CHINESE RELIGION REDISCUSSED
155
The concept of 'private community temple' again needs clarification; as such the expression is contradictory: if a temple is privately owned, how can it be a community temple? That the enshrined deity has a public appeal, etc. does not change the nature of the temple. "Their gods rarely become the dominant deities in their areas. . . Such temples will rarely be chosen as a site for... chiao celebration . . .” (p. 105). This is obvious, since they are not community temples. In other words, they are additional temples in the area of the particular community, which has already its own community temple as the center of its main worship. It is perhaps due to expansion of the original community or to introduction of new religions that new temples are built to serve the same or partially the same group of people. However, the community temple strictly speaking is unique for each community.
Next the author discusses the t'an or private shrines where Taoist priests perform private services for the people. The shrines where tangki (mediums) operate should not be identified with these t'an, since very often tangki shrines are rather private temples. The deities enshrined in them very often are the same as community gods and are then recognized as such by the worshippers. Reaction against them from the people and from the government is not due to the nature of the gods but due to the method used by those tangki who pretend to be mediums but are in fact deceiving the worshippers.
So far, the author has discussed two types of temples as far as organization is concerned: the community temple and a variety of privately owned temples or at least shrines. Those private temples are either ancestral halls controlled by clans or privately owned shrines, in some cases even temples, constructed and controlled by private families or even individuals. Tension arises when families or clans try to control the community temples, or when the community makes efforts to control private temples. But it is an overstatement when the author says that ”... in fact most temples are mixtures of the basic types. . ." (p. 113).
In the following subsection, the author adds a new set of temples to the discussion: monasteries and bone temples. However, here also a lack of precision causes confusion in the mind: the terms 'monastery', 'monastic temple', 'bone temple', 'pagoda', and 'bone pagoda' are all used without being defined. A monastery and a
CHINESE RELIGION REDISCUSSED
155
The concept of 'private community temple' again needs clari- fication; as such the expression is contradictory: if a temple is privately owned, how can it be a community temple? That the enshrined deity has a public appeal, etc. does not change the nature of the temple. "Their gods rarely become the dominant deities in their areas. . . Such temples will rarely be chosen as a site for... chiao celebration . . .” (p. 105). This is obvious, since they are not community temples. In other words, they are additional temples in the area of the particular community, which has already its own community temple as the center of its main worship. It is perhaps due to expansion of the original community or to introduction of new religions that new temples are built to serve the same or partially the same group of people. However, the community temple strictly speaking is unique for each community.
Next the author discusses the t'an or private shrines where Taoist priests perform private services for the people. The shrines where tangki (mediums) operate should not be identified with these t'an, since very often tangki shrines are rather private temples. The deities enshrined in them very often are the same as community gods and are then recognized as such by the worshippers. Reaction against them from the people and from the government is not due to the nature of the gods but due to the method used by those tangki who pretend to be mediums but are in fact deceiving the worship- pers.
So far, the author has discussed two types of temples as far as organization is concerned: the community temple and a variety of privately owned temples or at least shrines. Those private temples are either ancestral halls controlled by clans or privately owned shrines, in some cases even temples, constructed and controlled by private families or even individuals. Tension arises when families or clans try to control the community temples, or when the commu- nity makes efforts to control private temples. But it is an over- statement when the author says that”... in fact most temples are mixtures of the basic types. . ." (p. 113).
In the following subsection, the author adds a new set of temples to the discussion: monasteries and bone temples. However, here also a lack of precision causes confusion in the mind: the terms 'monastery', 'monastic temple', 'bone temple', 'pagoda', and 'bone pagoda' are all used without being defined. A monastery and a
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