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The National Religion of Modern China – Viewed from Yang Qingkun’s “Religion in Chinese Society”
Author: Xie Xiahan (Department of Social Sciences of the Red Den)
Source: The author authorized the Confucian Network to publish, original “Red Den” (Social Science Edition) 2022 Issue 4
Abstract: The religious situation in modern China is very clear. According to the article, its existence began at the end of the day from “the ultimate earth and heaven” and was established by Shun; according to archaeology, the Yin and Zhou dynasties were completed; according to literature, until the end of the Qing Dynasty. However, since the concept of Eastern religion has been passed down into China, language changes have formed confusion of thought. People mistakenly believe that Taoism, religion, Christianity, Islamism, etc. that originally occupies only from their own positions, are designated religions. However, since ancient times, the regular national religion that has always been in the dominant position has turned away from the name of religion and is regarded as feudal science that needs to be eliminated, or a common religion that is low in customs. The modern Chinese social landscape is completely distorted. This article explains the book “Religion in Chinese Society” by Yang Qingkun from the perspective of the country’s religious nature, so as to confirm that there is a national religion in modern China. The modern national religion, politics and religion have the organizational system of national machines; its title is the emperor. The emperor is the son of heaven, which is a religious name. The emperor is both the head of state and the leader of the state. The world’s administrative system and the god system are intersected and are controlled by the emperor and various officials. The emperor is located under the heavens and has certain reward power to the gods. The Chinese people have been worshipped since ancient times and present. Although the body system of gods is complex, and the people of the world have their own beliefs, and some worship the “rule religion” Taoism, religion and other gods, they all cooperate with it. The gods and Buddhas worshipped by Taoism, religion and other gods are also embraced by the gods led by heaven.
Introduction: There are national religions in modern China
Can there be national religions in modern China? Chinese and foreign scholars have differences.
What is representative is the theory in a large-scale teaching material. This textbook “Media” writes: “Compared with other countries in the world, the proportion of religious believers in China is not large in the country’s total, and national religions have not appeared in Chinese history.” [1] However, in the third lecture of the book, when talking about “Modern Chinese Religion”, he wrote: “According to the discussion of religious scholars such as Mr. Mou Jingyan, there is a face in China that appears in history as a “gift” or “suburban sacrifice” and follows the demise of the feudal dynasty. The ‘political’ religion that perished. This religion is neither primitive religion nor Taoism, nor foreign religions such as religion. It has a strict system and large and unchanging inheritance, and is combined with the political system of the country. It is a ‘national religion’. It is the ‘orthodox religion’ of China’s thousands of years of feudal dynasties…Students call it ‘Chinese patriarchal traditional religion’. “[2] This passage will quote from a study of a religious scholar in my country, it is obviously the author of this textbook that is different. This clearly shows two explanations about whether national religions can exist.
However, 時租會議 this textbook describes national religions quite precisely. This article is recorded as follows:
The traditional religion of Chinese patriarchal nature focuses on the reverence of gods and the respect of ancestors, and uses natural reverences such as the country, the sun and the moon, the landscape as its wings, and the reverence of many other ghosts and gods as its supplement. It forms a relatively stable suburban social system, a clan system and other ancestor worship systems, which become the energy to maintain the social order and family system, and the source of energy to comfort the hearts of Chinese people. This religion occupies a noble position in the minds of the Chinese. It is not only inherited by the official in its actual career, worshipped by the people, and is also paid attention to by scholars and historians. In “Shangshu”, “Book of Changes”, “People” and “Three Erases”, especially in “Zhou Rong”, “Greetings” and “Greetings”, there are remarks about the activities of late religious ancestor worship, theory and system. This patriarchal national religion, which was formed in the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, not only did not dissipate after Qin and Han, but was developing forward and constantly moving towards completion. …The patriarchal traditional religion has no independent sect system, and its religious memorial effectiveness is served by various levels of patriarchal organizations, which can be regarded as a characteristic of this religion. The patriarchal blood womb organization composed of royal families, clans and families has multiple effects. When it bears the effectiveness of a religious memorial organization, it acts as a religious organization to influence it. It can also recreate its characteristics as a political organization and a social organization. [3]
From the above, we can see: 1. The national religion was formed from the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, and it existed until the end of the Qing Dynasty, and it continued to develop and complete.
2. National religion is not a primitive religion [4], but a religious form with strict secret system and stable inheritance. It can be regarded as a “high-level religion”. It is not only a standard religious form with Christianity, Islamism, Taoism, and scheming, but also different from Christianity, Islamism, Taoism, and scheming. There is no teaching system as the main difference. [5]
3. 九宮格 The national religion in modern China has a system of respect for the body, and the focus of this system is heaven and ancestors.
There are some omissions in the above citations and areas to be negotiated. As follows:
1. Citations believe that national religion is a religion that “political”. The following also says “the energy that becomes the energy that maintains social order and family system, and the energy that comforts the spirit of the Chinese people” and “respected by the people.” This is not just “policy”. This appears to be an omission. Moreover, the word “policy” reveals that the “country” of the concept of “national religion” seems to refer only to national power, not to the entire nation. However, the specific description also shows the national religious picture that includes the most nearby nationals. In addition, the country has a variety of methods to organize and integrate common religions into the national system, such as enfeoffing the mother. Also, Yue WuNational religious facilities, when the community gods [districts, city gods, etc.] are invalid, they often “report” to Yuewu, which is enough to show the full visibility of national religion.
2. “The Gods Respect” requires a negotiation. Generally speaking, the earth, heaven and gods are mentioned together, and there is no need to study in depth, because the predecessors did say this. However, now the construction of the theory is called the focus of respect, but it is still appropriate to divide it into details. Combining heaven and God without prescribed in one word can be a wasteful word. For example, the poem “The Book of Changes: Viewing” says: “The heaven is now 5:50, and there is still five minutes to get off work. The way of the gods is not wrong. The sage teaches the way of the gods and is invincible.” [6] It is enough to see that heaven and gods are not a similar concept. The meaning, relationship, and evolution of concepts such as heaven, emperor, and god need to be discussed specifically. [7]
3. “Its religious memorial performance is served by the patriarchal organizations of all levels”. A large number of memorial services were undertaken by the officials of the institute. So, is the bureau also a “patriarchal organization”? The textbook believes that “no independent teaching system” is a characteristic of patriarchal religion. So we can only determine that the memorial service must be organized by the patriarchal organization? Isn’t the bureau system also an organization? The citation has stated that this religion “has a strict system and large-scale inheritance, and is integrated with the political system of the country”. Why not determine that the bureau system has religious effectiveness, and even directly determine that the bureau is a religious organization?
4. In a step further, the “patriarchal nature” of this national religion also needs to be negotiated. The emperor worships ancestors as a way to show the patriarchal nature. The emperor wanted to sacrifice to heaven, and showed universality, beyond the patriarchal structure. The reason why our ancestors received the throne was due to destiny. Sacrifice to ancestors TC: