Sinitic religion
Sinitic religion or Siniticism is a term coined in 1931 by Hu Shih He argued that "Two great religions have played tremendously important roles throughout Chinese history. One is Buddhism which came to China probably before the Christian era but which began to exert nation-wide influence only after the third century A.D. The other great religion has had no generic name, but I propose to call it Siniticism. It is the native religion of the Chinese people: it dates back to time immemorial and includes all such later phases of its development as Moism, Confucianism (as a state religion), and all the various stages of the Taoist religion.".[3]. is the religion of the Chinese civilisation. It has its sources in the Neolithic and has developed throughout history into a coherent multiplex system which persists up to the present day, and consists of indigenous and popular devotional cults, popular soteriological organisations, vernacular ritual methods, shamanic methods, state ritual systems, and schools of high philosophy and ritual (chiefly distinguished into Confucianism and Taoism).
According to the definition given by Hu Shih, Sinitic religion was the product of the merger of Shang and Zhou cultures, and "has been to China what Hinduism has been to India". The Shang contributed with a strong devotion to ancestors, while the Zhou who came from the west emphasised a theology of the supreme God (Shangdi or Tian, cf. Chinese theology). The result is a living cosmology with the supreme God as its spring, presiding over a hierarchy of mediating forces, namely the gods of cosmic and natural powers, the deified ancestors of great achievement, the progenitors of human groups. Also tribal gods of populations who were assimilated into China were integrated into this cosmology. While always retaining its primary core, it has taken onto itself philosophical elements from Buddhism. The most ancient book of the Sinitic religious system is the Yijing.[4]
Victor H. Mair similarly describes Sinitic religion as built upon two foundations:
- Shang ancestor worship orthopraxis and magianism (i.e. magi priesthood);
- Zhou theology revolving about Tian and its way;
The developments of organised religious systems from the medieval to the early modern periods did not alter this nucleus, although contributed to a continuous change of architecture, music, literature and institutions.[5] Ho (1998) describes Sinitic religion as "man-centred" with "ancestor worship at its core".[6]
Indigenous and diffuse religious systems[edit]
Chinese popular religion[edit]
The worship of local gods and forces of nature, and kinship progenitors, was defined as "Shendao" (神道 Shéndào, the "Way of the Gods") by 14th century Hongwu Emperor of the Ming, drawing from the Yijing in which the term refers to the natural order established by deities.[7] It is the "hardware" upon which philosophical and ritual traditions such as Confucianism and Taoism build. Recent scholarship has proposed the name "Shenxianism" (神仙教 Shénxiānjiào, "religion of deities and immortals").[8] All cults falling outside the scope and patronage of the high institutional forms of Confucianism and Taoism can be defined as "popular religion".
Chinese folk religious sects[edit]
Popular masters of laws and methods[edit]
Chinese shamanism—Wuism[edit]
High philosophical and ritual systems[edit]
Confucianism[edit]
According to Hu Shih, Confucianism, founded by Confucius, a scion of the erstwhile ruling Shang lineage, is a school of Sinitic religion concerned with setting the world to the right order, a system of education and "psychology of religious experience" which regards ritual as the device for this praxis. It is also a religion of "ancestor worship" and of "body as inheritance from the ancestors", whence the emphasis on personal purity and cultivation.[9]
Mohism[edit]
Mohism, which has not had a profound impact compared to Confucianism, was founded by Mozi. According to Hu Shih it is a religion focused on a theology of "God as love".[10] Moism ultimately merged with Taoism.
Taoism[edit]
Taoism is a tradition of philosophy, rite and ecclesiastical organisation, which emphasises living in harmony with the Tao (道, literally "Way", also romanised as Dao). Taoist schools function as theoretical and liturgical frameworks for both popular and high cults of broader Chinese religion (cf. Zhengyi Taoism), and some of them (the Quanzhen traditions) have a distinct monastic institution. In this tradition the Tao denotes both the metaphysical source of everything that exist and its physical pattern of unconcealment. Taoism differs specifically from Confucian traditions by not emphasizing rigid rituals and social order, which are fundamental in the latter.[11]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ↑ "Land of the Yellow Emperor". The Economist. 03/04/2008
- ↑ ""China's Communist Party turns to mythical Yellow Emperor to bolster legitimacy". The Straits Time. 18/05/2016.
- ↑ Hu (2013), p. 82.
- ↑ Hu (2013), pp. 82-83.
- ↑ Mair (2011), p. 104.
- ↑ Ho (1998), p. 151.
- ↑ John W. Dardess. Ming China, 1368-1644: A Concise History of a Resilient Empire. Rowman & Littlefield, 2012. ISBN 1442204915 Search this book on
.. p. 26
- ↑ Shi (2008).
- ↑ Hu (2013), pp. 86-87.
- ↑ Hu (2013), p. 87.
- ↑ Pollard; Rosenberg; Tignor, Elizabeth; Clifford; Robert (2011). Worlds Together Worlds Apart. New York, New York: Norton. p. 164. ISBN 9780393918472.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) Search this book on
Sources[edit]
- Ho, P.-T. (1998). "In Defense of Sinicization: A Rebuttal of Evelyn Rawski’s ‘Reenvision-ing the Qing’". The Journal of Asian Studies (57), 123-155.
- Shi Hu, "Religion and Philosophy in Chinese History" (Shanghai: China Institute of Pacific Relations, 1931), reprinted in Hu, Shih (2013). English Writings of Hu Shih: Chinese Philosophy and Intellectual History. China Academic Library. 2. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-3642311819. Search this book on
- Mair, Victor H. (2011), "Religious Formations and Intercultural Contacts in Early China", in Krech, Volkhard; Steinicke, Marion, Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe: Encounters, Notions, and Comparative Perspectives, Brill, pp. 85–110, ISBN 978-9004225350.
- Shi, Yilong 石奕龍 (2008). "中国汉人自发的宗教实践 — 神仙教 Zhongguo Hanren zifadi zongjiao shijian: Shenxianjiao (The Spontaneous Religious Practices of Han Chinese Peoples — Shenxianism)". 中南民族大学学报 — 人文社会科学版 (Journal of South-Central University for Nationalities (Humanities and Social Sciences)). 28 (3): 146–150.
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