wife of the Jade Emperor, is an important figure. In folk tradition, Mazu, the Sea Goddess, plays an important role, and is sometimes associated with the Queen Mother or Guanyin. Prominent in coastal areas of Southeast China, Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 70 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 70 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History she is particularly invoked by fishermen and all who live near the sea. The prominence given to yin in the Daoist tradition also helps support the significance of women and the feminine. In folk religion, there is a place for women as shamans, mediums, and living embodiments of goddesses, which gives them a degree of authority and social prestige, at least within local communities, that they could not have had otherwise.70 But there are ways in which religion oppress women. Confucianism certainly comes in for a lot of blame, in particular in the establishment of family hierarchies, where the husband is placed over the wife as the emperor is over the minister. (In fairness, though, such patriarchal assumptions have more to do with Chinese culture than with Confucianism itself.) This hierarchy, as we have seen, implies mutual respect and cooperation. The well-known practice of foot binding, although associated with Neo-Confucianism and having developed about the same time, has no evident connection with it. Important Confucian figures did make comments on the place of women, with Zhu Xi suggesting that women should be largely confined to the home, as no respectable woman would venture out into men’s spheres. Indeed, women of respectable families should even be accompanied to the temple—only women of low class or unsure morals would be seen in such places on their own, although temple fairs were an exception.71 However, whether this should be associated with the religious philosophy of Confucianism, or with the common social views of the day (as expressed by Zhu Xi), is a matter for debate. Whatever the case, women were generally disadvantaged in all aspects of Chinese culture. In many traditional tales, women are introduced with the words “She had the misfortune to be borne a woman.” Notwithstanding, as we have seen, religion has provided women with opportunities beyond their roles as wives, mothers, and daughters, in which they have always been subordinated to males. Physical and Spiritual Practice The notion of body and spirit as separate and distinct that pervades modern Western thinking is not a part of the Chinese worldview. A holistic approach characterizes Chinese thinking, integrating the spiritual and the physical both in theory and practice; for instance, Chinese martial arts, the practice of qigong (chi gong)—slow and rhythmic bodily exercises akin to tai chi—and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) all concern mind, body, and spirit.72 Arguably, TCM is the most widespread activity related to religion. I purposely use the phrase “related to religion,” rather than “religious activity,” because many Chinese do not see TCM as religious in nature. Such medicinal Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 71 China 71 practices as acupuncture and Chinese herbalism are seen today as secular in mainland China and the West, and it is claimed that they have a scientific basis. However, as with most traditional cultures, healing and religion are closely bound up. In mainland China people are trained in TCM in secular universities in the same fashion in which people are trained in Western medicine, and the Chinese happily use the two forms of medicine as complements and see both as secular. Likewise, many will practice qigong simply for health. Nevertheless, many strands feed into TCM, qigong, and the worldview that surrounds them. Physical practices for health and spirituality go back to ancient China, and physical-spiritual practices associated with the Huang-Lao tradition go back at least to the first centuries BCE, probably in relation to the cult of immortality that dominated thought during the rule of the Han Dynasty, and which we know existed before this period. As we have discussed, physical immortality has long been seen as a spiritual goal in popular Chinese thought, and has been taken seriously by the elite of Chinese society. We know that Han Dynasty emperors sent envoys to find the land of the immortals and bring back the elixir of immortality; and the first emperor, Qinshi Huangdi, was buried in a tomb surrounded by lakes of mercury encased in jade in the apparent belief that these physical substances would help him attain a life in the hereafter. Indeed, the experimentation of many early practitioners of this path with herbs and minerals helped lay the basis for Chinese herbalism. The paths of physical practice and the taking of concocted potions to attain immortality seem to have been combined by many followers, and so all of these developed together. As such, TCM’s roots are in religious practices, and much of it manipulates qi and uses the theory of yin-yang and the Five Agents, thus tying in with the spiritual cosmology of Chinese thought. The boundaries between what is seen as religious and what is seen as secular are thus not always clear. Many qigong traditions have stemmed from mainstream Daoism in the last few centuries, many claiming to be Daoist though possessing no actual Daoist lineage (the lines between official religion and popular practice being hard to define precisely).73 Indeed, the boundary between qigong done for health and qigong practiced as religion is also porous. An excellent example is the wellknown qigong group Falun Gong. At its height, it was one of the most popular forms of qigong, practiced on a daily basis by millions, of Chinese around the world, especially in mainland China. Though many Falun Gong practiced simply for health, the philosophy behind the Falun Gong included ideas about morality and spirituality. Its leaders therefore wanted to be officially recognized as a religion, and, in what appears to have been an extremely miscalculated move, called thousands of their followers to a mass demonstration in Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 72 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 72 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History Beijing in 1999. The government responded by outlawing the movement, fearful of its power to organize such a large mass protest under the government’s very nose.74 For its leaders and some followers, qigong should be seen as a religion, but for others it appears to be nothing more than a form of physical exercise—although one linked to the mind or spirit. As we have seen, the boundaries between the religious and secular are often blurred, especially in popular Chinese practice. Falun Gong, other forms of qigong, TCM, and martial arts can be practiced for religious reasons or simply for good health (no matter that the origins of these practices are religious). Fortune-Telling, Exorcism, Fox Spirits, and Everyday Practices Many Chinese, like members of many other cultures, are less concerned with what may be seen as elite religious concerns—heaven, spiritual enlightenment, etc.—than with the everyday concerns of life—for example, supporting the family, finding business opportunities, planning for the year to come, wondering how the crops will grow, and so forth. This being the case, they seek out religious professionals for help with their secular concerns—something that is as true of Protestant Christianity and Theravada Buddhism as it is of Chinese religion. It therefore seems appropriate to deal with a variety of these practices, and with other everyday matters. All cultures have ways to try to predict the future, and perhaps the best known one in the Chinese context is the Book of Changes. Composed of cryptic passages that the trained reader may decipher, it employs a group of patterns, the 8 hexagrams that are conjoined into 64 hexagrams.75 These patterns go back to Shang divination, involving cracks in bones and tortoise shells baked in fire. The favored method for producing the hexagram patterns (each of which had its own commentary) was to repeatedly toss and sort fifty yarrow sticks to produce the answer. However, unless one were a professional fortuneteller, more common practice used only two coins; this was faster and easier, but was considered less accurate. Significantly, because the Book of Changes is one of the Five Classics of Confucian tradition, many fortune-tellers would have been Confucian scholar-officials. Indeed, in past times, scholars who did not pass official examinations could make a living by telling fortunes.76 However, the Book of Changes is not the exclusive conserve of Confucianism, for both Daoist and Buddhist commentaries exist; moreover, priests of all traditions could be fortune-tellers. Yet, the Book of Changes is commonly associated with Daoism; for instance, the Wong Tai Sin Temple, a popular Daoist temple in Hong Kong, houses a separate host of practitioners who use a variety of methods, Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 73 China 73 such as palm reading, face reading, or the random selection, and subsequent interpretation, of numbered bamboo sticks. Fortune-telling in China is often intended to enlighten people about likely future influences rather than to exactly predict events. The Chinese horoscope is related to fortune-telling. The 12 animals that compose it are increasingly well known worldwide, with many people knowing both their Western and Chinese signs (this writer is a Gemini and a dog). Understanding one’s sign in traditional China was important not just because it revealed aspects about one’s personality, but also because it could help indicate who one’s life partner should be. In pre-modern China, young people were not free to choose their husband or wife—this was left to the family, who would generally seek the services of a matchmaker. The matchmaker would consider such things as the social position of the couple and their zodiacal signs. This was a complicated matter, because the signs are related to both the Five Agents theory and the yin-yang theory, and the precise horoscope would need to be drawn up and interpreted. Thus, , two dogs would never get along, but a dog and a pig might. However, a dog of the water element supporting a wood pig (water helps wood grow) would dominate a fire pig (for obvious reasons). Therefore, an exact match was needed. Because this involved an understanding of such things as the Five Agents theory, this area of life was bound up in the spiritual worldview of ancient China. Moreover, in traditional belief, the 12 animals had been appointed their roles by the Jade Emperor himself, and so the interpretation of the signs was bound up with an understanding of deities and cosmic hierarchy. Other areas associated with popular religion but with crossovers into the major traditions are fox spirits and exorcism. Fox spirits are a distinctive aspect of Far Eastern folklore. These magical beings, who could take on human form, were seen as pranksters who tricked or harmed human beings. However, as supernatural entities, they could also provide blessings, so fox spirit shrines existed both to ward off harm and seek help. In the vast popular folklore on ghosts and the supernatural, many tales of fox spirits are found.77 One widespread story involves a worthy and honorable (but poor) scholar who meets a beautiful young girl who is in fact a fox spirit. They fall in love, and through the magical powers of the fox spirit, various obstacles on their path are removed. Sometimes a twist in the tale prevents them from living happily ever after—in some versions, the girl is suspected of being a fox spirit or may need for some other reason to return to her people, leaving the human world. Often these tales display an ambivalence about the moral character of the fox spirit, who commits both kindly and mischievous, or even wicked, deeds—although the situations can be read in different ways.78 Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 74 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 74 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History Although in some tales fox spirits can be seen as beneficial, they have been more likely to be seen as problematic, so professional exorcists have historically been called upon if it was believed that a fox spirit, or any other supernatural creature, was in residence nearby, or in possession of a person. Traditionally, Daoists, especially in the Celestial Master tradition, were seen as the best exorcists. However, other exorcists existed who did not belong to one of the major traditions, but who were simply ritual specialists of no tradition, drawing perhaps from aspects of ritual texts from Daoist, Buddhist, Confucian, and other sources. Another aspect of popular religiosity is feng shui. Particularly as presented in the West, and as understood by some Chinese, this is a practice that is simply part of the Chinese cultural worldview, and not inherently religious. However, understood in the context of traditional Chinese cosmology, feng shui is not simply about arranging things to become “psychologically harmonious,” but rather about determining the qi and “dragon vein” of a place that are involved in the physical-spiritual interplay that permeates much Chinese thought.79 Feng shui traditionally involves harnessing supernatural forces in the environment to order the well-being of a place. However, that no real barrier exists between what we call the secular and religious spheres of life can be seen in the fact that the same principles can be used in arranging a house, a temple, or a grave. Today, many educated Chinese, at least on the mainland, are quite suspicious of feng shui and see it as superstitious nonsense; others, however, believe that it brings together a set of sound commonsense principles of natural planning; yet others see it as manipulating the qi force that permeates all things. Certainly, whether believed in or not, feng shui is still a vital part of much Chinese life outside the mainland—no major building in Hong Kong, for instance, would be planned without it. Feng shui is another sign that our usual ideas about religion are problematic in this cultural setting. IMPACT OF DAILY LIFE ON HISTORY As we have seen, there has often been no clear dividing line between popular practices and elite formulations, although many have wanted to maintain these distinctions. Certainly, influences from folk religion have affected established practice; however, exactly what is and is not established religion is hard to say. Belief in the possibility of personal immortality has impacted on established religion, or at least its perception, as we have seen (whether this belief arose among the people or the elite is hard to say). Popular practice also gave prominence to Guanyin—against the elite textual tradition, focused on Amida Buddha—making her cult the most widespread form of devotion. Likewise, Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 75 China 75 many popular deities, such as the Eight Immortals and city gods, have infiltrated the official Daoist pantheon. Popular religion has been very influential in religion-inspired rebellions that have characterized Chinese history. The Han Dynasty found itself much weakened by the Yellow Turban Rebellion (c. 2nd century CE), a popular uprising that employed Five Agents theory.80 The Ming Dynasty also used religion to legitimize its overthrow of the foreign Yuan Dynasty, making use of utilized popular religious movements for this purpose. Meanwhile, the nineteenth century saw more popular religious uprisings. Perhaps the most notable is the Taiping (Great Peace) Rebellion, which lasted from 1850 to1871 CE and saw an independent religious state form in southern China. Although based on a form of Christianity, it was mixed with much native Chinese thought, and the central notion that gave it its name goes back at least 2,000 years, and influenced the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Popular religious uprisings inspired by popular religious belief have been frequent occurrences in Chinese history. They have also been part of the reason why the government, from imperial to modern times, has watched and tried to regulate popular religions and legislate against what it sees as dangerous movements— whether the notorious White Lotus Societies of the late imperial period or the contemporary Falun Gong movement.81 Finally, we should conclude by mentioning one important aspect of folk religion: the deification of historical figures and their establishment and worship in official pantheons (something that happened to both Laozi and Confucius), which has directly impacted the major traditions. In contemporary China, this process still seems to be in operation, with Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) himself, perhaps, approaching deification in the manner of many officials of the past. (This writer owns a luck charm, of the type hung from the internal mirror of many cars in the Far East, that instead of representing Guanyin or another deity holds a portrait of Chairman Mao himself.) Various scholars have noted this tendency to venerate Mao, which perhaps shows the strength and vitality of Chinese folk religion despite the turmoil and modernization of recent years.82 CHAPTER GLOSSARY Ancestor Veneration: In Chinese culture, children owe a debt to those who brought them into this world, as well as to their ancestors. This debt is repaid partly by honoring the dead through veneration or worship. In much traditional Chinese thought, it is believed that this service is needed by the dead to be cared for in the afterlife, and that the ancestors grant blessings to those who performed the service—or curse those who neglect them. However, other currents see it simply as veneration and respect. Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 76 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 76 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History Dao (Way): This term carries many connotations in Chinese thought. Meaning “way” or “path,” it can be the route to be followed, as in the dao of Confucius—or, more mundanely, a road. In cosmological terms, various Chinese traditions speak of the dao as the spiritual principle that underlies everything, often seen as ineffable and mysterious, yet directly known and seen through the operations of nature. It is not exclusively linked to the tradition of Daoism. Filial Piety: As one of the central principles of Chinese culture, this notion underlies the relations that exist between people, especially family members. Filial piety means that a duty of obedience is owed by the inferior to the superior (i.e., son to father), but there is also a corresponding duty of care and guidance from superior to inferior (i.e., father to son). Its principles guide most relations in traditional Chinese society, including those between families, elder and younger friends, and emperor and minister and subjects. Qi (Chi): Literally translated as “air” or “breath,” the concept qi also means much more. In Chinese cosmology, it refers to the fundamental stuff of which the universe is composed. Thus everything—people and nature and gods—is made of qi. It can manifest itself in subtle and gross, pure and impure forms. Much traditional Chinese religious thought is concerned with purifying one’s qi through ethical, spiritual, and physical practices, which are not traditionally distinguished in such ways, because all concern qi. Sanjiao (The Three Traditions): In Chinese thought, the Three Traditions are Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism, and are often seen to be complementary practices. Combined with folk religion, these traditions form the basis of the culturalreligious matrix of Chinese society. Tian (Heaven): Literally referring to the sky, this Chinese term can also refer to Heaven as an anonymous guiding principle or as personal deity. In this sense, it can be seen as another term for dao (Way), although some thinkers distinguish them, with Heaven being seen to accord with the dao. In this latter sense, it also forms part of the traditional cosmos of Heaven-Earth-Humanity, the three basic layers of the universe. NOTES 1. In this article the Pinyin system for rendering Chinese into English will be used, as this is becoming the standard in Chinese studies; but where a term or name is commonly known in a different form, that will be given in parentheses. 2. Tik-sang Liu, “A Nameless But Active Religion: An Anthropologist’s View of Local Religion in Hong Kong and Macau,” in D. Overmyer, ed. Religion in China Today, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 67. 3. On the problems and possibility of using the term religion, see Paul Hedges, “Defining Religion: A Religious Orientation Typology,” Interreligious Insight, 4.3–4.4 (2006), 9–15 and 34–42, and “Can We Still Teach “Religions”?: Towards an Understanding of Religion as Culture and Orientation in Contemporary Pedagogy and Metatheory,” in G. Durka, L. Gearon, M. de Souza, and K. Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 77 China 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 77 Engebretson, eds., International Handbook for Inter-Religious Education (New York: Springer Academic Publishers, 2010. For more information on qi, see James Miller, Daoism: A Short Introduction (Oxford: Oneworld, 2003), 54–59. For more information on yin and yang and the Five Agents, see Jeaneane Fowler and Merv Fowler, Chinese Religions: Beliefs and Practices (Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2008), pp. 47–64. See “Sanjiao: The Three Teachings,” http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/cosmos/ ort/teachings.htm (accessed December 18, 2008). Joseph Adler, Chinese Religions (London and New York: Routledge, 2002), pp. 12–13. John H. and Evelyn Nagai Berthrong, Confucianism,: A Short Introduction (Oxford: Oneworld, 2000), p. 67. Traditionally believed to be 551–479 BCE, Confucius’s exact dates are uncertain—these dates are taken from records that suggest that a Chinese unicorn was seen in 551, which being an auspicious sign, was thought to signify the date of his birth. Shiji (Records of the Historian, Sima Qian), quoted in Xinzhong Yao, An Introduction to Confucianism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), p. 51. See David Burnett, The Spirit of China: Roots of Faith in 21st Century China (Oxford: Monarch Books, 2008), pp. 71–73. It should be noted, though, that some scholars see the term legalism as an anachronism later applied to a group of related thinkers; see Russell Kirkland, Taoism: The Enduring Tradition (London: Routledge, 2004), pp. 77–78. Xunzi, Hsun Tzu: The Basic Writings, Burton Watson, trans. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1963), p. 85. Yao, An Introduction to Confucianism, pp. 38–47. Yao, An Introduction to Confucianism, pp. 34 and 217. Confucius, Analects of Confucius, Xin Guanjie, trans. (Beijing: Huayujiaoxuechubanshe, 1994), p. 207 (A12:2). Yao, An Introduction to Confucianism, pp. 214–215. For a discussion on Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist influences on Chinese tea culture, see Wang Ling, Chinese Tea Culture (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 2000), chapter 4. Indeed, although the great twentieth-century scholar of religion Huston Smith once declared that Islam was the world’s most misunderstood religion, I would suggest that he is wrong, and that this misfortune falls to Daoism. See Huston Smith, The World’s Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions (San Francisco: Harper One, 1991), and Russell Kirkland,“The Taoism of the Western Imagination and the Taoism of China: De-Colonializing the Exotic Traditions of the East” (1997), http://kirkland.myweb.uga.edu/rk/pdf/pubs/pres/TENN97.pdf (accessed December 4, 2008). Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 78 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 78 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History 19. The influence of shamanism on Daoism is disputed by the experts, with Kirkland arguing that there is no connection (Kirkland, Taoism, p. 44) and Kohn seeing it as one source; see Livia Kohn, Introducing Daoism (London: Routledge, 2008), pp. 46–47. 20. For an overview of the development of Daoism, see James Miller, Daoism: A Short Introduction, 1ff. (This work has been republished as Daoism: A Beginner’s Guide, 2008). It is worth noting that most introductions to Daoism and Chinese religion, including some cited herein, do not have a sophisticated view of Daoism relying on the old fashioned distinction. 21. Kohn, Introducing Daoism, p. 21; for a more critical and complex account, see Kirkland, Taoism, pp. 55–64. 22. See Kirkland, Taoism, pp. 55–64. 23. Adler, Chinese Religions, p. 27. 24. Kohn, Introducing Daoism, p. 120. 25. Ibid., pp. 190–191. 26. For more information on Daoist deities, see Yi’e Wang, Daoism in China: An Introduction (Warren, CT: Floating Worlds Editions, 2006), Chapter 4. 27. Kohn, Introducing Daoism, pp. 142–148, discusses Daoist transformative traditions. 28. Kirkland, Taoism, pp. 3ff. 29. Kohn, Introducing Daoism, pp. 156–157. 30. Ibid., pp. 164–169; we shall discuss some of these deities in due course. 31. See, for instance, Livia Kohn, Daoism and Chinese Culture, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, MA: Three Pines Press, 2004), pp. 64–65, where she notes two differences of Daoist and popular practice in early traditions, one of which is a different class of deities related to spiritual transformation, and another is the rejection of shamanic trances, blood sacrifices, and orgiastic fertility rites. 32. From Sima Xiangru, Daren Fu (Rhapsody of the Great Man), quoted in Kohn, Introducing Daoism, p. 46. 33. Kirkland, Taoism, 182ff. 34. Kohn, Daoism and Chinese Culture, p. 50. 35. Scholars of Daoism disagree among themselves on how far the notion of immortals should be included in discussions of Daoism. For instance, the leading scholar Livia Kohn in her recent introductory work includes considerable discussion of them (e.g., Introducing Daoism, pp. 61–64 and 129), calling them an example of “the extreme dimension of Daoist body transformation” (p. 64), whereas Russell Kirkland, another much respected scholar, has said, it is not “specifically tied to practitioners of Taoism” (Kirkland, Taoism, p. 184). As a way to understand these disputes, James Miller, another scholar, usefully clarifies that the translation into English as immortal is problematic, noting that in Daoism a more sophisticated understanding of the self is sought (see Miller, Daoism, pp. 24–25 and 71–73), which is linked to discussion of immortals, but which differs from the popular understanding of this term. However, the understandings of elite Daoist initiates, Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 79 China 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 79 ordinary Daoist devotees, and ordinary people must be seen as linked, to some extent at least, to a common discourse around figures revered as immortals. See Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, Chapter 8, for more on Ch’an Buddhism. See Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, pp. 127–139 on the Pure Land School. For a sympathetic insider account from a Western practitioner, see Caroline Brazier, The Other Buddhism: Amida Comes West (Winchester, UK: O Books, 2007). On Guanyin, see Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, p. 231; Burnett, The Spirit of China, pp. 304–305; and Adler, Chinese Religions, pp. 102–103. On popular Chinese deities, see Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, pp. 227–238. See C. K. Yang, Religion in Chinese Society (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970), pp. 158–164. A good book, if it can be obtained, on the historical lives of many Chinese deities is Cheng Manchao, The Origin of Chinese Deities, D. Chen, Z. Fang, and H. Feng, trans. (Beijing: Foreign Language Press, 1995). For more on the Eight Immortals, see Kohn, Introducing Daoism, pp. 167–169, and Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, pp. 163–164. See Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, pp. 225–226, and Stephen F. Teiser, “Introduction,” in Donald S. Lopez, Jr., ed., Religions of China in Practice (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996), pp. 21–25. Also available online at http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/lopez.html (accessed December 10 2008). Adler, Chinese Religions, pp. 117–118. Ibid., 120. Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, p. 225 mention this among Alvin Cohen’s list of six factors, the first four of which are summed up by our first two factors of reciprocity and harmony. Yang, Religion in Chinese Society. Steven Sangren, History and Magical Power in a Chinese Community (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1987). Indeed, David N. Keightly, “Late Shang Divination: The Magico-Religious Legacy,” in Explorations in Early Chinese Cosmology ( Journal of the American Academy of Religion Studies, vol. 50, no. 2), ed. Henry Rosemont, Jr. (Chicago: Scholars Press, 1984), 26, one scholar even maintains about thought in the Han and Zhou Dynasties that “Every idea, every pattern of thought, has its genealogy, and . . . can be traced back . . . [to] the Shang” which would then feed into later Chinese tradition. Adler, Chinese Religions, p. 58. See Burnett, The Spirit of China, pp. 82–84. Kohn, Introducing Daoism, pp. 86–87. Burnett, The Spirit of China, pp. 101–103. On the persecution and decline of Buddhism, see Donald W. Mitchell, Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. 231–232. Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 80 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 80 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History 54. On the emergence and development of Neo-Confucianism, see Yao, An Introduction to Confucianism, pp. 96–98. 55. For more on Zhu Xi and the Four Books, see Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, pp. 177–180. 56. See Adler, Chinese Religions, 96–97. 57. For a good coverage of changes in Daoism in this period, but also crossing into folk religion, see Kohn, Daoism and Chinese Culture, pp. 171–85. On intermediaries between Daoism and folk religion, see Burnett, The Spirit of China, pp. 163–164, where he discusses spirit possession and the rise of the fashi, Ritual Masters during the Song Dynasty. 58. On the situation in recent times, see Adler, Chinese Religions, Chapter 6; Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, Chapter 10; Burnett, The Spirit of China, pp. 344–352; and Kohn, Daoism and Chinese Culture, Chapter 11. 59. See “The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Respect: Their Stories & Verses In Praise,” Dharma Master Heng Sure, trans., http://www2.kenyon.edu/ Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Reln270/24-filial2.htm#Preface (accessed December 10, 2008). 60. On the practice of ancestor veneration and the afterlife, see Adler, Chinese Religions, pp. 18–19 and 215–217. 61. It has been suggested that the religious revival happening at the moment is different in villages and cities. Lizhu Fan has suggested that the villages have a more communal notion of folk religion, and the cities a more privatized spirituality (“Popular Religion in Contemporary China,” Social Compass, 50 (2003), pp. 449–457 and 456); therefore, we should not be surprised to see other differences. 62. The control and classification of religion in China today is still the object of much contention. See Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, pp. 251–253; Burnett, The Spirit of China, pp. 290–291, 300–304, and 336–339; and Stephen Feuchtwang and Wang Ming-ming, “The Politics of Culture or a Contest of Histories: Representations of Chinese Popular Religion,” Dialectical Anthropology, 16 (1991), pp. 251–272, 254, 260, 262. 63. Yang, Religion in Chinese Society, pp. 82–86. For temple fairs in old Beijing, see http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_chinaway/2006-02/23/content _79634.htm (accessed January 20, 2009). 64. Kenneth Dean,“Local Communal Religion in Contemporary South-east China,” in Religion in China Today (The China Quarterly Special Issues New Series, no. 3), ed. Daniel L. Overmyer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003). 65. See Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, p. 242 for a fuller description of Chinese temples; see Laurence Thompson, Chinese Religion: An Introduction, 4th ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1989), pp. 68–74. 66. For more on these deities, see Wang, Daoism in China, pp. 90–92 and Manchao, The Origin of Chinese Deities, pp. 53–58 and 148–155. 67. On various legends surrounding them, see http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en _chinaway/2004-06/11/content_47393.htm (accessed January 20, 2009). Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 81 China 81 68. But see Berthrong and Berthrong, Confucianism, pp. 68–69 and 73–74 on the role of women. 69. Glen Dudbridge, The Legend of Miaoshan, rev. ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). 70. Lizhu Fan, “The Cult of the Silkworm Mother as a Core of Local Community Religion in a North China Village: Field Study in Zhiwuying, Baoding, Hebei,” in Overmyer, ed., Religion in China Today (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003). 71. Yang, Religion in Chinese Society, pp. 84–85. 72. Kohn, Daoism and Chinese Culture, pp. 193–198, and Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, pp. 63–64. 73. Kohn, Daoism and Chinese Culture, pp. 174–178 and 191–196. 74. Kohn, Daoism and Chinese Culture, pp. 196–198, and Burnett, The Spirit of China, pp. 306–312. 75. See “Yi Ching I Ching,” available at http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/ ~phalsall/texts/iching.txt (accessed December 18, 2008). 76. Yang, Religion in Chinese Society, pp. 250–253. 77. These existed as stories and songs in the oral tradition, but many were written down, particularly in the Qing Dynasty. 78. One of the best known collections was put together by a man called Pu Songling (1640–1715); it is entitled Strange Tales from Make-Do Studio, Dennis C. Mair and Victor H. Mair, trans. (Beijing: Foreign Language Press, 1996). 79. Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, pp. 260–265. 80. See Kohn, Daoism and Chinese Culture, pp. 68 and 101. As Kohn notes, and in contradistinction to many texts, the Yellow Turbans and nearly all later religious rebellions were not Daoist, a position erroneously held in such texts as Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, and Burnett, The Spirit of China. The term Yellow Turban comes from the yellow headscarves worn by members of the rebellion, based on the Five Agents theory, whereby the Han Dynasty—seen as the fire phase and represented by the color red—was due to be superseded by the earth phase, represented by yellow, the color they wore as a sign of this cosmologicalpolitical change. 81. Burnett, The Spirit of China, pp. 227–232. 82. See Fowler and Fowler, Chinese Religions, p. 253 and Chinese Religions, p. 113. BIBLIOGRAPHY These readings are provided as accessible sources of information; however, some are better or worse on particular aspects of Chinese thought. Both Fowler and Burnett provide outdated discussions on Daoism, using the discredited religious versus philosophical distinction, but they offer excellent general summaries of popular practices and other aspects of Chinese religion. Hecht09_V1_C02.qxd 82 12/30/09 10:30 AM Page 82 Religion in the Practice of Daily Life in World History Adler, Joseph. Chinese Religion. London and New York: Routledge, 2002. Berthrong, John H., and Evelyn Nagai Berthrong. Confucianism: A Short Introduction. Oxford: Oneworld, 2000. Burnett, David. The Spirit of China: Roots of Faith in 21st Century China. Oxford: Monarch Books, 2008. Cohen, Myron L., and Stephen F. Teiser.“Living in the Chinese Cosmos: Understanding Religion in Late Imperial China (1644–1911).” http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ cosmos/index.html (accessed December 10, 2008). Fowler, Jeaneane, and Merv Fowler. Chinese Religions: Beliefs and Practices. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2008. Kohn, Livia. Daoism and Chinese Culture. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Three Pines Press, 2004. ———. Introducing Daoism. London: Routledge, 2008. Littlejohn, Ronnie L. Daoism: An Introduction. London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009. Teiser, Stephen F. “The Spirits of Chinese Religion.” http://academic .brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/lopez.html (accessed December 18, 2008). This is an online version of a printed work: “Introduction,” in Donald S. Lopez, Jr., ed. Religions of China in Practice. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996. Yang, C. K. Religion in Chinese Society. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970. Yao, Xinzhong. An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.