Transcript Religious culture at the centre of social organisation

Religious culture at the centre
of social organisation
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our terms
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 please keep in mind:
 religious culture & social organization our terms (etic) to
analyse something else
 analytical terms do not necessarily represent the entire
phenomenon, just a dimension
 older terminology
 diffused religion
 Little Traditions
their framework
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 kinship
 in sources as: zu 族, xing 姓,jia 家 etc.
 constructed, partly on basis of biological descent
 residence
 in sources as: cun 村, zhen 鎮 and so forth
 natural village increasingly unimportant from Song onwards
 provenance
 usually migration history kinship-units
 temporary migration (huiguan 會館)
networks
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 network: worship
 ancestors => group claiming shared descent
 deities =>group claiming shared residence or provenance
 professional deity (late) => group sharing profession
(including Confucius!)
 All-under-Heaven => privilege Son-of-Heaven
family and ancestors
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family
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 kinship unit consisted of those people who claimed
common descent from a shared ancestor
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≠ pure biological unit
adoption
exogamy based on family name
potential exclusion bad elements, daughters, prematurely
deceased children
 status differences
 family of official could build long term groups
 reform early Jiajing reign (1521-1567)=> every family could
construct larger units
ancestors
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 lopsided research
 dominated by southern China and relatively recent period
(Fujian and Guangdong since the Ming)
 earlier periods only covered in secular terms (groups without
the ritual core)
 ancestors at the core
 direct ancestors worshipped at home
 more distant ancestors worshipped elsewhere
 nowadays: return home to worship ancestors and renew bonds
relevant rituals
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 during the marriage-rituals:
 拜天地
 拜父母
crucial moment of transition , point of no ritual return
 拜祖先
 creating a group (family) and incorporating within larger unit
 NB marriage ritual also contain exorcist rites (ex. crossing of wok)
 daily small-scale sacrifice at family altar (core family)
 refreshing sense of family
 funerary rituals
 refreshing the larger kin unit and networking
 NB funerary rituals also contain exorcist rites (ex. feeding sheng–bird)
 rituals for the dead
 清明
 鬼節/盂蘭盆=>施食 rituals
 support Buddhist institutions to maintain post-mortem services (burning lamps
to rituals on fixed days)
 collective ancestor worship (continued next slide)
壇
拜祖先
葬式
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拜祖先
拜父母
北干那那, 新山
(Malaysia)
collective worship
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 larger kinship units through worship
 Song onwards esp. through funerary ritual and maintaining
Buddhist grave cults (elite families)
 Jiajing (1521-1567) reforms, esp. important in Fujian and
Cantonese cultural areas => allowed creation lineages
higher order ancestor allows larger groups
 ancestral hall
 hall owns land and engages in projects (avoid taxes on persons)
 common enterprises: opening up land, school
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arise in regions where pre-Han cultures (esp. Yao-She) put
stress on larger kinship units
commentary
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 not essentially “Confucian”
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predecessors already documented for the Shang
label (!) as “Confucian” is result Qing reappropriation of the lineage as
“Neoconfucian”/classicist and the May Fourth movement attacks on
kinship
 Buddhist connections
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funerary ritual in general
Ghost Festival narrative since Tang
Feeding Ghosts for Flaming Mouths since early Song
 debate among Christian (Roman Catholic) missionaries
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Jesuit vs Dominican+Franciscan debate: Chinese Rites controversy
is it religion or commemoration
 viewpoint of the Non-Action Teachings
residential groups and deities
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village (classical cult)
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 outdoor worship stones and trees
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seem to be inhabited (搜神記 anecdotes)
still in existence, esp. southern China-Vietnam (single cultural zone)
tree worship in Jinhua 金華 (S. Zhejiang), no doubt elsewhere as well
? living trees (待考)
 worship by village as a whole
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spring and autumn sacrifice (before and after the N. Chinese harvest)
sharing of meat and alcohol
often led by mediums/shamans (still much unclear)
 reinvention of tradition early Ming
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Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋 & Neoconfucian advisors
imposition altar worship on basis of “classical” texts
深圳
(PRC)
石頭公
館南
(TW)
千年石
母祠
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長洲
village (premodern cult)
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 anthropomorphic worship God of the Earth
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partly instead, partly next to the older cults, their relationship and
evolution still needs study
different types
named xx 府君 etc.
 generic 土地公，福德正神
 statue of generic deity: pink face, grey hair, holds bar of gold
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roofed over shrine (rich communities may have temples)
 worship by the village (later also street) on deity’s
birthdays (no direct link agricultural season anymore)
 reporting of village deceased=> sense of membership of
community
territorial : charismatic
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 territorial
 charismatic
 deity controls territory
 deity helps whoever
and its community of
worshippers
 communal representation
& benefits
 ascribed
 formal rites (state,
communal, Daoist,
Buddhist)
worships
 personal requests &
benefits
 explains: erratic nature of
benefits
 voluntary
 inspired rites (shamans,
mediums)
higher territorial cults
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 higher territorial cults always encompassed lower level
territorial units as well
 Travelling Palace (Temple) of the Eastern Marchmount 東嶽
行宮 & City God 城隍
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underworld cult
in charge of a Daoist bureaucracy of exorcist deities
urban temples
acme of tribute paying hierarchy of shrines and temples: enact imperial
structure
 mostly temples for “heroes” (see further on)
 territory 境
 marked by processions & tribute
 may leave his territory
 spreads with the groups that worship him/her
山西蒲县東嶽廟
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霞海城隍廟 1930
higher territorial cults (continued)
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 “hero/heroine” cults
 evolve from successful cults for hungry ghosts (e.g. 有應公) to whom
divine assistance is ascribed (e.g. 關公, 天后)
 receive socially & politically acceptable histories (ex. 天后/媽祖 and 郭聖
王）
 official titles by the state in recognition of the support groups
 conceptualized as feudal relationship: emperor, king, duke, etc. who rule
over territory (not bureaucratic)
 forms of assistance
 collective/communal help (examples) weather-related
 infectious diseases
 protection community against bandits etc.
 not at expense of individual members group
 not very communicative
 moonblocks & prayers, maybe dreams, rarely possession
保生大帝
‘保安宮
（(Taiwan)
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有應公
(Taiwan)
有應公
真武
(澎湖)
(Macao)
“membership” territorial cult
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membership is conditional:
 residential in the territory
 right to work land or shared provenance
 must be expressed through contributions &
presence/participation
 no exceptions (treat Christian case)
 not everybody (treat migrants/kejia 客家)
beware for:
 vocabulary of belief/membership
charismatic cults
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treated in more detail in lecture five on shamans and mediums, here brief discussion to complete my analytical
picture
 not based on territorial units, but on personal attraction & bond
 Max Weber’s concept of charisma
 in the eyes of the beholder, not an absolute quality: belief by followers that
someone possesses extraordinary qualities
 outside institutionalized structures, not bound (NB there may be cultural
conventions about what counts as charismatic)
 charismatic deity helps individuals
 personal support is always at expense of others (law of limited good)
 deity him/herself also typically outside the system (naughty, unruly, disobedient)
 liminal figures boluo fox
 liminal creatures live between here and there => can mediate between worlds
(good), can come to attack us (bad)
 origins:
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incomplete transition (hungry ghosts/demons 餓鬼)
non-humans changing form (animals, trees/plants, stones)
humans attaining life beyond life (immortals)
 typically very direct communication through mediums
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boluo fox
regional differences
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 little systematic study
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lack of local sources for the north until mid-Ming
good local sources for Yangzi region from Song onwards
good local sources for parts of Fujian from Song onwards, otherwise
mid-Ming onwards
rest of southern China mid-Ming onwards or even later
distortion by recording mostly officially recognized cults
 impression based on Ming local gazetteers
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far more local variety in the south (reflects diverse origins south)
figures classical mythology (Tang, Shun, Yao etc.) worshipped in
regions original exploits (mostly north)
supra-regional cults mostly southern origin (<= trade)
a historical hypothesis
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 previous remarks largely typological, some historical
comments: EXTREMELY tentative
 overall historical change
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originally: nature worship + demons + charismatic deities
late Tang onwards
nature worship replaced/superseded by anthropomorphic deities
 charismatic deities start becoming territorial deities
 spread supra-local deities with trade, military expeditions, some
migration
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 no extreme standardisation pantheon
 Watson 1985 based on misunderstanding local gazetteers
 countercases: Taiwan, Yin county etc.
professional groups
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Guilds and Kaufmannschaften
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 Guilds (hang 行)
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worship of mythical inventor (curiously largely late imperial period,
although guilds themselves already attested in Song period)
their centre usually located in temples (Eastern Marchmount two
famous examples, in Changxing during the Southern Song and
Beijing during the late imperial period)
 Kaufmannschaften 會館山西會館
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esp. late Ming onwards-early Republican period
replaced by Chambers of Commerce (early 20th century)
focus on regional deity
network building, common festivals, burial sites
maybe engagement in charitable activities
 surprisingly little defense common interest
山西會館
incenseburner
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“Confucians”
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 Classicist school & Temple for Confucius
 focus for officials & literati who worshipped Confucius =>
origin Western (Jesuit) term Confucians
 those who worship “Confucius” and other classicist heroes as
their “patriarchs”祖師 or ancestors 祖先 through sacrifice
 creation of lineages of teachers and pupils
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Temple of Confucius (Tainan),
note invented rituals
sacrificial practice
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basis of all ritual
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 burning incense
 sacrifice
 alcoholic drinks: tea
 meat: fruit
 raw: cooked
 pay respect (hands, bowing, kowtow)
 making representations
 contact with extra-humans
 possession ⇄
 soul travel ⇄
 encounters (often unaware at first)
 dreams (surprisingly one way)
 prognostication
 moonblocks
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society and politics
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government supervision
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 until Tang
 most local cults similar Earth deities (stones, trees etc.)
 state did not care for the local world
 highest elites organized separately through Buddhist and
Daoist institutions=> these had to be controlled
 from late Tang or Five Dynasties onwards
 economic growth in some regions led to broader elite
 in those regions new types of territorial cults
 supervising/controlling/recognizing territorial cults means of
making the loyal community & their leaders loyal to the
imperial centre
research questions
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 why was destroying local cults so important in the
1950s
 what does destruction ancestor worship mean for
kinship groups?
 how do villages maintain unity in absence of worship
(or did, in the Maoist period)
 regional differences and their significance