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Vernacular and Classical Ritual in Taoism
Abstract
Rituals that accompany community celebrations in China come in two kinds: vernacular and classical. The reason why these two forms exist is not easily explained. To the two forms of liturgy correspond two kinds of specialists: the tao-shi(Taoist dignitary) and the fa-shih(Master of rites). Both are commonly called “master,” and their practices are often confused by laymen. In fact, the two traditions are opposite and rivaling, but they are also largely complementary. This article, which is mainly based on fieldwork in southern Taiwan during the 1960s, explores both traditions, but emphasizes the lesser known vernacular one. An attempt is made to assess how widespread this situation was in China, and how far back in history it can be traced. The story of Hsu Chia, Lao-tzu's illiterate servant, which is considered the origin of the vernacular tradition, is studied in detail.
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Schipper's discussions of the hierarchical system of gods' masters, especially the relations and distinctions between daoshi and fashi, became important starting points for research by Lagerwey, Dean, and many other scholars.
“became important starting points in the research of his students John Lagerwey and Kenneth Dean, and of many other scholars.”
From Religion and Society: A Summary of French Studies on Chinese Religion (2014) · cites this paper as Schipper 1985
The five spirit-soldier camps comprise the village deities' army and are usually located at the center and the north, south, east, and west borders of the village to guard it and prevent invasions of evil spirits.
“The five spirit-soldier camps ( ngo-iann ; wuying ) comprise the village deities' army and are usually located at the center and the north, south, east, and west borders of the village to guard it and prevent invasions of evil spirits (Jordan 1972: 50-51; Schipper 1985).”
From Conceptualizing Gods through Statues: A Study of Personification and Localization in Taiwan (2008) · cites this paper as Schipper 1985
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Research works printed but not linked: 34
- Schipper, 1971, Démonologie chinoise, Génies, 8, 405
- Van der Loon, 1979, A Taoist Collection of the Fourteenth Century, Studia Sino-Mongolica, 25, 401
- Schipper, 1981, Papers of the International Conference of Sinology, 3, 101
- Kōjun, 1951, Shinsenten kō, Tōhō shūkyō, 1, 1
- Hsien-chang, 1979, Bōsō shinkō no kenkyū
- Chih-wan, 1966, Taiwan chih wen-shen miao” [The temples of the gods of epidemics on Taiwan, Bulletin of the Institute of Ethnology Academia Sinica, 22, 53
- Stein, 1979, Facets of Taoism, 63
- Strickmann, 1980, Le Taoïsme du Mao-chan
- Maspero, 1981, Taoism and Chinese Religion
- Van der Loon, 1977, Journal Asiatique, 265
- Schipper, 1975, Le Fen-teng, rituel taoïste
- Schipper, 1982, Le corps taoïste
- Van der Loon, 1979, Occasional Papers of the European Association of Chinese Studies 2
- Schipper, 1977, The City in Late Imperial China, 651
- Su-shang, 1961, Taiwan tien-ying hsi-chü shi
- Schipper, 1977, Dōkyō no zōhōteki kenkyū, 252
- Schipper, 1974, Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society, 309
- Schipper, 1965, Wu-pai pen ‘koa-a-chheh’ mu-lu, Taiwan Fengwu, 15, 41
- Ninji, 1983, Chūgokujin no shūkyō girei
- Fu-chin, 1962, Ui-im po-kam
- De Groot, 1881, De jaarlijkse feesten en gebruiken van de Emoy-Chineezen {The annual festivals and customs of the Amoy Chinese}, 2
- Douglas, 1893, Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular of Amoy
- Chih-wan, 1974, Lü-shan chiao chih shou-hun fa” [The rites of calling the souls of the Lü-shan tradition, Chung-kuo min-chien hsin-yang lun-chi, 22, 207
- Shih-ch'eng, 1965, Nanying wen-hsien, 9
- De Groot, 1892, The Religious System of China, 6, 10.1163/9789004730984 · DOI
- Lévi-Strauss, 1973, Anthropologie structurale, 283
- Strickmann, 1978, History of Religions, 17, 3
- Gernet, 1956, Les aspects économiques du Buddhisme dans la société chinoise du Ve au Xe siècle
- Ching-lang, 1973, Monnaies d'offrande et la notion de trésorerie dans la religion chinoise
- Ying-chi, 1929, Fu-chien san-shen k'ao
- Granet, 1925, Etudes sociologiques sur la Chine, 243
- Welch, 1970, History of Religions, 9, 2
- Barclay, 1923, Supplement to (Douglas'). Dictionary of the Vernacular of Amoy
- Dudbridge, 1978, The Legend of Miao-shan
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Bell, C. M. (1996) · Late Imperial China · doi:10.1353/late.1996.0001 · Cited by 50
From Credulity to Scorn: Confucians Confront the Spirit Mediums in Late Imperial China
Sutton, D. S. (2000) · Late Imperial China · doi:10.1353/late.2000.0010 · Cited by 29
Conceptualizing Gods through Statues: A Study of Personification and Localization in Taiwan
Lin, W.-P. (2008) · Comparative Studies in Society and History · doi:10.1017/s0010417508000200 · Cited by 11
Trial by Power: Some Preliminary Observatrions on the Judicial Roles of Taoist Martial Deities
Katz, P. R. (2008) · Journal of Chinese Religions · doi:10.1179/073776908803501150 · Cited by 4
Wu, N. (2014) · Review of Religion and Chinese Society · doi:10.1163/22143955-04102008 · Cited by 2
Vernacular “Fiction” and Celestial Script: A Daoist Manual for the Use of Water Margin
Meulenbeld, M. (2019) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel10090518 · Cited by 2
“4 This class of rituals has been described first in an article by (Schipper 1985, pp. 21–57).”
Backgroundnone (1999) · Early Medieval China · doi:10.1179/152991099788199454
Untitled work
Zhang, C. (2019) · Journal of the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies
Metadata
- Authors
- Schipper, K.
- Corresponding author
- Schipper, Kristofer
- Venue
- The Journal of Asian Studies
- Publisher
- Duke University Press
- Published
- 1985-11
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 21-57
- ISSN
- 0021-9118 (ISSN-L)
- 1752-0401
- OpenAlex
- W2101686018
- Cited by
- 53
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 2.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Asian Studies (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Chinese history and philosophy
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › General Arts and Humanities › Cultural and Mythological Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Arts and Performance Studies
- Keywords
- Taoist ritual, Laozi, southern Taiwan, Chinese folk religion, ritual specialists, history of Taoism
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