CHINESE RELIGION REDISCUSSED
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ticipants in the (li-tou) festival usually come from within the protective area of the deity.”
In my opinion this is a tautology: community temples are defined by their geographical areas: the word "because" does not explain anything.
On p. 197 we have a case of logic in reverse: gods are said to be ranked on the basis of their wealth and by extension of their luck and efficacy. The opposite is true: gods first prove their efficacy to the worshippers; if they prove their spiritual powers, the worshippers will flock to them in great numbers and the temple's finances will prosper.
With regard to li-tou rituals in "bone temples" it is said (on p. 200) that they attract far fewer worshippers than those held in community temples. This again is obvious, although not for the reasons indicated: "the presumed efficacy of the Buddhas... and the pollution of the temple". The reasoning here is doubtful, but Buddhas and bodhisattvas should be taken together as one group and Kuan-yin is admittedly an exception. The pollution of the Buddhist temple cannot be taken too seriously, for as the author states on p. 180, "bone pagodas" are kept separate from tablet halls and Buddha altars. If a li-tou ritual takes place in a Buddhist temple, it is not held in the "bone temple".
Moreover, the reason for the smaller number of Buddhist participants in the li-tou ritual is due to the particular nature of a Buddhist temple community in which membership is on a voluntary basis and is stricter than in the popular religion. Worshippers are often from different geographic areas and are in many cases exclusively Buddhist. Therefore the li-tou rituals are not community events in the same way as in the community temples.
On p. 206, author discusses the chin-t'a (entering the pagoda) ritual and identifies it with the final act of second burial. However, the chin-t'a most frequently takes place at a different time altogether: after cremation following death the ashes are put in an urn and stored in the pagoda.
The chapter concludes with a rather long informative description of the p'u tu rituals to liberate the lonely ghosts. The author perhaps over-emphasizes the community's concern with the rituals for the living, while it "pays mostly lip service to its responsibility