CHINESE RELIGION REDISCUSSED
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migrants, the arrival of a record number of Christian missionaries and new government regulations concerning religious festivals, all contribute to great changes. One more factor not so strongly felt ten years ago, but very active ever since, is the economic prosperity of the island, which has resulted in a new temple-building boom, perhaps unequaled in the past).
So far the author has identified the temples as either Taoist, Buddhist or Confucian, but now raises the question as to the usefulness and adequacy of these terms: "Of what significance are these terms (as well as the term 'temple' itself) to our understanding of the development and character of religion in Taiwan?” (p. 52).
In Chapter II, "The Use of Government Gazetteers in Scholarly Research" (pp. 54-84), the traditional way of dividing the religions of China is rejected as inadequate. This terminology was used in official gazetteers but is not always reliable. Moreover, the gazetteers, although of importance for researchers, are often biased: there are omissions of a large number of smaller temples or so-called unorthodox temples; and the relative importance of various temples is ignored. Therefore the gazetteers have to be used with great apprehension and should be complemented with field-work information.
The confusion of the temple names—I’d rather use temple 'appellations'—certainly makes it very difficult to classify temples according to the three religions model, if one goes by these appellations only. But the author's conclusion on p. 72 is unwarranted: "For this reason I do not believe that the three religions classification is a useful tool for uncovering the system of Taiwanese religious beliefs." Even if temple appellations are partially interchangeable (e.g. a kung may refer to a Taoist or Buddhist temple) their identity is not only based on their names. Besides—and here I only anticipate a major criticism to be discussed later—the "system of Taiwanese religious beliefs" is not only embodied in the temples but goes beyond temples and temple rituals.
The chapter concludes with a criticism of the classical division of the Chinese religions. Everyone must admit that this model does not work any longer: it is a simplification. The author's attempt to propose a set of new criteria to identify the essential nature of Chinese religion in Taiwan is the necessary consequence of his
CHINESE RELIGION REDISCUSSED
151
migrants, the arrival of a record number of Christian missionaries and new government regulations concerning religious festivals, ali contribute to great changes. One more factor not so strongly felt ten years ago, but very active ever since, is the economic prosperity of the island, which has resulted in a new temple-building boom, perhaps unequaled in the past).
So far the author has identified the temples as either Taoist, Buddhist or Confucian, but now raises the question as to the use- fulness and adequacy of these terms: "Of what significance are these terms (as well as the term 'temple' itself) to our understanding of the development and character of religion in Taiwan?” (p. 52).
In Chapter II, "The Use of Government Gazetteers in Scholarly Research" (pp. 54-84), the traditional way of dividing the religions of China is rejected as inadequate. This terminology was used in official gazetteers but is not always reliable. Moreover, the gazet- teers, although of importance for researchers, are often biased: there are omissions of a large number of smaller temples or so- called unorthodox temples; and the relative importance of various temples is ignored. Therefore the gazetteers have to be used with great apprehension and should be complemented with field-work information.
The confusion of the temple names I'd rather use temple 'appellations'- certainly makes it very difficult to classify temples according to the three religions model, if one goes by these appel- lations only. But the author's conclusion on p. 72 is unwarranted: "For this reason I do not believe that the three religions classifica- tion is a useful tool for uncovering the system of Taiwanese religious beliefs." Even if temple appellations are partially interchangeable (e.g. a kung may refer to a Taoist or Buddhist temple) their identity is not only based on their names. Besides—and here I only antici- pate a major criticism to be discussed later the "system of Taiwanese religious beliefs" is not only embodied in the temples but goes beyond temples and temple rituals.
The chapter concludes with a criticism of the classical division of the Chinese religions. Everyone must admit that this model does not work any longer: it is a simplification. The author's attempt to propose a set of new criteria to identify the essential nature of Chinese religion in Taiwan is the necessary consequence of his
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