Chinese Religion Part II: The Terrain of Faith: Government, Practices and Behaviour Session 8: Creating and Inscribing Territory: Ritual, Art, Architecture and Community Life Dr Paul Hedges

Session Overview Ritual Daoist and Confucian Ritual Traditions Art & Architecture Daoist and Religious Art Temple Architecture Community Life Daoist monasticism Lay religious orders

Ritual What is it? –Traditions of local cults/ gods & goddesses –Traditions of national gods and customs, e.g. Stove God, ancestral veneration, New Year –Popular practices and customs What is it? –The Fourth Tradition Traditionally associated with ‘religious Daoism’ – own integral system Represents vast mass of devotional practice Local and national cults and practices

Elements of Folk Religion Joseph Adler –Shu/ reciprocity Bribes to gods Mutual obligations/ relationship Alvin Cohen –Protection (life & property) –He/ harmony (nature) –Peace and harmony at home –Success (life) –Salvation after death –Good rebirth C. K. Yang –Distinction: Institutional –In temples/ formalized settings Diffused –At home or other places Questions: 1)Are these distinct characteristics of folk religion? 2)Is this found in other Chinese traditions? 3)How does it differ from other faiths?

Folk Religion and the Great Traditions Distinctions from: –Buddhism Separate rites Different deities –Daoism Understandings: deities, immortals Different rites Different priests (shamans) –Confucianism Mockery of ethics Different rationale (xun zi) Distance from officialdom Connections with: –Buddhism Guanyin Funeral rites –Daoism Immortals Use of priests Exorcism deities –Confucianism Morality: Filial piety Ancestral rites

Fox spirits Background: –Common belief across Far East –Spiritual beings (people who can assume fox form or foxes who can assume human form?) –Tricksters –Supernatural powers –Stories and tales: see handout Pu Songling, Strange Tales from Make-Do Studio, ‘Yingning’ ‘Sex with Foxes’

Ancestral Cult 1 Practices –Ancestral temples –Ancestral tablets Incense Food ‘Grave goods’ Daily/ monthly/ yearly 5 generations (xiao/ filial piety) Festivals –Qingming/ Tomb Sweeping Popular –Ghost Festival/ All Souls Esp. Buddhist/ Daoist History –Shang Dynasty – cult of kings –Continues through Zhou –By or around Han dynasty popularized Beliefs –ancestors can help you –ancestors can harm you Tradition Provide nourishment –you can help ancestors possibly response to Buddhism/ internal Daoist dynamics?

Ancestral Cult 2 ‘Tomb goods’/ Paper offerings Relates

Everyday Practices Divination –Consult fortune tellers –I Jing Confucian and Daoist text –Palm reading and other methods Horoscope –12 animals –Used for marriage arrangements Feng shui –Building arrangement/ geomancy –Both ‘spiritual’ and ‘secular’

Folk Deities and Popular Divinities 1 Some cross-over with Daoist pantheon E.g. Jade Emperor ‘Head’ of popular pantheon, lower deity in Daoism Other deities just in folk tradition E.g. Mazu ‘Mother Goddess’, very popular with coastal dwellers Some movement: popular > ‘official’ Baxian/ 8 Immortals Very popular folk deities > enter Quanzhen pantheon Lu Dongbing Popular stories – see handout

Folk Deities and Popular Divinities 2 Stove god ‘Home’ deity Annual report to Jade Emperor Guandi Warrior deity – guardian of Daoist temples (also in Buddhist) One of many guardian figures Guanyin Bodhisattva of Compassion (Avalokiteshvara) (Fe)male ‘Goddess of Compassion’ City Gods Official observance by Confucian officials (as local earth gods) Popular devotion/ affiliation through other traditions The 3 Star Gods Tianguan: happiness Wenchang: culture & wealth Shouxing: longevity

Folk Deities and Popular Divinities 3 Permeable border of human and divine Historical figures can become deities in afterlife Pantheon populated by great figures of history Can advance or be demoted – related to this worldly concerns/ family fortunes Bokenkamp, S., Ancestors and Anxiety: Daoism and the Birth of Rebirth in China, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007 E.g.: Julia Ching’s ancestor = city god of Shanghai Confucius and Lao Zi Guan yu/ Guandi See Cheng, The Origin of Chinese Deities, handout The Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Classic Novels China’s Great Novels –The Dream of the Red Chamber (text) (outline) –The Romance of the Three Kingdoms –The Outlaws of the Marsh Aka The Water Margin –Journey to the West Aka Monkey Often include religious elements –Blended in with Chinese culture –Part of nexus of Chinese self- understanding

Journey to the West Based on journeys of Xuan Zang Buddhist monk/ translator To India to fetch scriptures As novel Versions Main = Wu Chengen C 16th Stories = older + various versions Buddhist, Daoist, etc. Themes Spiritual landscape of demons and monsters Irony & parody: officialdom & official religion Personae Dramatis Tripitaka – the Tang Monk Sun Wukong – the Monkey King Pigsy Sandy The Horse – dragon Guanyin

The Monkey King. The ‘Hero’ Responsible for fame and popularity of stories Represents primal chaos/ creation – becomes ordered/ brought into balance/ harmony Representations: Alban Damon, Monkey: Journey to the West Monkey: Monkey Magic

Short Stories of the Ming & Qing Ming and Qing Dynasties see many folk tales represented in collections of short stories Most famous: Strange Tales from Make-do Studio by Pu Songling ( ), c. 500 stories Some Stories Ventriloquism Demonstrates scepticism The Taoist of Lao Mountain Popular notions of the magic of Laoshan Daoists The Cricket Corruption Princess Lotus Bees Ghost-Girl Wanxia A Chinese Ghost Story Fox-Girl Qingfeng More fox spirits

Session Summary We have looked at: –Folk Religion Some theory Its relation to Chinese religions generally Specific aspects of folk religion –E.g. ancestor veneration, deities, feng shui, etc. –Traditional Chinese novels/ stories Some aspects of religion in these Specifically at Journey to the West and Strange Tales from Make-Do Studio

Terms Traditions: Folk Religion Buddhism Daoism Quanzhen Confucianism Dynasties Shang Zhou Han Ming Qing Books I Jing/ Book of Changes Romance of the Three Kingdoms Outlaws of the Marsh Journey to the West Dream of the Red Chamber Strange Tales from Make-Do Studio People Xun Zi Confucius Lao Zi XuanZang Individual ‘Gods’ Jade Emperor Mazu Lu Dongbing Guandi/ Guanyu Stove God Tianguan Wenchang Shouxing Sun Wukong Terms Shu/ reciprocity He/ harmony Xiao/ filial piety Shamans Huli jing/ fox spirits Feng shui Baxian/ 8 Immortals City Gods Sanxing/ 3 Star Gods