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RELIGION IN CHINA, KOREA & JAPAN.

History, sociocultural roots & effects, classical & folk forms, basic beliefs & practices of & impact of Christianity on Confucianism, shamanism, Taoism, Buddhism, Shinto.

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Society and Religion in Non-Western Societies

Reconciling the societal differences between the Western world and Asia--particularly with respect to China, Korea, and Japan--may never be a possibility. The divide is not so simple as the distinctions between mere Christianity, Confucianism, or communism, nor is it reducible to simple philosophical terms such as capitalism, liberalism, or Marxism. Indeed, the inherent dissimilarities between Eastern and Western cultures are as likely the result of the forced separation due to geography and the consequence of limited contact over the millennia.
As Rozman insists, the failure of social science to investigate national heritage as the fulcrum of societal

Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1985.Smith, Arthur H. The characteristics of patriarchy include the concept ofproperty as familial rather than individual (although it belonged to themen, and would be equally divided among surviving sons), fathers have greatlegal authority over women and children (including rights to marrychildren, sell them, or dispose of their labor), and women are seen asmorally and intellectually less capable than men (however, men are notsocially or ritually complete without wives).[18] Although Westernobservers tend to label such practices as "Confucian," Ebrey points outthat only some have a basis in the classics, while others came to beaccepted as "standard, orthodox practices that the Confucian elite in timeagreed were suitable for everyone."[19] Indeed, in Fairbank's estimation, as a philosophy of life, Confucianvirtues of patience, pacifism, and compromise; the golden mean; reverence for ancestors, the aged, and the learned; and, above all, a mellow humanism--taking man, not God, as the center of the universe [together with its] esteem for age over youth, for the past over the present, for established authority over innovation [provides] one of the great historic answers to the problem of social stability.[2 ]Accordingly, Fairbank esteems Confucian Chinese society as the "mostsuccessful" of all conservative systems. De Vos, "Religion and Family: Structural andMotivational Relationships," (Chapter 1) in Religion and the Family in EastAsia, ed. "Neo-Confucianism in Action: Agnation and Ancestor Worship in Early Yi Korea." In Religion and Ritual in Korean Society, ed. As such, religious symbols are themselves the productof historic growth which is frequently heterogeneous in origin.[1 1] Bellah posits that the central function of religion may be to act asa "cultural gyroscope"--to provide a stable set of definitions of the worldand of the self (in relation to the world) "so that both the transience andthe crises of life can be faced with some equanimity" by the individual orthe larger society.[1 2] Religion, in supplying an identity, singular orcollective, operates not only at a general level of reality, but frequentlyprovides more specific constructs of space and time. "The Roles of Christianity in Nineteenth Century China." Asian Culture, 4 (1988), 33-63.Bellah, Robert N. Gerth and Don Martindale. Kulp, Country Life in South China (New York: TeachersCollege, Columbia University, 1925). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.Schreiter, Robert J. [43]Ibid., 236. [28]Max Weber, The Religion of China, trans. Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1985), 126. [84]Chai-Sik Chung, "Confucian-Protestant Encounter in Korea: TwoCases of Westernization and De-Westernization," Ching Feng, 34 (January1991), 56. Nevertheless, virtually no one inJapan would consider himself a Confucianist today.[4 ] Similarly, Davis suggests that recent versions of Weber's theory ofinevitable decline "treat religion as part of a syndrome of social,economic, political and psychological changes which, collectively, make up'the modernization process.'"[41] Davis views the secularization ofJapanese religion as part of this modernization process/decline, althoughhe takes the position that such decline is neither inevitable norimpossible, and is, therefore, reversible.[42] Davis cites the growth of amoney economy as "the greatest secularizing influence on Japanesereligion," which had the effect of disrupting both class relationships andfamily ties.[43] Nevertheless, Davis believes that the so-called declineof traditional religion in Japan will ultimately give rise to a newreligious "self-understanding, or perhaps even to a new civilreligion."[44] Korea, regarded by some to be one of the "three little Chinas"(together with Hong Kong and Singapore), only as recently as the eighteenthcentury is considered to have become "a normative Confucian society"[45]even though its first exposure to Confucianism can be dated to the secondcentury B.C.E.[46] According to Haboush, Confucianism required practiceswhich frequently conflicted with native customs. George A. [5 ]Martina Deuchler, "Neo-Confucianism in Action: Agnation andAncestor Worship in Early Yi Korea," Chapter 2 in Laurel Kendall andGriffin Dix, eds., Religion and Ritual in Korean Society (Berkeley:Institute of East Asian Studies, 1987), 26-55. Even if, for a time, the foreign impact seems to be displacing more and more of the traditional behavior, a process of interaction is at work in which some elements of tradition may be reasserted . Religion and Ritual in Korean Society. [83]Ibid., 119. Excerpted in The Chinese Way in Religion, ed. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1955. George A. Through themystical element of religion, sanctions of the dead are "powerful means ofcontrol over the conduct of the living."[32] The attention of the familyis directed rearward to ancestors rather than forward to descendants.According to Kulp's interpretation of what he experienced in rural China,"There is an interaction between the human and the spiritual that creates afundamental interdependence of the two and places religion at the center ofall family practice."[33] In Japan, the earliest traditions evolved into Shinto, which took ona religious character under the influence of Buddhism and ChineseConfucianism.[34] Shinto is the only religion indigenous to Japan, and itpreserves ancient Japanese heritage which closely links Shinto, emperor,and state. "The Korean Shaman and the Deaconess: Sisters in Different Guises." In Religion and Ritual in Korean Society, ed. (S)ome elements of a region- wide heritage are being credited as the common denominator for a resurgence that ignores national boundaries.[2] De Vos explains that East Asia is a continuity of both religious andfolk traditions which have existed from before recorded history.[3]Ancient mystical beliefs and more universal spiritual traditions continueto co-exist today in the minds of many Asians, while Christianity andMarxist-Stalinist communism have both "instigated revolutionary socialmovements" in modern times.[4] According to De Vos, religious beliefs help to explain and define thesystems of "differentiation and stratification according to age, sex,family, clan, classificatory lineage, caste, and class."[5] Ritualisticancestor worship represents the interaction between the dead and theliving, and may be demonic or saintly, but nevertheless have a profoundeffect on the maintenance of society. and ed. Paul. [81]Ibid., 97. . The reader is urged to read Rozman's analysis of the riseand fall and resurgence of Confucianism since the nineteenth century inthis article. Ebrey assertsthat "the relative success of the Chinese in the twentieth century inreestablishing a strong state . [7 ]Ibid., 178. [26]Thompson, "The Taoist Sages," Chapter 7 in The Chinese Way inReligion, 56. . If a temple was exceptionally large, it mightbe financed through "subscriptions" solicited from neighboring villages.The most wealthy donors took great pleasure in seeing their names postedconspicuously within the temple walls. [29]Ibid., 184. "Comparisons of Modern Confucian Values in China and Japan." In The East Asian Region: Confucian Heritage and Its Modern Adaptation, ed. [52]Ibid., 31-32. But therewere significant tensions between the missionaries and the local elite whofelt particularly threatened by the Christian presence.[78] Cho describes the nineteenth century Japanese response toChristianity.[79] It was not until 1873 that the Meiji government liftedthe outright ban against Christianity in Japan, and this was largely aresponse to the suggestion of the American government that the equalizationof relations between the two countries hinged upon the elimination of theban.[8 ] According to Cho, many of the initial Protestant converts werewell-educated, and had been opponents of the Choshu-Satsuma faction whichestablished the Meiji government; their future (socio-political) path waseffectively blocked, and Christianity offered a means to work for themodernization of the country and enlightenment of the people.[81] Chung describes the Korean response to the presence of Christianity.Like the Japanese experience (which actually followed Korea's), the earlyconverts represented the politically disenfranchised and other non-privileged people.[82] However, because of an incident in the mid-eighteenth century which sought to abolish ancestor worship, (RomanCatholic) Christianity found itself the object of official persecution,which intensified as the nineteenth century opened, resulting "in theexecution, imprisonment, and exile of hundreds of converts and in thecondemnation of the church as a heterodox faith."[83] In the 188 s, conditions in Korea were more favorably disposed towardthings Western. Country Life in South China. George A. NY: The Free Press, 1965.Cho, Takeda Kiyoko. Althoughthe Chinese government seeks access to the West's technology, socio-religio-political reformers face a tremendous uphill struggle against Stalinistdogmatism, as well as a Chinese worldview which Rozman characterizes as"rigid and xenophobic."[95] In the waning years of the twentieth century,Chinese communism vigorously rejects Confucian traditions, yet Chinacontinues to be represented by Confucianism as "the antithesis of modern,individualistic, scientifically oriented, democratically guided humanbehavior."[96] On the other hand, Japanese Confucian values seem toexplain the success of that country in the aftermath of World War II, eventhough the label "Confucianism" is not commonly used or referred to by theJapanese.[97] Rozman describes five forms of Confucianism which are presently foundin varying degrees throughout Asia: imperial, reform, elite, merchant-house, and mass.[98] These variations in practice help to "establish abasis for comparing countries and for tracing how some aspects ofConfucianism disappear and others survive in the modern era."[99] Robert Bellah offers particularly useful insights concerning theacquisition and adoption of systems of religious symbols. [77]Daniel H. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, 1987.Kendall, Laurel, and Griffin Dix, eds. The cost of a temple was financed through taxes leviedaccording to one's wealth. [53]Haboush, ibid., 98-99. But it was more of a technical quest than areligious experience. And none of them may satisfactorilyexplain how heritage influences and shapes the "unusual dynamism" whichpropels Eastern societies: The way people interact at home, school, and their workplace, the way they view their government and their own society's place in the world, affects their rate of modernization. "Elite and Folk: Comments on the Two- Tiered Theory." In Religion and the Family in East Asia, ed. [66]Ibid., 69. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.Waley, Arthur. According to Bays, by 19 there were more than2 Protestant foreign missionaries at work throughout China. Christianity, particularly Protestantism, fared better as treatieswere negotiated in 1842-44 and 1858-6 , the latter permitting free travelto the interior provinces. Some were healers who obtained theirdoctoring abilities by going "to the underworld and [finding] out how thePowers of Death could be propitiated."[22] According to some ancientliterature, a shaman was supposed to have been visited by a "BrightSpirit," who was attracted to the individual because of his piety, wisdom,and ability to always be on the "right" side of all matters. [96]Ibid. Gerth. Even the act of bringing a bowl of water to the offering table ennoblesthe poorest of men.[64] Properly tended ancestors remain with theirancestors, while the unattended wander the world as "hungry ghosts."However, after four generations, the ancestor's memorial tablet ispermanently buried at the grave site.[65] In Lee's estimation, although the rites of ancestor worship havebecome normative in Korea, their facilitation is becoming simplified,perhaps compromised. Excerpted in The Chinese Way in Religion, ed. Religious and magical concepts ofthe universe transcend physical reality and the secular dimensions of spaceand time. [82]Chai-Sik Chung, "Tradition and Ideology: Korea's Initial Responseto Christianity from a Religious and Sociological Perspective," AsianCulture, 4 (1988), 118. [8 ]Ibid., 94. Byron. [16]Patricia Ebrey, "The Chinese Family and the Spread of ConfucianValues," (Chapter 1) in Rozman, 46. He likens the level ofrationalization of religion to two yardsticks which alternately measure"the degree to which the religion has divested itself of magic; [and] thedegree to which it systematically unified the relation between God and theworld and therewith its own ethical relationship to the world."[73] Webercommends Protestantism for having "liquidated magic most completely"; andwhile Confucianism has not sought to eliminate "magic," Puritanismconsiders all magic devilish--therefore Confucianism must be the work ofthe devil. Among the manyconsequences of the diffusion of religion into both secular and communitylife, two of the most prominent are the functioning of religion in societywithout the need for a dominant religious institution, and an imparting ofa sacred character to social institutions.[8] The close bond between religion and society finds its strength,perhaps even its very existence, in the effective functioning of societyitself. While it may not be possible to comprehend allthe subtle workings of Heaven, the properly cultivated and nourished humanmind may still perceive the voice of God beckoning the individual.[13]However, Neo-Confucianism is significantly different from all other Asiantheologies: "Heaven [is] devoid of sound and fragrance [and it] sees asthe people see and Heaven hears as the people hear. [39]Martin Collcutt, "The Legacy of Confucianism in Japan," (Chapter3) in Rozman, 153. Persons in the first through fourth rank (taebu status and above)were required to perform rites through three generations, those in thefifth and sixth ranks, two generations, and persons in the seventh andlower ranks, only one.[52] Haboush also maintains that the most difficult task associated withthe Confucianization of Korea was the restructuring of the family alongpatrilineal lines and adopting the patriarchal system, both of which wereessentially nonexistent in Korean society at the time of the ascendancy ofthe Choson dynasty in the late fourteenth century.[53] The particular markof this social reengineering on Korean society is found in the developmentof funeral and mourning rites and ancestral worship. [38]Ibid. [78]Ibid., 38-39. [1 1]Ibid. According to Schreiter, what is required isa local theology that will: 1) listen to the culture on its own terms; 2)adopt patterns of description which are, by nature, holistic; and, 3)remain attentive to the interest of the questioner and the audience in eachevent.[92] Overview: Religions and Society in East Asia According to Weber's assessment, "all orthodox and heterodoxsalvation religions that could claim a role in Asia similar to that ofChristianity are Indian" (principally, Buddhism and Hinduism)[93]Additionally, Asia is a region, in principle, of "free competition" amongreligions. It was Weber's contention that the idea of eternal punishmentor reward in the future for one's activity in the present by an omnipotentGod "is for all genuine Asiatic thought absurd, appearing spirituallysubaltern and so it will always appear."[94] Unfortunately, for Weber, theomnipotence of God is being demonstrated in phenomenal ways throughout Asia--particularly in Korea, where the world's largest Protestant church existswith far more than 1 , members! [15]Ibid., 114. [56]Ibid., 11 . [54]Ibid., 1 2. With the rise in Confucianism, the greaterprejudice directed against shamanism can be attributed to the saying ofConfucius, "that one should 'revere Spirits, but keep them at adistance."[24] Once established as the state religion, Confucianism cameto regard shamans as socially inferior, at best--on the same order ascraftsmen and technicians, musicians, or entertainers--or, at worst, asimpostors.[25] Taoism in China began its rise in the fourth and third centuriesB.C.E. Thompson, "Shamanism in Ancient China," Chapter 5 inThe Chinese Way in Religion (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company,1973), 36-38, citing Arthur Waley, The Nine Songs, A Study of Shamanism inAncient China (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1955). "The Chinese Family and the Spread of Confucian Values." In The East Asian Region: Confucian Heritage and Its Modern Adaptation, ed. [2 ]John King Fairbank, China: A New History (Cambridge, MA: TheBelknap Press of the Harvard University Press, 1992), 53. [92]Ibid. Based on material fromArthur H. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, 1987.Earhart, H. "Korean Funerals: Ritual as Process." In Religion and Ritual in Korean Society, ed. Thesymbolism of such associations "is tantamount to releasing the long pent-upaggression of a son against his father, which may even result in parricide. . [12]Tu Wei-Ming, "On Neo-Confucianism and Human Relatedness," (Chapter7) in De Vos and Sofue, 111. [75]Ibid., 235-236. [48]Ibid., 85. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.Dredge, C. [24]Ibid. "Tradition and Ideology: Korea's Initial Response to Christianity from a Religious and Sociological Perspective." Asian Culture, 4 (1988), 115-146.Collcutt, Martin. Revell Co.,1899), and Daniel H. [1 4]Ibid., 193.----------------------- 12 1 29 Indeed,the Korean belief in a shaman's ability to exorcise spirits parallelsChrist's ability to exorcise demons, and both Christians and shamans effecthealing through prayer. [35]Ibid. Japanese Religion and Society: Paradigms of Structure and Change. Gilbert Rozman(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991), 19. The close parallels between evangelical ProtestantChristianity and Korean shamanism are linked to the Bible women's successamong Korean women in particular. [71]C. [64]Lee, ibid., 64. [7]C. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.________, and Takao Sofue, eds. Laurel Kendall and Griffin Dix, 56-7 . Indeed,the inherent dissimilarities between Eastern and Western cultures are aslikely the result of the forced separation due to geography and theconsequence of limited contact over the millennia. In someinstances, shamanism was hereditary resulting in "shaman families,"although Thompson notes that, for example, in Ch'i (northern Shantung),every family was considered to be a shaman family.[23] Shamanism openly flourished in China until it was officiallyabolished in about 32 B.C.E. [22]Ibid., 36. Bellah, 168-225. The mutuality ofHeaven and Man defines Neo-Confucian religiosity."[14] According to Tu,the eventual union of the self with Heaven is the most generalizeduniversality of Neo-Confucianism: When the personal life (shen) is cultivated, the family life (chia) will be regulated; when the family is regulated, the state (kuo) will be in order; and when the state is in order, there will be peace throughout the world (t'ien-hsia).[15]Thus, enlargement of the self is of primary importance. In targeting these groups,Christianity was confronted with the practices and beliefs which have beenattributed to shamanism, despite the official government persecution ofsuch activities for several hundred years. and ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1973.Weber, Max. Urbanites have substituted even canned beer for ameal offering, and perform the rites in "the more convenient early eveninghours" rather than the prescribed morning hours. [88]Ibid., 154. Religion and the Family in East Asia. Laurence G. [9 ]Ibid., 156. [51]Ibid., 29. It assumes a literate, idealist, and[Western] rational approach to life,"[91] which may not exist in Easternreligious and thought systems. Bellah, "Epilogue: Religion and Progress in ModernAsia," in Religion and Progress in Modern Asia, ed. Although these are not the principal reasons forthe triumph of Christian evangelization in Korea, they do provide astarting point for understanding its success.[87] Among the things to which Harvey does attribute the success ofChristian missionaries, foremost is the fact that missionaries "identifiedthe categories of people most susceptible to the appeal of Christianity anddesigned messages that would address their most pressing and specificneeds."[88] The loyalty of Korean women to their families and theirinclination to limit religious activities to the household led to reasoningthat once converted, a Korean woman would do everything within her power tobring the rest of her family to Christ. The Religion of India, trans. De Vos and Takao Sofue, 111- 125. K. Yang, Religion in Chinese Society (Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press, 1961), 295. [55]Ibid., 1 3. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.________, ed. [95]Gilbert Rozman, "Comparisons of Modern Confucian Values in Chinaand Japan," (Chapter 4) in Rozman, 157. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, 1987.De Vos, George A. [23]Ibid., 37. . Excerpted in The Chinese Way in Religion, ed. Indeed, the emperoris believed to be a descendant of the Sun Goddess, and thus qualifies as akami who heads both government and worship.[36] According to Earhart, although it may be possible to distinguish theformal traditions associated with religions such as Buddhism and Shinto,with the exception of Christianity, "all the major religious lines withinJapan have interacted to form a distinctive national heritage."[37] Inthis regard, Japanese religious culture may be viewed as a syncretism ofConfucianism, Buddhism, and Shinto--individuals have integrated differentaspects of several traditions into a "total philosophy of life."[38] Collcutt maintains, however, "Probably very few Japanese wouldattribute their recent economic success to Confucianism; they would morelikely disavow any significant role for Confucianism in modern Japan."[39]Yet, the recent, modest revival of interest in Confucianism may stem, inpart, from a belief that the regional economic growth in East Asia may berelated to a common Confucian heritage. Hans H. "Epilogue: Religion and Progress in Modern Asia." In Religion and Progress in Modern Asia, ed. [63]Ibid., 135. [46]Ibid., 86. [1 3]Ibid., 176. Religion, Society, and Modernization In China, according to Ebrey, Confucian scholars believed that thecultivation of family virtues was of supreme importance. According to Bellah, the continuity of religion in the midst ofchange and innovation serves to provide "stable points of reference" forhuman action, yet we need not be blind to the fact that most change occursin radical fashion.[1 3] Religion may exert a constant pressure to expandone's learning, or it may remain indifferent to the potential for changeand learning. [59]Ibid., 57. Regardlessof its form, religion "stems from psychological sources which areindependent of the structure of secular life."[7] Institutional religionmay be readily observed in the system of local temples and other places ofworship, however, the nature of diffused religion is all the morepervasive, and less apparent, as it serves an important function in supportof both secular institutions and society in general. As Rozman insists, the failure of social science to investigatenational heritage as the fulcrum of societal differences, particularly inthe nineteenth and twentieth centuries, belittles "the enduringconsequences of historical factors."[1] Further, (Western) politicalscientists and social scientists find separate explanations for the varyinginclinations of Eastern societies toward dictatorial or democratic regimes,socialist or capitalist development. [5]Ibid., 6. A Korean Confucian Encounter with the Modern World Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, 1995.________. [47]Ibid., 84. Dating from thetime of the Reformation, Scripture as the normative foundation forChristian living functions adequately for Western Christianity, but "itdoes not function usefully as a criterion for understanding religion ifemployed separately and solely. [74]Ibid., 227. [89]Ibid. NY: The Free Press, 1965.________, ed. Paul Dredge, "Korean Funerals: Ritual as Process," Chapter 4in Kendall and Dix, 71-92. . "The Confucianization of Korean Society." In The East Asian Region: Confucian Heritage and Its Modern Adaptation, ed. Learning requiresa continuous and ultimate commitment. [27]Ibid., 57-58. The Religion of China, trans. [3]George A. [67]Chai-Sik Chung, A Korean Confucian Encounter with the Modern World(Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, 1995), 177. De Vos and Takao Sofue, 87-95. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, 1958.Yang, C. And some religious practices are not only therapeutic for aparticular individual, but they may benefit a larger unit within society asa whole--physically, morally, or both.[6] C. Religion and Progress in Modern Asia. Unfortunately, the scope of this paper does notpermit a full examination of Dredge's work. [41]Winston Davis, Japanese Religion and Society: Paradigms ofStructure and Change (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992),229. [18]Ibid., 48-49. [87]Ibid. [13]Ibid., 112. . Gerth andDon Martindale (Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, 1958), 329. Accordingly, diffused religion takes on a finite structurewith regard to its view of the world, whereas personalized, institutionalreligion seeks to understand and offer devotion to the world beyond. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992.Deuchler, Martina. . The later influence of Neo-Confucianism on education (principally moral education based on a Neo-Confucian curriculum) was crucial to the development of a nationwide systemof public education. [8]Ibid., 298. [6 ]Laurel Kendall, "Let the Gods Eat Rice Cakes: Women's Rites in aKorean Village," Chapter 6 in Kendall and Dix, 118-138. Confucian orthodoxy demands centralization ofa rationally, bureaucratically governed welfare-state; Taoist mysticismadvocates the "greatest possible autonomy and self-sufficiency" for theindividual parts of the state. Further, Weber paints Confucianism as "naive" in its regard ofthings worldly over against "Puritan" ethics.[74] Weber's critique of Confucianism (as well as Buddhism and Taoism) isrelentlessly dogmatic and rife with stereotype. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, 1987.Rozman, Gilbert. When times of peace and prosperity are enjoyed, the religioussymbiosis between Heaven and Earth inspires hope and confidence ingovernmental affairs; but when disorder and chaos prevail, there is both aloss of faith in the cult of Heaven and Earth as well as confidence in thegovernment. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1974.Ebrey, Patricia. Hans H. According toWeber, the basic conflict revolved around the Taoist's mystical quest forsalvation--a concept completely foreign to Confucianism, and, thus, aliento the official bureaucracy. [79]Takeda Kiyoko Cho, "The Protestant Encounter with the TraditionalValue System of Japan," Asian Culture, 4 (1988), 93-1 9. Robert N. [58]Ibid., 56-57. Laurence G. [31]Ibid., 21 -212. What is more hideous than parricide in a culture that authorizes afather's authority over the family?"[69] Despite the inroads Christianityand other Western influences have made in the past 15 years or so,"traditional collectivist orientation" still restrains the ascendancy ofthe self to a large degree.[7 ] Dredge describes, at length, the Korean funeral ritual.[71] It is ayear-long procedure, and it affects not only the immediate family of thedeceased, but the entire village or neighborhood precinct as well. [68]Ibid., 176. [42]Ibid., 231. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.Harvey, Youngsook Kim. [11]Lewis R. [93]Max Weber, The Religion of India, trans. De Vos and Takao Sofue (Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press, 1984), 4. [21]Laurence G. . Laurel Kendall and Griffin Dix, 26-55. Laurel Kendall and Griffin Dix, 149-17 . Gilbert Rozman, 84-11 . Thompson. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.Lee, Kwang-Kyu. It was an alien valuesystem, and it proceeded to develop in a distinctive manner due largely tothe indigenous Korean social and familial structures which included rigidclass distinctions, a greater importance of women in the family (than inChina), and the influence of a small elite over the government.[47]Haboush describes the Confucianization process as "long, enduring almostthe full span of Korea's written history."[48] Korean Confucianists came to regard the religion as "the font oftruth" which could provide sustenance to all civilized peoples, and came tobelieve that Confucianism provided the means for Korean society to becometransformed into a civilized moral order. Religion, itself, is not static. [65]Ibid., 65. [34]H. and ed. [76]Ibid., 237. Gilbert Rozman, 45-83. would nothave been possible without contributions from institutional religion."[1 ] Lancaster, however, contends that the religious life of East Asiansocieties "cannot be described as any syncretic unitary entity."[11]Instead, there are elements of both "great" (elite, professional) and"folk" (lay) religious traditions which constitute Asian religious life.Neither seems able to exist without the other, nor can one explain why the"great" tradition continues to exert its influence in the presence of farmore widespread and diverse "folk" practices. [49]Ibid., 93. Even if Buddhism isconsidered to be a "great" tradition in the sense that it developed a(professional) monastic system, it remains woven into the fabric ofshamanism and other folk practices which may have much broader appeal. [1 ]Robert N. [61]Ibid., 119. Thompson. According to Yang, institutional religion can be observed in at leastthree different dimensions: ancient classical religion carried on bymagicians and sorcerers (wu); religions of universal salvation, such asthe predominant Buddhist and Taoist sects; and in syncretic religioussocieties.[9] In contrast to the role of diffused religion's importancefor a particular group, institutional religion serves the needs ofindividuals. [25]Ibid. NY: The Free Press, 1951.________. Religion in the Japanese Experience. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.Fairbank, John King. Butsuch a quest was beyond the bulk of Taoist society; for them, more routineforms such as dietetic, alchemical, and respiratory recipes, magicalformulas, and myriad cults were sufficient in the search forimmortality.[27] Max Weber likens Taoism to heterodoxy in contrast to the orthodoxy ofConfucianism.[28] Although early Taoist doctrines coexisted alongsidethose of Confucianism, they ultimately became antagonistic. AsYang posits, "The development of diffused religion in China . Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press, 1992.Haboush, JaHyun Kim. [97]Ibid., 159. Its development, in some sense, is rooted in shamanism (or is atleast parallel to it). "Confucian-Protestant Encounter in Korea: Two Cases of Westernization and De-Westernization." Ching Feng, 34 (January 1991), 51-81.________. The Chinese Way in Religion. [73]Weber, ibid., 226. Thompson. [9]Ibid., 3 1. [36]Ibid., 8. As we seek to understand them, if we canonly discard our cultural biases, the differences we perceive to exist mayevaporate in a revelation of the true function of religion: "to provide asense of meaning and identity, to show men what is ultimately true andgood."[1 4] BibliographyBays, Daniel H. "Introduction." in The East Asian Region: Confucian Heritage and Its Modern Adaptation, ed. Although they wereslow to take hold, Confucian rituals, with the aid of legal sanctions(which were not vigorously enforced until late in the fifteenth century),were adopted first by the Royal family, then by the ruling elite, andfinally by the rest of the "yangban" (the civil and militaryauthorities).[54] Adoption of Confucian rites by the common classes was probablyfacilitated by folk religious beliefs which acknowledged the existence ofanimistic spirits, ghosts, and supernatural beings, as well as a belief inancestors' souls.[55] Haboush believes that the participation of thevarious social strata in Confucian rituals paved the way for associationsbetween persons of differing classes, and permitted the mores and mannersof the upper classes to filter down and permeate the common classes.[56] Lee explains that in patrilineal societies the sons always remainwhile the daughters join other families through marriage.[57] And inKorea, the eldest son lives with his parents for the rest of his life;subordinate sons remain temporarily (sometimes indefinitely) in theirparents' homes after marriage, but eventually (and often sequentially) moveout to establish independent households.[58] Inheritance and successionare bound together with the male heir's duty to perform ancestor worship.Thus, one who performs ancestor worship is as important as those beingcommemorated, "because dead souls with no one to commemorate them cannotbecome ancestors."[59] In contrast to this, Kendall's essay describes women's roles inKorean religious society today.[6 ] Women make offerings to the householdgods--they are "deceptively simple" in both content and form when comparedto those of men for their ancestors: "A woman sets a cup of water on thelid of an earthen storage jar beside a burning candle; she leaves a plateof rice cake under the roof beam and bobs a stiff bow."[61] Every househas its share of gods, and if the household gods become dissatisfied, theiranger translates into misfortune for the entire household.[62] But Kendallargues that the ritual activities of Korean women are antecedent to thoseof Confucianism, and, to some extent, have survived it.[63] According to Lee, ancestor worship is the specific activity of (male)humans which sets them apart from beasts in Confucian thought and practice. Religion in Chinese Society. [4]Ibid. Korean understanding of the "military, technological, andeconomic superiority" of the West was erroneously equated with a superiorspiritual foundation, and adoption of Christianity was seen as an expedientmeans of acquiring the "enlightenment" necessary for Korea to become astrong and prosperous nation.[84] Similarly, following the turn of the century, Protestantdenominations with missionary efforts in Korea "pooled their efforts to win'a million souls for Christ.'"[85] Missionaries recognized that women andcommon folk in Korea were severely oppressed. De Vos and Takao Sofue, 3-33. [72]Ibid., 71. [32]Ibid., 213. . [17]Ibid., 47. [94]Ibid., 332. Village Life in China. Smith, Village Life in China (New York: Fleming H. Byron Earhart, Religion in the Japanese Experience (Belmont,CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1974), 7. "The Legacy of Confucianism in Japan." In The East Asian Region: Confucian Heritage and Its Modern Adaptation, ed. According to Harvey, "Toindividuals with little control over their lives, shamanism offered avenuesfor direct negotiations with the supernatural."[86] Christianity, with its emphasis on the "Holy Ghost," found itselfhighly compatible with shamanistic beliefs in spirit possession. [69]Ibid, 176-177. Laurel Kendall and Griffin Dix, 71-92. [33]Ibid. The divide is not so simple as the distinctions between mereChristianity, Confucianism, or communism, nor is it reducible to simplephilosophical terms such as capitalism, liberalism, or Marxism. [4 ]Ibid. probably owes much to a strong core ofcommon culture shared by nearly all Chinese, a very large component ofwhich related to the family."[17] Ebrey asserts that patrilineality (descent and kinship) andpatriarchy (property and authority) are the two key features of Chinesesociety around which the family has been organized. The tensions between various world religions--Buddhism, Taoism,Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Shinto, and myriad others --may only berepresented by alternative sets of symbols which are intrinsicallyunintelligible to one another. Lancaster, "Elite and Folk: Comments on the Two-TieredTheory," (Chapter 5) in De Vos and Sofue, 88. [6]Ibid., 7. [45]JaHyun Kim Haboush, "The Confucianization of Korean Society,"(Chapter 2) in Rozman, 84. [19]Ibid., 49. According to Deuchler's research,about three hundred years was needed for this to happen. By the end of thefourteenth century, legislative mandate established the number ofgenerations which one was expected to commemorate, based upon one's socialstatus. Weber asserts that Taoist mystics "upheldthe slogan: as little bureaucracy as possible."[29] Drawing on the nineteenth century experiences of Arthur Smith inrural China, as well as Daniel Kulp's in the early twentieth, Thompsonexamines more modern aspects of Chinese religion.[3 ] In Smith's view, theconstruction of temples began as a community interest first expressed by afew individuals. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1973.Lancaster, Lewis R. [1 ]Ibid., 3 2. Gerth(NY: The Free Press, 1951), 177. The so-called "Bible women" (Korean women employed by missionariesto assist with evangelism) have also been accused of "shamanizing"Christianity. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1925. K. Haboush reports that by the end of the fifteenthcentury, the number of students enrolled reached 15,5 .[49] Deuchler credits Neo-Confucianism (first appearing in the tenth andeleventh centuries C.E.) with the rise of agnation (male-only lines ofrelation) and ancestor worship.[5 ] According to Deuchler, agnatic linealdescent groups serve to order society and guarantee the continuation of thepolitical process: In order to control the minds of the people, unify one's kin, and enrich social customs so that people will not forget their origin, it is necessary to clarify genealogy, group members of the clan together, and institute a system of heads of descent.[51] Once such patrilineal organization is in place, then the rituals ofancestor worship can be established. Robert N. Thedeath of one member of society creates the need to reorder survivingrelationships; it may also create opportunities for those who arepolitically or socially "ambitious" to advance within the social order orto exert influential changes in it (often producing conflict and damagingnot a few egos).[72] Christianity and Asian Religions Max Weber depicts the dichotomy between (Protestant) Christianity andConfucianism in terms of rationalism. The East Asian Region: Confucian Heritage and Its Modern Adaptation. Client: Rohler Format: Basic Subject: Religion & Society in East AsiaSociety and Religion in Non-Western Societies Reconciling the societal differences between the Western world andAsia--particularly with respect to China, Korea, and Japan--may never be apossibility. For Christianssteeped in Reformist traditions, Bellah's words are almost prophetic:"People raised in a particular religious tradition may find it difficult todiscern in the positions of other groups or individuals anything that meetstheir own normal criteria of religion."[1 ] Bellah posits that in a givensociety, there may be groups which are devoted to specific and diverse setsof religious symbols, that there can be individuals who are committed to asingular set of symbols shared by no one else in his or her society, or anindividual can be committed to several different sets of religious symbolsin varying degrees. According to Chai-Sik Chung,this heterodoxy "threatened Korea's traditional social structure andmorality."[67] In the absence of the transcendent Christian God,traditional Confucian Korean worldview would maintain the domination of thefather along the lines of filial duty and loyalty, with the understandingthat "all human relationships make sense only through the framework of thefather-son relationship."[68] In the Christian perspective, the son, as anindividual, could transcend his familial ties subsequently entering intoother symbolic relationships of community (such as the church). Gilbert Rozman, 157-2 3. However, Leerationalizes, it may be better that the process is simplified than lostentirely.[66] In the nineteenth century, Korean Confucianism was seriouslyconfronted by western civilization, particularly Protestant Christianity.The religious teachings of Christianity were viewed as heterodox to thoseof Confucianism, and a great tension ensued. [1 2]Ibid., 173. In mainland China, however, things are not as optimistic. Hans H. Revell Co., 1899. [3 ]Thompson, "Religion in the Rural Communities in Recent Times,"Chapter 27 in The Chinese Way in Religion, 21 -23 . Constructing Local Theologies. K. Hans H. and ed. [62]Ibid., 121. [91]Robert J. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1973.Thompson, Laurence G. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1961.----------------------- [1]Gilbert Rozman, "Introduction," in The East Asian Region:Confucian Heritage and Its Modern Adaptation, ed. The Nine Songs, A Study of Shamanism in Ancient China. Gilbert Rozman, 111-154. Bellah (NY:The Free Press, 1965), 172. It presents Chineseculture as thoroughly pagan, desperately in need of Christian salvation.He writes: Completely absent in Confucian ethic was any tension between nature and deity, between ethical demand and human shortcoming, consciousness and salvation, conduct on earth and compensation in the beyond, religious duty and socio-political reality. [85]Youngsook Kim Harvey, "The Korean Shaman and the Deaconess:Sisters in Different Guises," Chapter 8 in Kendall and Dix, 149-17 , 151. . Everyone haspatrilineal surnames, patrilineal ancestor worship is widespread, and theneed for a male heir are among the dominant characteristics ofpatrilineality. [98]Ibid., 161. "Ancestor Worship and Kinship Structure in Korea." In Religion and Ritual in Korean Society, ed. "On Neo-Confucianism and Human Relatedness." In Religion and the Family in East Asia, ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.Davis, Winston. [57]Kwang-Kyu Lee, "Ancestor Worship and Kinship Structure in Korea,"Chapter 3 in Kendall and Dix, 56-7 . "The Protestant Encounter with the Traditional Value System of Japan." Asian Culture, 4 (1988), 93-1 9.Chung, Chai-Sik. George A. Thompson excerpts Arthur Waley's The Nine Songs as he examines themysticism in ancient Chinese religion which was associated with the cult ofspirits.[21] The shaman (wu) was an intermediary between mortal man andthe spirit world who was expert in prophecy, exorcism, rain-making, fortune-telling, and interpreting dreams. Some critics find it difficult todistinguish whether prayer healing performed by some Bible women wassomething carried over from shamanistic ritual or learned from themissionaries.[9 ] Perhaps the single most important obstacle Christianity has toovercome in an Asian setting is its own intellectual bias. . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.________. Where Judaism,Christianity, and Islam operate along a single continuum from one beginningto an eventual end, some Asian religions depict a cycle of seeminglyendless rebirths. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, 1987.Kulp, Daniel H. Thus, the definitive effect of Neo-Confucianism on society is directly dependent upon the degree of learningone attains. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1973.Tu Wei-Ming. New York: Fleming H. Yang points out, with respect to Chinese society in particular,that religion takes on both diffused and institutional roles. . [14]Ibid., 112-113. Bays, "The Roles of Christianity in Nineteenth CenturyChina," Asian Culture, 4 (1988), 35. Unfortunately, the severelysegregated Korean society proved to be virtually impenetrable to themissionary effort in the nineteenth century.[89] Nevertheless, Korean women have proved to be the inroad Christianityneeded. [86]Ibid., 152. . China: A New History. "Religion and Family: Structural and Motivational Relationships." In Religion and the Family in East Asia, ed. [99]Ibid. Excess monies remaining afterconstruction was complete usually purchased adjoining land so that thefacility became self-supporting.[31] Kulp's more professional sociological approach drew a connectionbetween the cult of dead ancestors and family solidarity. According to Thompson, Taoists sought to obtainimmortality for the physical body, considered to be the abode of spiritsand souls.[26] In its most mystical form, practitioners of Taoism soughtto enter a trance and obtain ecstasy without exterior stimulation. Although noteveryone became a student or a public official, "everyone had relativeswhom they should treat in ethically correct ways."[16] Modern observersoften attribute the Chinese peoples' willingness to work hard for little orno reward to "Confucian" values toward the family system. Laurence G. Gilbert Rozman, 3-42. [37]Ibid., 117. [2]Ibid., 19-2 . This contrasts sharply with the Puritan ethic which amounts to an objectification of man's duty as a creature of God.[75]According to Weber, the greatest achievement of the so-called "ethicalreligions, above all of the ethical and asceticist sects of Protestantism"was their establishment of a superior community of faith as opposed to thepatrilineal system of Confucianism.[76] On the other hand, in responseto the presence of Roman Catholic missionaries in China from the late 15 sthrough the early eighteenth century, Christianity was considered to be "adangerous and subversive sect" (similar in nature to the "White Lotus"sect).[77] After being prohibited in 1724, it was unlikely that Christianmissionaries in the nineteenth century were aware of the depth of suspicionthe Chinese authorities harbored toward Christianity as a heterodoxdoctrine. The scope of this paper is insufficient to deal with thisaspect of Asian religion adequately. [44]Ibid., 27 . The primary purpose of the more recent Neo-Confucianism, which datesfrom the eleventh century according to Tu, promotes learning "for the sakeof one's self."[12] Thus learning is not designed to lead one intoconformity with external standards of conduct or to please others, but isan act of self-realization. Among its central features, kami (loosely defined as thedeities of heaven and earth, which includes human beings, as well as birds,animals, trees, plants, mountains, oceans, etc.) and the veneration ofnature have penetrated virtually all of Japanese culture.[35] According totradition, Shinto and the state are closely related.

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