Chapter 21 Text Tradition and Field Research——An Investigation of Two Tendencies in the Study of Chinese Folk Religion (1)
In the course of the development of Chinese academic history in the 20th century, the study of the history of Chinese folk religion went from being neglected at the beginning to gradually becoming a discipline system, with several ups and downs, which is quite intriguing.Tracing its origin, it was pioneered by the Dutch sinologist Groot. From 1892 to 1910, he successively wrote the six-volume "Chinese Religious System" and the two-volume "Sect Religion and Religious Persecution in China". At that time, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, which everyone flocked to, focused on the non-institutionalized and non-systematic beliefs and rituals that existed in the Chinese people, and tried to establish a system of Chinese popular religions on this basis.Since then, this discipline has been no longer regarded as marginal, and has gradually gained recognition in the academic circle.Many scholars regard folk religion as an important starting point for the study of Chinese society and people's thoughts. The history of folk religion can be found in religion, history, sociology, anthropology, etc.After graduating from Leiden University in the Netherlands, he came to the East and successively worked as an interpreter in the Dutch East Indies and the Dutch Embassy in China. During this period, he was very interested in Chinese folk religion and collected a lot of ancient Chinese folk customs and religious materials. Conducted fieldwork on local folk religions along the southeast coast of China.
In 1891, he returned to China to succeed Professor Gustav Schlegel (1840-1903), who was famous for his research on Chinese secret societies, especially the Tiandihui, as the Chair Professor of Sinology at Leiden University until 1911.During this period, he successively wrote the six-volume "China's Religious System" and the two-volume "Sectarian Religion and Religious Persecution in China". In 1912, the University of Berlin opened a lecture on Sinology, and Groot was hired as the first chair professor.During this period, he tried to create a system to explain Chinese religions, and his representative work was "Chinese Religion-Cosmic God: A Way to Study Taoism and Confucianism", which occupied a place in the field.What is more meaningful is that while Groot created this discipline, he also provided two distinct methods for future generations to study Chinese folk religion, namely, the textual tradition of history and religious studies and the fieldwork of anthropology. At the beginning of his research, he successfully combined these two methods, which are reflected in different degrees in his two works.This is quite similar to the "dual evidence method" advocated by people at that time.But unfortunately, since then, these two methods have become alienated. Historians and religious scientists are obsessed with textual research and sorting out the inner development of folk religion from the perspective of texts, while anthropologists place more emphasis on fieldwork. ethnographic method.This difference in research methods directly led to the division of the content of Chinese folk religion research, and the emergence of research on the history of folk sects in the historical sense and folk religion research in the anthropological sense.Especially the research on the former has become the mainstream of Chinese folk religion research since Groot's "Sectarian Religion and Religious Persecution in China".In the 1920s and 1930s, Wang Guowei, Chen Yuan, Tao Xisheng and others launched a climax in the study of Manichaeism and White Lotus in the historical sense.By the 1960s and 1970s, this method of historical research continued to the folk religions of the Ming and Qing dynasties, especially the research on the White Lotus, Bagua, Luojiao and other sects became popular, and the results were remarkable, which greatly unified the study of Chinese folk religions.It was not until the mid-to-late 1980s that domestic scholars began to re-emphasize the method of fieldwork, but the convergence of these two methods has never been implemented.
1. Definition of "folk religion" Is there any religion in China?Is there a religious system?To this question, as early as the beginning of the 20th century, Groot gave an affirmative answer, which he called the "cosmos" system. In the 1980s, Qin Jiayi and Kong Hansi proposed that in "a history of human religion", Chinese religion exists as the "river system" of the world's third largest religion, which is related to "the river system of Abrahamic religion" and "the river system of Indian religion". In contrast, its central image is neither a prophet nor a mystic, but a sage, so it is called the "philosopher religion" system.
Regarding the internal division of this religious system, according to the traditional view of religious studies, it is believed that the Chinese religious system includes the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.However, some scholars believe that this classification cannot reflect the whole picture of China's religious system, so they proposed an analysis method that is biased towards the category of social science. In the 1940s, Chen Rongjie pointed out: "Instead of dividing Chinese people's religious life into three parts: Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, it is better to divide it into two levels. One of these two levels is the level of ordinary people, and the other is The level of those whose knowledge has been developed."
He called the religions on the previous level folk religions.This is roughly similar to Robert Redfield's distinction between "big tradition" and "small tradition" (that is, great tradition and small tradition). Erik Zurcher made a vivid analogy with mountains, saying that the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are like the three peaks of a mountain range, and the vast bottom shared by the three peaks is folk religion. In the 1960s, Yang Qingkun similarly distinguished two basic forms of religion in "Religion in Chinese Society": institutional and diffused. He pointed out that institutional religion has an independent theology of the universe and life. or Cosmological Interpretation, an independent form of worship involving symbols (gods, spirits, and their images) and rituals, with independent clergy organizations to assist in interpreting theological concepts and engaging in sectarian worship.On the other hand, universalized religion is manifested in that its religious elements spread seamlessly into one or more secular social systems, and become part of the latter's concepts, rituals and structures without obvious independent existence.He added that traditional Chinese universalized religion is the primary form of religion: "Religious elements permeate all major social systems in China and organized life in all villages. close contact."
The sociological classification method of Chen, Yang and others on the Chinese religious system actually classifies Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in the sense of religion as institutionalized religion, and the opposite is folk religion. Given the place that folk religion should have been.The difference between the two types of religions, on the one hand, is manifested in the differences in the social classes they believe in, and on the other hand, in the fact that Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism have been institutionalized and systematized in terms of rituals and beliefs, while the beliefs and rituals of folk religions have become diffuse and unsystematic.Xu Xiaoyue explained: "The use of the term 'folk religion' is not so much based on the fact that it is a religious organization that is different from the orthodox, aristocratic religions (Buddhism, Taoism) accepted and believed by the upper class and popular in the lower class of civil society, Rather, it is based on the fact that it is a religious doctrine and belief that can better cater to the psychological needs of people in the lower classes of civil society. In other words, our so-called folk religion is not only in terms of its popular objects and scope, but also more importantly Doctrinal beliefs are more of a function of being accepted and believed by people in the lower class of civil society."
However, when it comes to actual research, folk religion has been covered with a strong political color.For example, Ma Xisha also admitted that the existence of folk religions is due to differences in social classes. In terms of meaning, there is no insurmountable gap between folk religion and orthodox religion...Although there are qualitative differences between folk religion and orthodox religion, the differences are more manifested in the political category than in religion itself. The former is not the ruling order It is recognized that they have been tainted as cults and bandits, and they have been repeatedly banned and suppressed, so they often can only sneak in at the lower levels; the latter, as a whole, belong to the ideology of the ruling class and are respected, believed and protected.”It can be seen that when Ma Xisha defined folk religion, he was more inclined to distinguish it in the sense of political science. When domestic scholars studied Ming and Qing folk religions, most of them also agreed with this concept. The general term for various such sects. The ideology and beliefs of these sects conflict with the orthodox concept of society, and their organizations are independent of the integrated social system. Prohibited by the law, legal activities cannot be disclosed, and forced to maintain a state of secret activities for a long time.Therefore, in this sense, there are many other names for folk religion, which can be summed up in the following categories: secret folk religion, secret religious association, secret sect, secret sect, emerging folk religion, lower class religion, etc.And all the above-mentioned names were called "cult" by the rulers of Ming and Qing dynasties. The definition of the concept of folk religion is no longer defined in the sense of relative to institutionalized religion, but as a kind of definition related to the state. , The political organization that opposes the government.
This is especially evident among European and American scholars who study Chinese folk religion. The term "folk religion" has also been replaced by the politically charged "sect".Groot was the first to apply the Western reference to Christian heresy to the study of Chinese religions. Weber also used the reference to folk religions, emphasizing that they are for "pursuing political purposes."
Later researchers such as Ou Danian and Han Shurui also used the word "sect" to refer to the religion popular among the lower classes during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.Such a formulation is related to their cultural and religious background, because the word denomination comes from the heresy opposed to Christianity and is based on the classification of Christian theology. "A sect is an ideological movement with the stated aim of maintaining or even propagating some ideological point of view."
According to the explanation of American scholar Richard Shek, "sectaranism" derived from "seet" refers to a wide range of religious groups with different opinions operating outside the mainstream of official clergy tradition.
Ou Danian said: "I use the word sect, which means 'an existing spontaneous association aimed at personal salvation. It is corresponding to a larger existing religious system. Religious systems, though recognized, were also spontaneous in their beginnings.'" He argues, "Folk sects that claim to save all beings exist in many cultures. Their leaders claim to be God's providence, preach in local languages, and simplify ceremonies. , scriptures, and assembly organization systems, thus forming the unique features of each folk sect. The most famous folk sect movements are the Pure Land Sect in Japan in the 13th century, Lutheranism in Europe in the 16th century, and the Chastity Sect in medieval Hinduism. Similar groups have also appeared in Chinese history.”
Japanese scholars use "religious associations" to refer to folk religions in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and their political meaning is also obvious. They believe that religious associations in Ming and Qing Dynasties advocate mutual help and rescue within themselves, and require members to work hard, but in fact religion is only a superficial Since the participants are all poor people who want to survive and eat, the purpose of religious associations is to live a better life.To this end, their goal is to destroy a society and at the same time create a new one.In addition, people who participate in religious associations resonate with the ideals of the association, and in many cases they are dissatisfied with the status quo in a certain sense.Therefore, it is not difficult to find that many religious association activities appear in the form of peasant movements.In a large sense, religious associations are a link in the peasant movement.It is precisely because religious associations in traditional Chinese society, whose words and deeds are against the social system, and whose actions are in direct confrontation with state power, are regarded as illegal organizations by the Confucian-dominated government and brutally suppressed.
The definition of folk religion in the sense of political science, although it can accurately reflect the characteristics of the close relationship between folk religion and the peasant movement in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, implies a preconceived value judgment of praise or derogation, and believes that religion is only a form. , is still essentially a political force against the orthodox regime.Therefore, Ou Danian is very cautious when using the word "sect". He reminded: "Some scholars have long recognized the existence of folk religious sects in China, but they often confuse them with some voluntary associations such as secret societies and peasant uprisings that broke out from time to time. This requires us to carry out a more accurate classification of various Chinese folk associations. We should not only pay attention to their political functions, but also pay attention to their internal history and purpose. On this premise, we should also classify various different forms of religious movements."
In other words, only by placing folk religion in the categories of "big tradition" and "small tradition" can it present its original meaning.
2. One or Multiple Folk Religious Systems A characteristic of the development of Chinese religions is that Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are gradually converging under the same ecological space and cultural inclusion.The integration and harmonization of the three religions began in the Jin Dynasty. The lectures on the three religions in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the operas of the three religions since the end of the Tang Dynasty, and the Neo Confucianism in the Song Dynasty have laid the foundation. Therefore, the unification of the three religions among the people has gradually flourished in the Song Dynasty. In the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, there were statues and churches of the Three Religions, especially the "Three Religions Theory" of Ming Taizu accelerated the pace of the integration of the three religions.This trend is manifested in the hybridity of beliefs and rituals in folk religion, but does this mean that Ming and Qing folk religions have a common origin?Are they part of the same folk religion system?
The first point of view is that there is a unified religious system in Chinese folk religion, that is, all sects in Ming and Qing Dynasties originated from the White Lotus system.
Research on the White Lotus Sect began in the 1930s, but the research at that time "did not pay much attention to the methodology, and almost all of their works excerpted large sections of original materials, and then connected them into short summaries. "Articles" is actually a collection of materials.
In the 1960s, Dai Xuanzhi published the article "The Origin of the White Lotus Sect", arguing that the Maitreya Sect founded by Fu Dashi during the Southern and Northern Dynasties is the origin of the White Lotus Sect.He later wrote in "The Essence of the White Lotus Sect": Fu Dashi wrote a letter to Emperor Wu of Liang to compete with the emperor for land, and founded the Maitreya Sect.Maitreya is an anti-government and revolutionary organization that emphasizes politics more than religion.Therefore, Maitreya religion has been oppressed by those in power in all dynasties after the Sui Dynasty.On the other hand, the Manichaeism that entered the Tang Dynasty and the Bailian Sect and Baiyun Sect that evolved from it appeared very active in the Yuan Dynasty.In order to resist the government and seize power, they united unanimously and formed Han Shantong's association.Han Shantong's association is mainly based on Maitreya, and supplemented by Bailianhui and Manichaeism.The Maitreya Buddha of the Maitreya Sect replaced King Ming, and the White Lotus Society and the Manichaeism abandoned the Vegetable Demon, and they mixed together to form the White Lotus Sect.
At this time, the White Lotus Sect inherited Maitreya Buddha's spirit of rebelling against the government and seizing power, and took this as its consistent purpose.
In the 1970s, American scholar Han Shurui also systematically discussed the White Lotus Sect when studying the Wang Lun Uprising and the Lin Qing Uprising.She summed up the existing folk religion in China as "White Lotus Sect". She believed that the various components of White Lotus Sect did not form a distinctive religious tradition until the middle of the 16th century.It is not a unified organization, but some scattered small groups, whose believers believe in the theory of a millennium prosperity.These sects have been passed down through the relationship between master and apprentice as an organizational bond, and each has its own name, believers, rituals and organizations.Although these groups are independent according to time and place, they all rely on a common tradition and have a common core of belief. They all worship the old mother without birth, advocate the theory of the three catastrophes, and take the unique scriptures of this religion as their own teachings .Han Shurui places more emphasis on the social significance of the White Lotus than any other scholar, arguing that the various sects of the White Lotus can be both introspective and godly, yet revolutionary in their aggressiveness and combativeness.Their quest for a thousand-year-old grandeur has been fixed in their religious organization and can remain dormant without completely losing its ability to mobilize its followers to violent action.Eschatological ideas can also drive their adherents to revolts against the state, and the hopes and promises generated thereby move others to join their cause.These uprisings not only attracted people other than peasants, but they also supported the goals that peasant resistance actions hoped to achieve.In addition, the White Lotus Sect has a different repetition and periodicity than other civil disturbances.
In the 1980s, Ms. Yu Songqing, a domestic scholar, believed that the White Lotus Sect in the Ming and Qing Dynasties mainly included the White Lotus Sect, Luo Sect, Huangtian Sect, Hongyang Sect, Wenxiang Sect, Bagua Sect and their derivatives.Although these sects had their own characteristics at the beginning of their establishment, in general, their teachings, beliefs, ordinances, scriptures, organizational foundations, activities, and other aspects are roughly the same as those of the White Lotus Sect.Pu Wenqi also holds a similar view. He believes that although the Luo Sect appears to be its own system, it is still the largest branch of the White Lotus Sect. The preaching of "sudden enlightenment" to become a Buddha, coupled with the views of catastrophe and return to the source, summed up the eight-character formula of "vacuum hometown, no birth parents" (or "vacuum hometown, no birth mother"), which made Luojiao divorce from Buddhism. Dao has been deeply imprinted with the belief of the White Lotus Sect. If the Luo Sect is like this, other small religious sects are no different. Therefore, he believes that it must not be blinded by its superficial name and words, and must learn from the various branches of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Religious beliefs, see that they originally had a common source.
The second point of view is that there are two folk systems in Ming and Qing Dynasties in China - Luojiao and Bailianjiao, and other sects are the reproduction and transformation of these two schools.Scholars who insist on this point of view do not deny the existence and systematization of the White Lotus Sect, but attempt to separate the Luo Sect from the White Lotus Sect system and restore the independence and systematization of the Luo Sect itself.
In fact, the rulers of the Ming and Qing dynasties regarded Luojiao and Bailianjiao as two major cults since Ming Shenzong Wanli.The research of Japanese scholars also mostly followed this tradition, which was divided into two parts: Bailian religion and Luo religion. Among them, Tadao Sakai believed that Luo religion thought represented the religious consciousness of the three religions of the gentry and literati at that time, as well as politics, society, thought, A cultural phenomenon of fusion and integration caused by the four aspects of religion.For the analysis of the origin and teachings of Luojiao, most scholars believe that Buddhism is its source. For example, the Canadian scholar Ou Danian believes that the belief in Wushenglaomu originated from the Pure Land and Zen of Buddhism, but he did not elaborate on the reasons.From the perspective of religion, Xu Xiaoyue carefully sorted out the internal development of the teachings of Luojiao.He believes that Luojiao takes the continuation of Chinese traditional Buddhism, especially the development of Buddhist Zen as its own responsibility, to absorb the compassionate feelings of the lower class people, to complete a distinctive folk culture with earth-shattering religious perception, and in a friendly and friendly way. The construction of a religious system.He believes that the significance of Luojiao’s ideological system lies in the fact that it has found a bridge connecting the two fields of traditional Chinese Buddhism and Chinese folk religion, and provided the necessary living space for the transformation of upper-level Buddhism into folk religion.The ultimate purpose of Luojiao and the fundamental purpose of its theory are to transcend the limitation of life and to improve the spiritual realm.
Therefore, it is precisely because of the uniqueness of Luojiao's teachings that it is completely different from Bailianjiao and other folk religions.
Song Guangyu, a Taiwanese scholar, believes that in order to understand the source and composition of Luojiao's belief in Wushenglaomu, in addition to discussing it from the perspective of Buddhism, we must also pay attention to the influence of Song and Ming Neo Confucianism on this belief. He believes that Wushenglaomu "can be said to be a It is a new concept that combines traditional Chinese people's understanding of "Heaven", Song and Ming Neo Confucianism's views on the origin of the universe, Buddhism's "No Life", "Nirvana" and Taoism's "Tao"" .On the other hand, Zheng Zhiming thinks that Luojiao's belief in lifeless old mother can also be said to be derived from the primitive religious belief in China since ancient times, and it is a sect produced by mixing Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. In the doctrine of retribution and reincarnation of life and death, it is extended to teach people how to get rid of life and death, get rid of suffering and obtain happiness, how to eliminate disasters and pray for blessings, and pray for gods. role.
On this basis, Zheng Zhiming’s research distinguished the belief of the Inanimate Mother from the belief of Maitreya Buddha, and believed that the reason why the Luo religion is a relatively independent religious system from the Bailian religion is that it created the following in folk religious associations. The new sect with the core of belief in Wusheng Laomu is different from the White Lotus Sect with Maitreya Buddha as the core of belief.Although after the Luo religion, the new religions in various places almost mixed the three beliefs including Taoism with the core of the belief in the Taishang Laojun, but in terms of ideological origin and religious system, the uniqueness of the Luo religion's belief in the birthless mother is obvious.
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