Chinese Local Religion in Late Imperial and Modern Times

Local Religion in North China in the Twentieth Century: The Structure And Organization Of Community Rituals And Beliefs By Daniel L. Overmyer Leiden: Brill, 2009. Pps. ix–xiv + 219. Hardcover, €115.00. Spectacle and Sacrifice: The Ritual Foundations of Village Life In North China By David Johnson Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2010. Pps. vii–xiv + 390. Hardcover, $49.95. Dry Spells: State Rainmaking and Local Governance in Late Imperial China By Jeffrey Snyder-Reinke Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2009. Pps. vii–xii + 314. Hardcover, $45.00. Ancestors, Virgins, and Friars: Christianity As A Local Religion in Late Imperial China By Eugenio Menegon Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2010. Pps. xii–xx + 450. Hardcover, $49.95. All of these four books show the remarkable maturity of the field that is often called either Chinese local religion or Chinese popular religion. Before the 1990s, postwar studies of Chinese local religions largely consisted of anthropological studies based on fieldwork done in either Hong Kong or Taiwan. Historical studies of popular religion existed, but they were few in number. Many of the historical works focused on sectarian religions. One of the pioneering studies was Daniel Overmyer's Folk Buddhist Religion: Dissenting Sects in Late Traditional China (1976). Overmyer was also one of the first historians to work with an anthropologist, David K. Jordan, to produce a comprehensive study of a popular religious phenomenon: The Flying Phoenix: Aspects of Chinese Sectarianism in Taiwan (Jordan and Overmyer 1986). Since 1990, there has been a rapid increase of works on Chinese popular religion on a myriad of topics, including gods and their cults, morality, cosmology, spirit possession, prognostication, gender and religion, ritual, festivals, pilgrimages, popular religious literature, and so on.11 All four of these works, which are all of superior quality, demonstrate how sophisticated and rich this field of inquiry has become. The most comprehensive of all the four works under review here is Daniel Overmyer's Local Religion in North China in the Twentieth Century. Both it and David Johnson's Spectacle and Sacrifice examine temple festivals and stress that they were organized and led by ordinary villagers, not religious specialists. The overall purpose of Overmyer's book is to use “non-sectarian Chinese community traditions to demonstrate that China's ordinary people had a universal practical religion” (187). Overmyer focuses on local religion in north China because it has been much less studied than local religion in the south. The volume primarily concentrates on the provinces of Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi, Shandong, and Shanxi. The book is organized into eight chapters, each of which explores different aspects of temple festivals, such as their history, government attitudes towards them, leadership and organization, the pantheon of gods worshipped within, the participants’ beliefs and values, and the temples where they take place. Overmyer's overall argument is that local religion in northern China was a communal, lay phenomenon that involved all members of a village, town, or city, no matter what their social class was. It was a religion that had its own practical theology, in which the living and the dead, the people and the spirits are all in need of each other; moreover, their relationships are all based on a notion of reciprocity. The gods, who were once living humans, respond to sincere requests from petitioners; in return, the supplicant fulfills his/her vow by providing the deity with a promised offering. People and the gods live within a moral universe in which deities punish the wicked and reward the virtuous. The religion also had its institutions: spatially, in the form of household altars, ancestral and local god shrines, and in temples; temporally, it was embodied in traditions of deities, rituals, and events such as processions and festivals. Although religious specialists, such as Daoist priests or Buddhist monks, might be invited to assist in the performance of some tasks, the true officiants of this religion were the people themselves. The book is rich with fascinating discoveries. One of the surprising facts that Overmyer presents is the continued worship of ancient figures as local deities. Nüwa, Fuxi, Shennong, and Pangu are all legendary characters from high antiquity. It is easy to assume that active worship of these figures must have died off some time during the long imperial period (206 BCE–1911 CE). Nevertheless, Overmyer provides evidence that these figures are still beneficiaries of local cults in specific northern localities. In no less than three areas, there are temple festivals devoted to Nüwa, the female progenitor of mankind and repairer of the sky. Also captivating are the gods that are worshipped in the north. The author makes the important point that almost none of the gods that are worshipped in the south have followers in the north. Surprising too is the identity of some of the deities; one might expect Mao Zedong to be deified, but not the Canadian doctor Norman Bethune. Another surprising fact is that the sectarian deity Wusheng laomu (“The Unborn Venerable Mother”) is still also worshipped, but as a local deity rather than an universal savior. One of the striking points that Overmyer makes is the extent to which the process of modernization devastated local religion. He notes that already at the turn of the twentieth century intellectuals were turning against local religion. The Republican government soon began sponsoring anti-superstition campaigns; as a consequence, many temples were either destroyed or turned into schools. Hence, the destruction of temples during the Cultural Revolution was merely the continuation, on an even greater scale, of a longstanding tradition. Nevertheless, this makes me wonder about how unimportant Buddhist monks and Daoist priests were to local religion? A great deal of Overmyer's detailed evidence is based on field work done by Japanese researchers in Manchuria during the 1930s and by Chinese scholars all across northern China in the 1980s and 1990s. Hence, his evidence is coming from periods in which organized religions were already in deep retreat. Could it not be that modernization campaigns and the damage that they caused have attenuated the extent to which religious professionals played a role in local religion? If one is looking for an overview of popular religion in the twentieth century, particularly for northern China, this is the book to read. Overmyer succeeds in giving the reader a broad look and sampling of the many facets of local religion. However, compared to the other three works reviewed here, this is the least satisfying read. This is undoubtedly because, being a survey, it does not have the luxury of focusing on one particular topic or place. After all, this is in Brill's Handbook of Oriental Studies series, so unlike the other books reviewed here it is more of a reference work than a monograph. Unlike Overmyer, who asserts the existence in China of a universal shared local religion, David Johnson in his Spectacle and Sacrifice questions whether there is such a thing. For him, the term religion is so weighed down by meanings from the Judeo-Christian tradition that it cannot accurately describe Chinese realities. What mattered to Chinese was ritual. He argues that, “Ritual was the highest form of action or performance; every significant life event, social, political, or religious, was embedded in and expressed through ritual” (p. 8). Like Overmyer, the rituals he examines are predominately twentieth-century temple festivals in northern China. However, he looks at only one area in particular, mountainous Shanxi Province. He shares, though, one of the same goals as Overmyer: to show that communal religious rites were exclusively run and created by villagers, not religious specialists. He tells us, “My goal therefore is quite simple: to show in detail the extraordinarily rich symbolic world that farmers, shopkeepers, craftsmen, and the like, quite without guidance from ecclesiastical or political authorities, created for themselves in the villages of southeastern Shanxi” (178). However, whereas Overmyer sees a large degree of homogeneity in Chinese local religion, Johnson sees an even greater degree of heterogeneity. Rather than a broad survey, Johnson presents what he describes as a microhistory of communal festivals that are richly documented either through surviving manuscripts or field research. In Part I, he examines New Year rituals that are predominately exorcisms, such as the Fan-Drum Roster of the Gods in Renzhuang Village, the New Year's festivals of the Aoshi and Sandhill villages in northeastern Shanxi, and the Catching the Yellow Dragon Festival in Guyi (in neighboring southwest Hebei Province). Part II, the shortest section of the work, is an overview of village ritual opera. In Part III, Johnson shifts to his attention to three temple festivals: that of the Divine Mother, which was celebrated in Donghe, and two temple festivals devoted to Hou Yi, the Divine Archer. In Parts I & III, we learn about the area in which each festival took place, the available sources for reconstructing the ceremony, the people who staged it, and what transpired on each day of the festival. If Johnson's description of the festival is based on surviving manuscripts, he translates large segments of them. In this manner, he is able to transport us in time and space, so that our mind's eye can vividly envision what took place at the festival and the words and values its participants might have uttered. If one wants a thick description of a northern Chinese village festival, this is the book he/she should read. Johnson also provides us with useful analytical concepts to understand Chinese rituals. He notes that all village festivals were of two types: seasonal and liturgical. Each type contained both spectacle and sacrifice. The spectacle was the public aspect of the ceremony that happened outside of the temple, such as processions, skits, and operas. These events were filled with excitement and emotion. Sacrifices took place within the temple, had restricted access, and were marked by solemnity. Seasonal rituals emphasized the spectacle aspect of communal rituals, whereas liturgical rituals equally stressed both spectacle and sacrifice. The rituals discussed in Part I are seasonal ceremonies, whereas Part III discusses liturgical ones. Johnson demonstrates that the two types of festivals are qualitatively different. Seasonal festivals are mostly exorcistic, devoted to many different gods, rarely involve religious specialists, feature human scapegoats, proceed through processions, entertain through skits and pantomimes, and make perfunctory food offerings. Liturgical festivals, on the other hand, are devoted to a single deity, entertain with full-scale operas, stress exorcism less, involve religious specialists, and offer massive food offerings. Johnson asserts that the fundamental concern of Shanxi opera was not worship, prayer, or salvation; it was sacrifice. Whereas the seasonal festivals focused on the cathartic execution of a scapegoat, the liturgical rituals were elaborate birthday parties for deities who were perceived as very close in their customs and likes to human beings. Another important contribution that Johnson makes is his observations on ritual opera. He continually stresses that operas were an essential part of all communal rituals in Shanxi's villages. This addition can be traced all the way back to the Song-Yuan period (960–1368), when we see stages becoming important elements of Shanxi temple architecture. Full-scale operas were particularly important in liturgical rituals. A key point of Johnson's argument is that the operas performed at the temple festivals were ritual ones, not the well-known regional styles. Unlike the better known regional styles that were performed by professional troupes, ritual operas were performed by villagers, included little music and singing, and mostly relied on speeches and slapstick. The scripts to these village operas were jealously guarded and individual roles were passed down from father to son. Since the opera scripts were offerings to the gods, villagers did not dare to change them. Consequently, Johnson contends that the ritual operas performed in the villages of twentieth-century Shanxi were probably a continuation of the operas first established in the Song-Yuan period. The content of the operas did not concern the gods; instead, they were usually on historical subjects and propagated secular ethics. One of the conclusions that Johnson reaches about the seasonal rituals in Part I is that, despite having a number of resemblances, such as exorcisms, skits, and elaborate processions, their most striking and evocative features are quite different. This is because northern Chinese villages were for the most part insular, which led to village ritual autarky. But if each hamlet's rituals were significantly different from those of other villages, that means we cannot make general statements about ritual life in the same region, much less northern China as a whole. It would seem, though, that the similarities between these seasonal rituals are structural, while the differences are more in the specific details of how each ritual is carried out. Given the commercialization of late imperial China and the importance of Shanxi as both a banking center and a to the northern it is also to that villages were all that Although Johnson does show that these communal rituals were and carried by his that religious had little to with these rites As for the temple festivals, Johnson notes that they were often performed with the of such as in the of the Divine festival in Donghe, or in the of the Hou festival at to of these to the they were who to some degree these rituals part of their professional I Johnson the of the center from localities. It might be true that these communal rituals were created and run by the villagers themselves. Nevertheless, as Johnson notes in a number of the tradition was in the form of works that at the local such as local and probably in or most villages. Hence, people who were in the tradition were After all, it that it was these types of people who were the scripts and manuscripts that Johnson on to us of local religion in Jeffrey Dry is about late imperial rather than local religion. Nevertheless, the book on the between the and popular religion. The of the late imperial is that it was a one that was involved in religion. The which deities be worshipped and the means by which they should be was at a if the people did not by the the would By looking at the of late imperial local Snyder-Reinke demonstrates that these are In an to produce local would ritual, no matter its In they on and deities. their by to the from the of are no spirits not there are no Part of the for this is that the did not to what form should Another is that the did not He was usually to so by either or members of the local who which often local deities. even Daoist priests and Buddhist monks to make the Rainmaking rituals were of such importance in local religion that Overmyer's Local Religion in North China in the its first to these As Snyder-Reinke though, these were rituals that almost called for the leadership of the local were to at or it was the as the who is father and to action to so was for the local to a of the of and as as local deities that were to be particularly at Nevertheless, some of the most against called for the to This take many rather than in a to at local to temples and with an to show the of his in the while the of a to deities with his own in the and in even a few One of most significant points is that was one of the most important Since the rituals were all public this was not only the most in which would see the they would see and on their these rituals were where the as the of and the of Given the to this would make use of means were available because was One important that makes is that rituals were not a Local people both the and content of the It was local people who caused the to take they often his by which temples he should to and which deities he should In other his subjects to what ritual he should As Snyder-Reinke so it, the have to the religious of the local also an to the religious of the If an did not take action or only perfunctory ones, the local people of on his as a both and that the would only be if he a of his were to If he was not as the people that he Hence, local who were in what religious in which they were to would to be the more ones. In were not in what ritual was they were only with which one was One of the of Dry is that it demonstrates that were also and participants in local religion. more the author that not only did local have to religious but these were some of their most important ones. does a of that local were not particular about which traditions they in their to he the aspect of their a little too It is true that were not particular about the of the rituals they in their Nevertheless, the author the in which they were the local local were caused by is very much a in The and for such is also an tradition. the that the only be if he and an of is also a Hence, even might have use of from different they were still in a to Although Dry tells us much less about local religion than the two it does the reader of the role that government in local religion. In Eugenio Ancestors, Virgins, and the is also an important but one that be by local book is about the of a community of in northern from the the its even more is that the who this community were not the who with Chinese religion, but the who were to ancestral worship and the of The first part of book looks at the the of the community in One of the first was the of who were for the in the The most important of these was who is with being the of the It was who were by their community who were able to their other and to to these Christianity embedded in their As for it was the rather than the who had in even it was through the of Chinese intellectuals by means of Christianity that the were the only they to to was a the were less to religious they had already of in Christianity to and in China, the they were to in by moreover, unlike the the not only but also which A the community was that Christianity took there at a particularly Both the of the in and the of all people from the so much and that which were usually the of social were so that they were no able to or members who had the same in part to the of the at the and the and of in China. It was during this period that were able to Christianity into a local religion. A and was that, when under the of the and it to the community rather than is because the of Christianity local to and with the in their for periods of their to and with the The of also led to the Chinese to These more and than their despite the of the number of in The execution of only to the community with this point in because Christianity was so established in as a local religion, the also to local for the so many local government and were that of or And a was all that was for to look the other The part of book looks more in at Christianity as it was and perceived in One of the most within the community was how to the important Chinese of with the that In particular, the to the on the that were to each and to them. Whereas in other of local by the late century such had almost from the of is because priests were able to their that their at more than ancestral who were in of through celebrated on their by a and through the of their by means of prayer, and through such works, one also for The the them, were to make it even more in the Like in for rather than to the Of particular is of the role and importance of in the community of Menegon notes that the of in were Many in to who were within local because not only did they to they also often the to to the religious of other and in Christianity was being they also to with priests at In they much more than their this by that was a means to and and was a greater form of Local of this which was by the existence of Buddhist and the fact that had already for with their of the For Menegon this process of the of and female was an important means by which Christianity was By within the tradition but its were able to social values and The of Chinese religions and their for a of religious at the local even for that that be as and Ancestors, Virgins, and is a and the that it If one to learn about the and of Chinese local religion by one of these works, I would this Nevertheless, the other three works are also to read. All four of these works show the and analytical with which Chinese popular religion is Each work demonstrates the and of Chinese religion in even the most and of

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