Paul R. Katz

Religion and the State in Post-war Taiwan

This article explores the development of local religious traditions in post-war Taiwan, particularly since the ending of martial law in 1987. It focuses on the factors underlying the ongoing popularity of temple cults to local deities such as Mazu (originally the goddess of the sea, now worshipped as an all-powerful protective deity) and the Royal Lords ( Wangye ; plague deities now invoked to counter all manner of calamities). Special attention is devoted to the complex relationship between local community-based religious traditions and the state, including the loosening of restrictions on festivals, the use of temples as sites for political rallies during local elections, and the recent controversy over attempts to stage direct pilgrimages to mainland China. Other issues include debates over the “indigenization” of religious traditions in Taiwan and the growth of academic organizations devoted to the study of Taiwanese religion.

Religion and the formation of Taiwanese identities

Introduction: The Many Meanings of Identity P.A.Katz & M.A.Rubenstein On the Origins and Transformation of Taiwanese National Identity C.Maukuei Shifting National Identities in Public Spheres: A Cultural Account of Political Transformation in Taiwan D.Tsai Popular Media and the Promotion of Identity on Taiwan M.Y.T.Rawnsley Puppet Theatre and Taiwanese Cultural Identity W.Su-mei The Quest for Difference Versus the Wish to Assimilate M.Rudolph Identity Politics and the Study of Popular Religion in Postwar Taiwan P.A.Katz Mazu in China-Wide Perspective J.Bosco Popular Religion in a Southern Taiwanese Community F.Aello Martial Cults in Southwestern Taiwan A.Boretz Questions of Religion and Identity P.S.Sangren

Orthopraxy and Heteropraxy beyond the State Standardizing Ritual in Chinese Society

This essay assesses James L. Watson’s argument that ritual orthopraxy promoted by the state and local elites played a key role in the formation of cultural unity in late imperial China. After opening with a brief review of Watson’s previous scholarship on standardization and cultural unity, it focuses on two case studies about nonstate processes of standardization that accompanied but did not necessarily mimic those of the state. The first concerns the cult of one of the most popular plague-fighting deities in late imperial China, Marshal Wen (Wen Yuanshuai), whose cult was promoted by Taoists who strove to promote liturgical orthopraxy by insisting that Taoist deities should only receive vegetarian offerings and Taoist titles. The second concerns sacrifices to banners (jiqi) performed by officials, local militias, bandits, rebels, and members of secret societies. Of particular interest here are the ways in which people belonging to the latter three groups adopted the state’s practice of banner worship while also reformulating its nature and significance.

Identity Politics And The Study Of Popular Religion In Postwar Taiwan

One of the most striking developments in the study of popular religion on the island of Taiwan has been the increasing emphasis on the ways in which local beliefs and practices may or may not contribute to the formation of a Taiwanese identity. Deep-seated resistance to Nationalist Party (KMT) education and cultural policies, as well as a growing interest in Taiwan’s own history and culture have prompted a growing number of Taiwanese scholars to study popular religion.1 At the same time, however, research on Taiwanese popular religion has become enmeshed in an increasingly lively (and sometimes bitter) debate concerning the “Taiwaneseness” (or “Chineseness”) of the island’s culture. Like other debates about identity the world over, this discourse has centered less on discernible and objective distinctions between two groups of people (in this case mainland Chinese and Taiwanese) but on perceived differences often inextricable from the realm of sentiments and beliefs (Anderson 1991; Holcombe 1995). One interesting example of the impact of identity politics on Taiwan’s scholarly community has been the intense debate in 1997 about the contents of a new series of textbooks to be used in Taiwan’s middle schools entitled Getting to Know Taiwan (Renshi Taiwan), especially the volumes on history and social studies.

The Rise of Postmortem Retribution in China and the West

Building on a distinction between three conceptions of death and the relationship between the living and the dead (porous, neutral and moral death), the authors examine trends that shaped the development of religion and the law in China and the West. Both cultures experienced a critical transformation involving the rise of moral death, in which the living imagine postmortem judgement and retribution, with the dead being segregated into one class that is rewarded and another that is punished. Among the chief qualifications to this generalisation is that in China the dead are judged by legal and in the West by moral standards. Further differences include a more profound connection of religion to family and less autonomy or purity in the concept of neutral death in China than in the West. Still, family ties affect Western religion in the Roman cult of the manes and in the suffrages descendants devote to their deceased parents. Although the advent of beliefs in postmortem retribution appears to have occurred earlier in the West than in China, in both cultures it was clearly present by the time the Han and Roman imperial states had consolidated their rule.

The Many Meanings Of Identity: An Introduction

This volume centers on the creation of varied forms of individual and group identity in Taiwan, and the relationship between these forms of identity—both individual and collectively—and patterns of Taiwanese religion, politics, and culture. We explore the Taiwanese people’s sense of who they are, attempting to discern how they identify themselves—as individuals and as collectivities—and then try to determine the identity/roles individuals and groups construct for themselves. We also explore how such identities/roles are played out within the family and peer group, at the local level of the village, town and neighborhood, and on the regional level, the national level, and within the larger Chinese cultural/religious universe. In this volume, we seek to answer questions about the complex nature of identity/role and the processes of identity formation, and then determine how such identities/roles are reflected in the religious, sociocultural, and ethno-political actions and structures that have shaped Taiwan’s multileveled past and its many faceted present. In this introduction, we first suggest how individuals and groups in the overlapping realms of Taiwanese politics, religion, and cross-strait relations can utilize identities/roles as cultural constructs.

The Function of Temple Murals in Imperial China: The Case of the Yung-lo Kung

From Chinas earliest history, sacred art in the form of temple murals had two essential functions. Such works of art were the objects of rituals and served as a medium for proselyting to the masses. While most Chinese scholar-officials invariably stressed the latter function of temple murals, the former was of equal, if not greater, importance to those people who founded and managed a temple. Therefore, while this paper deals with both functions of temple murals, I have paid particular attention to their use in rituals.

Society and the Supernatural in Song China

Society and the Supernatural in Song China is at once a meticulous examination of spirit possession and exorcism in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and a social history of the full panoply of Chinas religious practices and practitioners at the moment when she was poised to dominate the world economy. Although the Song dynasty (960-1276) is often identified with the establishment of Confucian orthodoxy, Edward Davis demonstrates the renewed vitality of the dynastys Taoist, Buddhist, and local religious traditions. He charts the rise of hundreds of new temple-cults and the lineages of clerical exorcists and vernacular priests; the increasingly competitive interaction among all practitioners of therapeutic ritual; and the wide social range of their patrons and clients.

Bridging the Gaps: Methodological Challenges in the Study of Taiwanese Popular Religion

This paper critically assesses leading research on Taiwanese popular religion published during the past two decades, including by historians of religion and social scientists. It pays special attention to the challenges (and opportunities) provided by the study of Taiwan’s vibrant religious traditions, which have produced a wealth of textual materials yet can also be researched by using ethnographic methods and collecting survey data. Another conundrum that Taiwanese scholars face involves how to effectively utilise the ever-increasing body of data about religious life in modern Chinese history and among Chinese communities throughout the world. The review’s scope centres on research results from the past 20 years that examine temple cults and festivals; it will not discuss Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, and other foreign religions, as well as the religions practiced by Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. However, it will occasionally mention scholarship on voluntary religious movements, especially those that perform spirit-writing rituals.

Writing a Place for Rites — The Value of “Old Customs” in Modern Wenzhou

Abstract:This paper examines elite memories of religious life in modern Wenzhou 溫州 by focusing on a lengthy account (two volumes exceeding 100,000 Chinese characters) entitled Historical Materials on Wenzhou’s Old Customs (Wenzhou jiusu shiliao 溫州舊俗史料), compiled during the Great Leap Forward. In order to assess this work’s historical significance, I trace the identities of the elites who composed it as well as their motivations in doing so. Consideration is also given to the text’s place in modern historical writing about local society and the categories used to classify different types of so-called “old customs” (jiusu 舊俗). The paper’s conclusion argues that while the modern Chinese state has long been concerned about the persistence of religious activities it labels “superstition” (mixin 迷信), many local elites have striven to legitimize their religious cultures, including in the realm of historical writing.