Chinese salvationist religions

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Stylisation of the 禄 lù or 子 zi grapheme, respectively meaning "prosperity", "furthering", "welfare" and "son", "offspring". 字 zì, meaning "word" and "symbol", is a cognate of 子 zi and represents a "son" enshrined under a "roof". The symbol is ultimately a representation of the north celestial pole (Běijí 北极) and its spinning constellations, and as such it is equivalent to the Eurasian symbol of the swastika, 卍 wàn.
Concepts
Theory

Model humanity:

Practices
Institutions and temples
Festivals
Internal traditions
Major cultural forms

Main philosophical traditions:

Ritual traditions:

Devotional traditions:

Zhenkong, "Void of Truth".
Zhenkong, "Void of Truth".

Salvation churches and sects:

Confucian churches and sects:

Related religions

Chinese salvationist religions or Chinese folk religious sects are a Chinese religious tradition characterised by a concern for salvation (moral fulfillment) of the person and the society.[1] They are distinguished by egalitarianism, a founding charismatic person often informed by a divine revelation, a specific theology written in holy texts, a millenarian eschatology and a voluntary path of salvation, an embodied experience of the numinous through healing and self-cultivation, and an expansive orientation through evangelism and philanthropy.[2]

Some scholars consider these religions a single phenomenon, and others consider them the fourth great Chinese religious category alongside the well-established Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.[3] Generally these religions focus on the worship of the universal God (Shangdi), represented as either male, female, or genderless, and regard their holy patriarchs as embodiments of God.

Terminology and definition[edit]

① A church of Yiguandao in Batam, Indonesia.
② The Luanist Rebirth Church (重生しぎょう堂どう Chóngshēngtáng) in Taichung, Taiwan.
Two influential and competing folk sectarian currents: ① Yiguandao focusing on personal salvation through inner work, considers itself the most valid "Way of Heaven" (天道てんとう Tiāndào) and its own a "Way of Former Heaven" (先天せんてん道どう Xiāntiāndào), that is a cosmological definition of the state of things prior to creation, in unity with God; it regards ② Luanism, a cluster of churches which focus on social morality through refined (儒 rú) Confucian ritual to worship the gods, as the "Way of Later Heaven" (后きさき天道てんとう Hòutiāndào), that is the cosmological state of created things.[4]

"Chinese salvationist religions" (救すくい度ど宗教しゅうきょう jiùdù zōngjiào) is a contemporary neologism coined as a sociological category[5] and gives prominence to folk religious sects' central pursuit that is the salvation of the individual and the society, in other words the moral fulfillment of individuals in reconstructed communities of sense.[1] Chinese scholars traditionally describe them as "folk religious sects" (民みん间宗教きょう mínjiān zōngjiào, 民みん间教门 mínjiān jiàomén or 民みん间教派は mínjiān jiàopài) or "folk beliefs" (民みん间信仰しんこう mínjiān xìnyǎng).[6][7]

They are distinct from the Chinese folk religion consisting in the worship of gods and ancestors,[8] although in English language there is a terminological confusion between the two. The 20th-century expression for these salvationist religious movements has been "redemptive societies" (救世きゅうせい团体 jiùshì tuántǐ), coined by scholar Prasenjit Duara.[9]

A collective name that has been in use possibly since the latter part of the Qing dynasty is huìdàomén (会かい道どう门 "churches, ways and gates"), as their names interchangeably use the terms huì (会かい "church, society, association, congregation"; when referring to their corporate form), dào (道みち "way") or mén (门 "gate[way], door").

Their congregations and points of worship are usually called táng (堂どう "church, hall") or tán (坛 "altar"). Western scholars often mistakenly identify them as "Protestant" churches.[10]

The Vietnamese religions of Minh Đạo and Caodaism emerged from the same tradition of Chinese folk religious movements.[11]

Secret religions[edit]

A category overlapping with that of the salvationist movements is that of the "secret societies" (秘密ひみつ社会しゃかい mìmì shèhuì, or 秘密ひみつ结社 mìmì jiéshè),[12] religious communities of initiatory and secretive character, including rural militias and fraternal organisations which became very popular in the early republican period, and often labeled as "heretical doctrines" (宗教しゅうきょう异端 zōngjiào yìduān).[13]

Recent scholarship has begun to use the label "secret sects" (秘密ひみつ教きょう门 mìmì jiàomén) to distinguish the peasant "secret societies" with a positive dimension of the Yuan, Ming and Qing periods, from the negatively viewed "secret societies" of the early republic that became instruments of anti-revolutionary forces (the Guomindang or Japan).[13]

Origin and history[edit]

Temple of the Founding Father (师祖殿どの Shīzǔdiàn) of the principal holy see (圣地 shèngdì) of the Plum Flower sect, related to Baguadao, in Xingtai, Hebei.

Many of these religions are traced to the White Lotus tradition[14] ("Chinese Maternism", as mentioned by Philip Clart[15]) that was already active in the Song dynasty;[16] others claim a Taoist legacy and are based on the recovery of ancient scriptures attributed to important immortals such as Lü Dongbin and Zhang Sanfeng, and have contributed to the popularisation of neidan;[17] other ones are distinctively Confucian and advocate the realisation of a "great commonwealth" (datong 大同だいどう) on a world scale, as dreamt of in the Book of Rites.[18] Some scholars even find influences from Manichaeism, Mohism and shamanic traditions.[19][20]

In the Ming and Qing dynasties many folk religious movements were outlawed by the imperial authorities as "evil religions" (邪教じゃきょう xiéjiào).[21] With the collapse of the Qing state in 1911 the sects enjoyed an unprecedented period of freedom and thrived, and many of them were officially recognised as religious groups by the early republican government.[22]

The founding of the People's Republic in 1949 saw them suppressed once again,[23] although since the 1990s and 2000s the climate was relaxed and some of them have received some form of official recognition.[24] In Taiwan all the still existing restrictions were rescinded in the 1980s.

Folk religious movements began to rapidly revive in mainland China in the 1980s, and now if conceptualised as a single group they are said to have the same number of followers of the five state-sanctioned religions of China taken together.[25] Scholars and government officials have been discussing to systematise and unify this large base of religious organisations; in 2004 the State Administration of Religious Affairs created a department for the management of folk religions.[25] In the late 2015 a step was made at least for those of them with a Confucian identity, with the foundation of the Holy Confucian Church of China which aims to unite in a single body all Confucian religious groups.

Many of the movements of salvation of the 20th and 21st century aspire to become the repository of the entirety of the Chinese tradition in the face of Western modernism and materialism,[26] advocating an "Eastern solution to the problems of the modern world",[27] or even interacting with the modern discourse of an Asian-centered universal civilisation.[27]

Geography and diffusion[edit]

Geographic distribution of influence of China's popular religious sects.

The Chinese folk religious movements of salvation are mostly concentrated in northern and northeastern China, although with a significant influence reaching the Yangtze River Delta since the 16th century.[28] The northern provinces have been a fertile ground for the movements of salvation for a number of reasons: firstly, popular religious movements were active in the region already in the Han dynasty, and they deeply penetrated local society; secondly, northern provinces are characterised by social mobility around the capital and weak traditional social structure, thus folk religious movements of salvation fulfill the demand of individual searching for new forms of community and social network.[28]

According to the Chinese General Social Survey of 2012, approximately 2.2% of the population of China, which is around 30 million people, claim to be members of folk religious sects.[29] The actual number of followers may be higher, about the same as the number of members of the five state-sanctioned religions of China if counted together.[25] In Taiwan, recognised folk religious movements of salvation gather approximately 10% of the population as of the mid-2000s.

Chronological record of major sects[edit]

Earliest influences (Yuan, 1277–1377)[edit]

Ming (1367–1644) and Qing (1644–1911)[edit]

  • Baguadao (八卦はっけ道どう "Way of the Eight Trigrams") networks
  • Denghua (燈ひ花はな教きょう "Flower of Light") sect[14]
  • Hongyang (弘ひろ阳 "Great Sun") or Hunyuan (混こん元もと "Original Undetermined") sect[31]
  • Huangtiandao (黃き天道てんとう "Way of the Yellow Sky") or Xuangu (悬鼓 "Dark Drum") sect[32]
  • Luo teaching (罗教 Luójiào, "Luo (Menghong)'s tradition"[33]): Patriarch Luo was reportedly polemical towards the Bailian, Maitreyan, and Huangtian sects[32]
    • Dacheng (大乘だいじょう教きょう "Great Vehicle") or Yuandun (圆顿教きょう "Sudden Stillness") sect,[14] the eastern branch of Luoism
    • Dacheng teaching of Mount Jizu (鸡足山たりやま大乘だいじょう教きょう Jīzúshān dàchéngjiào), a western branch of Luoism founded by Zhang Baotai in Yunnan
  • Church of the Highest Supreme (太ふとし上うえ会かい Tàishànghuì; also known as 太ふとし上じょう门 Tàishàngmén, the "Gate of the Highest Supreme")
    • This sect has many schools, one of them is Xiao Yao Pai (逍遥しょうよう派は Xiāoyáo Pài)
  • Church of the Heaven and the Earth (天地てんち会かい Tiāndìhuì) or Tiandimen (天地てんち門もん "Gate of the Heaven and the Earth")[36]
  • Sanyi teaching (三さん一いち教きょう "Three-One"), founded by Lin Zhao'en on the base of Confucian principles[37]

[30]

Mainland Republican Era (1912–49)[edit]

  • Zaili teaching (在ざい理り教きょう Zàilǐjiào, "Abiding Principle")—registered in 1913[38]
  • Daode Xueshe (道德どうとく学がく社しゃ "Community for the Study of the Way and its Virtue")—1916[38]
  • Xiantiandao (先天せんてん道どう "Way of the Former Heaven") networks
    • Shengdao (圣道 "Holy Way"), best known by its incorporate name of Tongshanshe (同どう善ぜん社しゃ "Community of the Goodness")—1917[38]
    • Guiyidao (皈依道どう, "Way of the Return to the One"), best known by its corporate name of School of the Way of the Return to the One or simply School of the Way (道みち院いん Dàoyuàn)—1921-27[39][35]
    • Yiguandao (一貫いっかん道どう "Consistent Way")—registered in 1947[40]
      • Haizidao (亥子いのこ道どう "Way of the Children")—branched out in the 1980s[30]
      • Miledadao (弥勒みろく大道だいどう "Great Way of Maitreya")—branched out in the 1980s[30]
    • Dragon Flower Church of the Heart-bound Heavenly Way (一心いっしん天道てんとう龙华会かい Yīxīn Tiāndào Lónghuá Huì)—1932[40][35]
    • Yuanmingdao (圆明道どう "Way of the Bright Circle")
    • Yaochidao (瑤よう池いけ道みち "Way of the Jasper Lake")
    • Guigendao (归根道どう "Way of the Return to the Root")[35]
  • Jiushi (救世きゅうせい教きょう "Life Healing") sect, also known by its corporate name Wushanshe (悟さとる善ぜん社しゃ "Community of the Awakening to the Goodness")—1919[38]
  • Universal Church of the Way and its Virtue (万国ばんこく道德どうとく会かい Wànguó Dàodéhuì)—1921[38]
  • Jiugongdao (九きゅう宫道, "Way of the Nine Palaces")—1926[40]
  • Holy Church of the Heavenly Virtue (天德てんとく圣教 Tiāndé shèngjiào)—early form of Tiandiism, recognised in 1930[40]
  • Church of Virtue (德とく教会きょうかい Déjiàohuì)—started in 1945[11]
  • Zhenkongdao (真空しんくう道どう "Way of the True Emptiness")—1948[40]
  • Confucian Church (孔あな教会きょうかい Kǒngjiàohuì)—founded by Kang Youwei[26]
  • Xixinshe (洗心せんしん社しゃ "Community of the Pure Heart")—another organisation of Kang Youwei's idea of a Confucian church[26]
  • Yellow Sand Society—rural secret society and millenarian sect[41]

Late 20th century[edit]

  • Xuanyuandao (轩辕道どう "Way of the Mysterious Origin")—founded in 1952[30]
  • Confucian Way of the Gods (儒宗神しん教きょう Rúzōng Shénjiào)—started in 1853, formally established in 1979[30]
  • Lord of Universe Church (天帝てんてい教きょう Tiāndìjiào)—branch of Tiandiism established in 1979[17]
  • Qigong (气功 "Cultivation of the Spirit")[30]
    • Falungong (法ほう轮功 "Cultivation of the Wheel of Law")[30]
  • Zishen Nation (子こ申さる国こく) — led by the self-proclaimed emperor Li Guangchang, the sect ruled a small area in Zhejiang from 1981 to 1986[42]

21st century[edit]

The City of the Eight Symbols in Qi, Hebi, is the headquarters of the Weixinist Church in Henan.
  • Confucian religious groups in China mainland (Confucian churches)[43]
  • Weixinism (唯心ゆいしん教きょう Wéixīnjiào, "Only Heart") or "Holy Church of the Heart-Only" (唯心ゆいしん聖教せいきょう Wéixīn Shèngjiào)

Other sects[edit]

  • Changshandao[44]
  • Church of Maitreya the King of the Universe (宇宙うちゅう弥勒みろく皇すめらぎ教きょう Yǔzhòu mílè huáng jiào)
  • Dadao Hui (大刀たち会かい "Church of the Big Sword")[45]
  • Datong Hui (大同だいどう会かい "Church of the Great Harmony")[45]
  • Dayiism (大だい易えき教きょう Dàyì jiào, "Great Simplicity")
  • Dongyue Hui[44]
  • Gengshen Hui[44]
  • Guixiangdao (跪香道どう "Way of the Kneeling to Incense")[41]
  • Holy Church of the Middle Flower (中ちゅう华圣教きょう Zhōnghuá shèngjiào)
  • Hongsanism (红三さん教きょう Hóngsān jiào, "Red Three")[41]
  • Huangjidao (皇すめらぎ极道 "Way of the Imperial Pole")[41]
  • Huangxiandao (黄き仙道せんどう "Way of the Yellow Immortal")
  • Huazhaidao (华斋道どう "Way of Flowers and Fasting")[41]
  • Jiugendao (旧きゅう根ね道どう "Way of the Old Source")[41]
  • Laojundao (老ろう君くん道どう "Way of the Venerable Master")[41]
  • Laorendao (老人ろうじん道どう "Way of the Venerable Men")[41]
  • Mount Li Maternism (骊山老母ろうぼ教きょう Líshān Lǎomǔ jiào)[44]
  • Puhuamen (普ふ化か门 "Gate of the Universal Change")[41]
  • Pujidao (普ひろし济道 "Way of the Universal Help")[41]
  • Puduism (普あまね度たび教きょう Pǔdù jiào, "Universal Judgement"), Pududao (普ふ度ど道どう "Way of the Universal Judgment")[41]
  • Qixingism[44]
  • Qiugongdao[44]
  • Renxuehaodao (人ひと学がく好道よしみち "Way of Men Learning the Goodness")[41]
  • Sanfengdao (三峰みつみね道どう "Way of the Three Peaks")[41]
  • Shengxiandao (圣仙道どう "Way of the Sages and the Immortals")[41]
  • Shenmendao (神かみ门道 "Way of the Godly Gate")[41]
  • Sifangdao (四方しほう道どう "Way of the Four Manifestations")[41]
  • Suibiandao[44]
  • Tianguangdao (天てん光こう道どう "Way of the Heavenly Light")[46]
  • Tianhuadao (天てん花道かどう "Way of the Heavenly Flower")[46]
  • Tianmingdao (天明てんめい道どう "Way of the Heavenly Bright")[46]
  • Tianxianmiaodao (天仙てんせん庙道 "Way of the Temple of the Heavenly Immortals")
  • Wanquandao (万全ばんぜん道どう "Way of the Endless Whole" or "Surefire Way")[46]
  • Wugong Hui[44]
  • Xiaodao Hui (小刀こがたな会かい "Church of the Small Sword")[44]
  • Xuanmen Zhenzong (玄げん门真宗しんしゅう, "True School of the Mysterious Gate")
  • Yinjiezhi Hui[44]
  • Yuanshuai Hui[44]
  • Yuxumen (玉たま虚きょ门 "Gate of the Jade Vacuity")[46]
  • Zhongfangdao (中方なかほう道どう "Way of the Middle Abode")[46]
  • Zhongjiao Daoyi Hui[44]
  • Zhongyongdao (中庸ちゅうよう道どう "Way of the Golden Mean")[46]
  • Zhongxiao Tianfu (忠孝ちゅうこう天てん府ふ "Heavenly House of Filial Loyalty")[46]
  • Zhutian Hui[44]
  • Zishenguo ("Zishen nation")[46]

See also[edit]

In Vietnam
In Indonesia
In Philippines

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b Palmer 2011, p. 19; passim
  2. ^ Palmer 2011, p. 19
  3. ^ Broy (2015), p. 146.
  4. ^ Clart (1997), pp. 12-13 & passim.
  5. ^ Palmer 2011, pp. 17–18
  6. ^ Palmer 2011, p. 12: "Chinese sectarianism, millennialism and heterodoxy, called "popular religious sects" (minjian zongjiao 民間みんかん宗教しゅうきょう, minjian jiaomen 民間みんかん教門きょうもん, minjian jiaopai 民間みんかん教派きょうは) in the Chinese scholarship, often inextricable from debates on the exact nature of the so-called "White Lotus" tradition."; p. 14: "The local and anthropological focus of these studies, and their undermining of rigid distinctions between "sectarian" groups and other forms of local religiosity, tends to draw them into the category of "popular religion" 民間みんかん信仰しんこう."
  7. ^ Clart 2014, p. 393. Quote: "[...] The problem started when the Taiwanese translator of my paper chose to render "popular religion" literally as minjian zongjiao 民間みんかん宗教しゅうきょう. The immediate association this term caused in the minds of many Taiwanese and practically all mainland Chinese participants in the conference was of popular sects (minjian jiaopai 民間みんかん教派きょうは), rather than the local and communal religious life that was the main focus of my paper."
  8. ^ Palmer 2011, pp. 19–20
  9. ^ Palmer 2011, p. 17
  10. ^ Ownby (2008). § 2: "Western scholars cast Chinese sects in the role of Protestant dissenters and celebrate (or occasionally condemn) their willingness to challenge the status quo."
  11. ^ a b Palmer 2011, p. 6
  12. ^ Palmer 2011, pp. 12–13
  13. ^ a b Palmer 2011, p. 13
  14. ^ a b c d Palmer 2011, p. 12
  15. ^ Clart 1997, passim.
  16. ^ Broy (2015), p. 158.
  17. ^ a b Palmer 2011, p. 27
  18. ^ Palmer 2011, p. 28
  19. ^ Ma & Meng 2011
  20. ^ Lu, Yunfeng. The Influence of Mo-school on Chinese Popular Sects. Studies in World Religions (Shijie Zongjiao Yanjiu), 27 (2): 123-127.
  21. ^ Palmer 2011, p. 23
  22. ^ Palmer 2011, p. 3
  23. ^ Palmer 2011, pp. 13, 23
  24. ^ "Religions & Christianity in Today's China" (PDF). Religion & Christianity in Today's China. IV (1). China Zentrum. 2014. ISSN 2192-9289. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2017. pp. 22–23.
  25. ^ a b c 大だい陆民间宗教きょう管理かんり变局 [Mainland folk religion management change]. Phoenix Weekly (500). Pu Shi Institute for Social Science. July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  26. ^ a b c Palmer 2011, p. 29
  27. ^ a b Palmer 2011, p. 10
  28. ^ a b Seiwert 2003, p. 318
  29. ^ China Family Panel Studies 2012. Reported and compared with Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011 in Lu 卢, Yunfeng 云うん峰ほう (2014). 卢云峰ほう：当代とうだい中国ちゅうごく宗教しゅうきょう状じょう况报告つげ——基もと于CFPS（2012）调查数すう据すえ [Report on Religions in Contemporary China – Based on CFPS (2012) Survey Data] (PDF). World Religious Cultures (1). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2014. p. 13.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h Palmer 2011, p. 22
  31. ^ Seiwert 2003, p. 20
  32. ^ a b Seiwert 2003, p. 270
  33. ^ Seiwert 2003, p. 217
  34. ^ Ma & Meng 2011, pp. 173–175
  35. ^ a b c d Palmer (2011), p. 4.
  36. ^ Ownby (1995).
  37. ^ Seiwert 2003, p. 343
  38. ^ a b c d e Palmer 2011, p. 4
  39. ^ Palmer 2011, pp. 4–5
  40. ^ a b c d e Palmer 2011, p. 5
  41. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Munro & Spiegel (1994), p. 270.
  42. ^ Smith (2015), p. 358.
  43. ^ Palmer 2011, p. 7
  44. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m I (1995), p. 32.
  45. ^ a b Munro & Spiegel (1994), p. 269.
  46. ^ a b c d e f g h i Munro & Spiegel (1994), p. 271.

Sources[edit]

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