CHINESE RELIGION REDISCUSSED
(iv) by transformation of a ghost shrine into a temple. The author might have added one more group :
163
(v) construction of temples for deity statues washed up on Taiwan shores. Many cases of famous gods are mentioned
in the literature and folk traditions. Once a temple is built, the cult may spread by virtue of the god's efficacy,
In fact, the author does not explain the initial stimulus why a cult becomes popular and a god efficacious. Cult-formation should be treated before 'genesis of temples'.
Chapter IV, "Purity and Pollution, Life and Death” (pp. 136-188) is on the one hand easy to summarize, but on the other hand difficult to judge. It seems to me that the author has mixed together a great amount of factually correct observations with logically incoherent interpretations; in other words, this chapter suffers greatly from 'subtle distortions', due perhaps to his exclusively anthropological method, with neglect of philosophical analysis and especially of historical perspective.
Let me first summarize the main ideas expressed in this chapter. First of all, the author states that the idea of yin and yang, with its ritual application of impure (or polluting) and pure, or of rituals for the dead and rituals for the living is "probably the major theme which runs throughout the folk religion” (p. 136). Also important is the distinction and separation between private and public, family and community interests (p. 137).
Man alive lives in a world between the two extremes: the yang world of the gods and the yin world of the ghosts (p. 138). He tries to increase his yang power, which generates wealth, offspring and longevity, but also tries to maintain the "balance of the universe through his ritual actions in worshipping the spirits" (p. 140). Because of the ritual separation of pure and polluted, no temple can offer services to all categories of spirits but tends to specialize its services for special groups. It seems that community temples tend to offer services for the benefit of the living: such are the ch'iu-p'ing-an, li-tou and chiao rituals, whereas rituals for the dead are performed in ancestral halls (chin-chu) and Buddhist temples (chin-r'a). However, the author clearly states that there is no "exclusive association of Taoism with life-oriented services, or (of) Buddhist with death" (p. 173).
CHINESE RELIGION REDISCUSSED
(iv) by transformation of a ghost shrine into a temple. The author might have added one more group :
163
(v) construction of temples for deity statues washed up on Taiwan shores. Many cases of famous gods are mentioned
in the literature and folk traditions. Once a temple is built, the cult may spread by virtue of the god's efficacy,
In fact, the author does not explain the initial stimulus why a cult becomes popular and a god efficacious. Cult-formation should be treated before 'genesis of temples'.
Chapter IV, "Purity and Pollution, Life and Death” (pp. 136- 188) is on the one hand easy to summarize, but on the other hand difficult to judge. It seems to me that the author has mixed together a great amount of factually correct observations with logically incoherent interpretations; in other words, this chapter suffers greatly from 'subtle distortions', due perhaps to his exclusively anthropological method, with neglect of philosophical analysis and especially of historical perspective.
Let me first summarize the main ideas expressed in this chapter. First of all, the author states that the idea of yin and yang, with its ritual application of impure (or polluting) and pure, or of rituals for the dead and rituals for the living is "probably the major theme which runs throughout the folk religion” (p. 136). Also important is the distinction and separation between private and public, family and community interests (p. 137).
Man alive lives in a world between the two extremes: the yang world of the gods and the yin world of the ghosts (p. 138). He tries to increase his yang power, which generates wealth, offspring and longevity, but also tries to maintain the "balance of the universe through his ritual actions in worshipping the spirits" (p. 140). Because of the ritual separation of pure and polluted, no temple can offer services to all categories of spirits but tends to specialize its services for special groups. It seems that community temples tend to offer services for the benefit of the living: such are the ch'iu-p'ing-an, li-tou and chiao rituals, whereas rituals for the dead are performed in ancestral halls (chin-chu) and Buddhist temples (chin-r'a). However, the author clearly states that there is no "ex- clusive association of Taoism with life-oriented services, or (of) Buddhist with death" (p. 173).
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