[lit-ideas] Re: Comparative religion

On 2005/03/09, at 8:15, JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx wrote:

> You make a good point.  When Bronwyn was talking to me about the =20
> Buddha and
> many little Buddha "idols", I thought about the religious aspect in =20=

> the East
> of Buddhism .... the shrines, etc.  Maybe the problem is one of  the=20=

> lack of
> exclusivity in Buddhism.  I have a friend who is a Jew by birth  and
> upbringing;  she was once married to an Orthodox Jew.  She  continues=20=

> her Jewish faith,
> and has studied Chinese herbalism and medicine  extensively.  She also=20=

> has
> studied Buddhism extensively and does Buddhist  meditations, etc.  I=20=

> have
> encouraged my Mother to go meet with her and let  her teach her some=20=

> meditations,
> guided imagery stuff, talk to her about Chinese  medicine, etc.=20
> related to her
> Cancer.  My Mother will not see her because  my Mother is a Devout=20
> Christian and
> she won't do a meditation of "another  religion".  One can be a=20
> Christian, a
> Jew, an anything, it seems to me, and  practice Buddhism.  Whereas one=20=

> cannot
> be a Jew and practice Christianity,  or .... you see what I mean about=20=

> the
> exclusivity issue?


Julie, Peter, I am sure that sometime in the last few years I have sent=20=

this around before. But please indulge me. The following is the=20
introduction I wrote to a chapter on the Traditional Religions of=20
China.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Turn back the clock a century. You have graduated from university and=20
accepted a post with one of the great British trading companies that=20
operate out of Hong Kong. To reach China from England, you must travel=20=

by ship. En route, your ship will stop in Italy, Egypt, India. Wherever=20=

it stops, you have a few days to explore the countryside and pursue=20
your interest in comparative religion.

Italy is strange but also familiar. With its crucifixes, candles,=20
incense, priestly vestments, carnivals and saints days, Italian=20
Catholicism may seem a bit exotic. Still, it is Christianity, the most=20=

common form of religion in Europe. Its churches, priests and doctrines=20=

are not all that different from what you imagine when you think of=20
religion in the West.

In Egypt you encounter Islam. Mosques replace churches. Friday not=20
Sunday is the holy day, and religious images are forbidden. But Islam=20
also has its saints and festivals. Islam is, like Christianity and=20
Judaism, a religion of the Book. All three are monotheistic religions=20
rooted in belief in one, transcendent God, who exists apart from his=20
creation and reveals His will through prophets whose words are recorded=20=

in canonical, sacred texts: Torah for the Jews, the Bible for=20
Christians, the Koran for Muslims. For believers in all three=20
religions, their faith is the mark of membership in an exclusive=20
religious community.

In India you encounter Hinduism. Here, too, there are temples, rites,=20
and festivals. The division between Brahmin and warrior castes recalls=20=

a familiar division between priestly and secular authorities. But=20
instead of one God there are many-goddesses as well as gods, and a=20
seemingly endless variety of both. Stranger still, devotion to one does=20=

not preclude the worship of others. Instead of one sacred Book, you=20
find a seemingly endless list of scriptures, commentaries, folktales=20
and myths. There are, to be sure, similarities between their content=20
and what you find in the sacred Books of the monotheistic religions of=20=

Europe and the Middle East. There are, however, no rabbis, priests or=20
judges with the power to determine which are canonical and which are=20
not.

You may note, too, that Hindu creation myths do not describe a singular=20=

event. Instead of a one, definitive pronouncement, "Let there be=20
light," creation in Hindu thought is an endlessly repeated dream.=20
Mystics of all schools seek to free themselves from the dream by losing=20=

their mortal selves in the great Self that is God. In this=20
archetypically mystical religion, the mystic's search for that true=20
Self has replaced submission to God's revealed Wordi.

Then, at last, you arrive in China. Here, again, there are temples,=20
rites and festivals; images like those of Catholic saints or Hindu gods=20=

and goddesses; fire, incense and offerings. When, however, you ask,=20
"What is the religion of China?" you hear two surprising answers. Some=20=

say that China has three religions: Confucianism and Daoism, both=20
indigenous to China, and Buddhism, imported from India. The other says=20=

that China has no religion. The three religions aren't religions at=20
all, but schools of moral philosophy. The religious customs of the=20
masses are only superstitious magic.

=A0If you live long enough-to the middle of the twentieth century-you=20
will also hear some scholars say that there is, after all, one Chinese=20=

religionii. It is not, however, a monotheistic religion; there is no=20
single high God. Like Hinduism, Chinese religion is polytheistic and=20
only in one of its many dimensions-the worship of ancestors-exclusive.=20=

But in contrast to Hinduism, there is no Creator who exists apart from=20=

His creation. The world does have an invisible dimension, the realm of=20=

spirits; all spirits-whether gods, ghosts, or ancestors-exist, like the=20=

human beings they resemble, inside the one, self-sustaining, natural=20
order of things.

=A0In Chinese religion, mysticism aims, not to escape from a world seen=20=

as a dream, i.e., as a snare and illusion, but instead to become one=20
with the constantly changing cycles of Nature. Ritual is seen in=20
functional terms, either as essential for maintaining social or cosmic=20=

order or, more pragmatically, as a means of achieving the long life,=20
wealth and numerous descendants that define worldly success.

Like a Chinese banquet, the religious life of the Chinese combines many=20=

elements: some can be identified as Daoist, Buddhist or Confucian;=20
others are labeled folk or popular religion and described as=20
shamanistic.

At the core of this complexity is ancestor worship, to which everything=20=

else is related. Before the revolutions of the twentieth century, the=20
worship of the ancestors was encompassed and elaborated by rites=20
performed by emperors and mandarins: the cult of the imperial Chinese=20
state. In traditional Chinese communities in Taiwan and Southeast Asia,=20=

communal and sectarian worship of gods and the exorcism of ghosts=20
continue to surround and complement the domestic cult of the dead. In=20
the People's Republic of China, all three were officially regarded as=20
"feudal superstition" and targeted for suppression. In recent years,=20
however, they have once again become widespread.

=A0

=A0

Words to the Wise

As we look more closely at all these aspects of Chinese religion there=20=

are several key points to keep in mind. There are temples; there are=20
sects. There are private belief and public practice. But there is no=20
Church separate from the State, no sharp boundary line that separates=20
religion from other institutions. Chinese religious cosmology reflects=20=

this social reality; there is no transcendent God, only spirits who are=20=

part of the social and natural order, just like the human beings whom=20
they outwardly resemble and whose fundamental nature they share.

We should also bear in mind that while we speak of "Chinese religion,"=20=

China is a very large country with a population that is now around 1.2=20=

billion people, a quarter of the world's population. Chinese religious=20=

attitudes exhibit every conceivable shade from fervent belief to=20
indifference and active atheism, and a wide range of variation can be=20
found in rural villages as well as towns and cities. In a study of=20
religious belief in a village in Taiwan, anthropologist Stevan Harrell=20=

interviewed fourteen villagers. Three, he found, were religious=20
enthusiasts, village theologians who had each developed his own=20
idiosyncratic version of Chinese religious cosmology. One, an old=20
woman, was the village atheist; she stated bluntly that traditional=20
religion is nonsense. The other ten participated in ancestor worship=20
and festivals because, "It's the custom."

The communist revolutionaries who founded the People's Republic of=20
China were heirs not only to Karl Marx's conviction that religion is=20
"the opiate of the people" but also to a long indigenous tradition of=20
scholarly skepticism. It was, after all, Confucius himself who said=20
that while a gentleman acts as if the spirits are present in ritual, he=20=

devotes himself to worldly affairs and keeps the spirits at a distance.=20=

Many educated Chinese continue to follow his advice.

In attempting to understand Chinese religion we cannot, therefore, be=20
satisfied with statements that say "The Chinese believe this" or "The=20
Chinese do that." Our goal must be instead to discover the range of=20
possibilities for religious belief and practice that the world of=20
Chinese religion provides and to understand the motives that incline=20
individuals who occupy different positions in Chinese society to act on=20=

some of these possibilities while, perhaps, rejecting others.

We must recognize, too, that attitudes may change depending on=20
circumstances. Even in pre-modern China, a mandarin who seemed a sober=20=

Confucian while holding imperial office could still be a Buddhist or=20
Daoist mystic in private life and hire Buddhist monks or Daoist priests=20=

to perform their rituals at his parents' funerals. A despiser of=20
"superstition" might still turn to a Daoist magician or medium when=20
faced with disease or misfortune. Even a modern intellectual can feel=20
the pull of "superstitious" beliefs if her child is sick or when death=20=

draws near at the end of life.

=A0

How Do We Study Chinese Religion?

Here we will use two approaches to explore the possibilities that=20
Chinese religion provides. Our first approach is historical and based=20
on the observations of historians and archeologists. Here we must=20
always keep in mind the sources on which their conclusions are based.

Three points are critical: First, China is the world's oldest=20
continuously literate society, and the sheer volume of historical texts=20=

is enormous. One source suggests that the twenty-five imperial=20
histories alone would require 45 million words in English translation.=20=

In Chinese the Buddhist Canon is 74 times the length of the Christian=20
Bible, while the Daoist Canon is a library that runs to several=20
thousand pages in its latest edition. In contrast the number of=20
scholars who study these materials is small. In history as well as in=20
archeology, new discoveries continue to appear. Suppressed texts,=20
hidden away sometimes for centuries surface periodically.

Second, while the overall volume is enormous, what is available varies=20=

widely from one point in Chinese history to another. Relatively few=20
texts survive from before the invention of woodblock printing on paper=20=

during the late Tang (581-907). Starting in the Song (907-1276), the=20
trickle of materials suddenly becomes a mighty riveriii.

Third, almost everything we have in writing represents the views of an=20=

educated, literate minority, the scholar-gentry from whom the mandarins=20=

who governed imperial China were recruited. As a consequence, we may=20
know a great deal about what went on at the imperial court and almost=20
nothing at all about religious beliefs and practices in towns and rural=20=

villages away from the imperial court. This bias is especially strong=20
in descriptions of pre-Song religion.

Our second approach will be through the work of anthropologists who=20
have studied Chinese religion first hand. For historical and political=20=

reasons, most of this research has been concentrated in Taiwan and Hong=20=

Kong, overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, and, more=20
recently, in parts of Southeast China. In addition, much of this work=20
has been done in rural towns and villages. The primary focus of this=20
research has been on the relationship between Chinese religion and=20
forms of social organization in rural society. What Chinese religious=20
life is like in North China or in modern Chinese cities is something we=20=

know far too little about. There is a certain irony here, for, to begin=20=

our historical survey, we must start on the North China plain.

=A0

i For more on the difference between the prophetic religions of the=20
Middle East, Indian mysticism and China's "religion of harmony", see=20
Ching, Julia 1993 Chinese Religions. Maryknoll: Orbis Books.

ii See, for example, the argument in Thompson, Laurence G. 1996 Chinese=20=

Religion: An Introduction, 5th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing=20
Company. The volume cited here is the latest edition of the classic=20
starting point for all serious modern thinking about Chinese religion.=20=

It is definitely the place to start when exploring the subject further.

iii This and the following point are taken from Hansen, Valerie 1990=20
Changing Gods in Medieval China, 1127-1276. Princeton: Princeton=20
University Press, a book on which this essay draws heavily.=A0There is =
no=20
better introduction to the critical Song period in which Chinese=20
religion began to assume its modern shape.



John L. McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd.
55-13-202 Miyagaya, Nishi-ku
Yokohama, Japan 220-0006

Tel 81-45-314-9324
Email John.McCreery@xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Making Symbols is Our Business"

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