The Dynamics of Religions and Cultural Evolution 13

HubertSeiwert The DynamicsofReligions and CulturalEvolution: Worshipping Fuxi in ContemporaryChina

Abstract: The paper discusses the theme of the congress ‘Dynamics of Religions’ in the theoretical context of cultural evolution. In contrast to the prevailing progression model of culturalevolution, it proposes adiversification model thatal- lows for consideringthe dynamics of religions on the micro-level. In this view,a central element of cultural evolution is the dialectical relationship between cultural production and culturalenvironment,which is the outcome of culturalpro- duction and at the sametime enables and restricts further production. The ap- proach is exemplified by the religious dynamics in contemporary China focusing on the worship of Fuxi in popularand state rituals. The example also serves to illustrate divergent views of what counts as religion.

Keywords: culturalevolution, religious dynamics, China, Fuxi, popular religion, state rituals, ancestor worship

As this opening lectureisatthe same time thefirst Gary LeaseMemorialLecture, Iwould like to begin by brieflyreferringtoatheoreticalpoint made by that hon- ored scholarofreligion. In an articlepublished in 2000,Lease discussesthe per- ennial problemofdefiningreligion. He concludeswiththe remark: ‘Butwhatever definitionsmay emerge,theywillalwaysbeaccompanied by boundariesthat allowus[…]todistinguish what we allowtocount as religion from therestof ourculturalproductions’ (Lease 2000,293). It is noteworthy to observethatLease doesnot askfor theboundariesofreli- gion, butfor theboundariesof‘what we allowtocountasreligion.’ Thestudy of religion is facing thedilemma that religion is not an object of empiricalobserva- tion (Lease [1994] 2009,129). Addressing this dilemmaand reflecting on it is acon- stitutiveelement of our discipline.Ithas, as it were,lostthe innocent naivety whichmostother disciplines areprivilegedtouse when dealingwithreligion. Thequestionofboundariestodistinguish religion from therestofcultural productionswillrepeatedlysurface in this paperalthoughIshallnot treatitsys- tematically. Primarily, Iwillapproachthe generaltheme of this conference,which is ‘dynamics of religions’.Whendraftingthispaper,mystartingpoint wasthe ob- servationoftempleactivitiesincontemporaryChina that appeared to be examples of religiousdynamicsonthe microlevel.After brieflydescribingone of theseex-

DOI 10.1515/9783110450934-002, © 2017 Hubert Seiwert, Published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 10 Hubert Seiwert amples,Iwill putthe discussionofreligious dynamics into thetheoreticalframe of religious andcultural evolution. This will be followed by amoredetaileddescrip- tion of theempirical case andits historical context, in ordertouse it as an illus- tration of cultural evolutiononthe microlevel.Finally,somefurther theoretical aspectsofreligious evolutionand methodological problems will be addressed againstthe backdropofthe findings.

1Dynamicsofpopularreligionincontemporary China

Thetheme of this Congress is supplemented by thespecification ‘past andpres- ent’.Ihave chosen therefore an examplefromthe presentthatallowsfor drawing linestothe past.Contemporary China is aperfect case to observereligious dynam- icsinthe present. During theCultural Revolution (1966– 1976), most temples, monasteries, mosquesand churches were destroyedorconvertedtoother purposes.All religiousactivitieswereoutlawedand virtuallydisappeared from public life. With thechangeofthe religiouspolicyofthe Communist Partyfromthe early 1980son, however, therebegan atremendousrevival of religions. Itsmostvisible expressions arethe large-scale reproduction of religioussites andthe building of newones. Buddhist andDaoistinstitutionswerereorganized andexpanded, and Christianity andIslam increasingly gained public visibility.Mostremarkableisalso therevival of what Westernscholarsusually call ‘popular religion’,whichincludes allreligious sitesand activities that do not belong to oneofthe five officially rec- ognizedreligions.Itisonthisaspectofcontemporaryreligious dynamics that I will concentrate in thefollowing. In thespring of 2015,Ihad theopportunity to observeanumber of temple festivals in north-westernChina.Templefestivals (miaohui) arequite common in the region nowadays, becauseeachvillage hasits owntemple. Dependingonthe im- portance of thetempleand itsdeity,the festivalscan be bigevents. They involve notonlyrituals of worshippingand presenting offeringstothe deity,but also var- ious kinds of entertainment. Thereallybig festivalsextendoverseveraldaysor even weeksand usuallyinclude temple fairs. They mayattract tens,orevenhun- dreds, of thousandsofpeople.¹

 One of the biggest temple festivals takes placeinHuaiyang, Henan province,atatemple compound includingthe alleged tomb of Fuxi. It lasts for one month from the second dayofthe second lunar month to the thirdofthe third month and attracts morethan twohundred thousand visitors from the neighboringprovinces;HudongBaike ;Baidu Baike b.

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Theexample Iwilluse to illustrate some aspectsofreligious dynamics is a temple festival whichiscelebrated in thecityofTianshuiinGansu province from the13thtothe 17th of thefirst lunarmonth,which in 2015 wasearly March. It is oneofthe bigger events with allday performances of localoperas, musicand dancingtroupes,and otherentertainments. Thefestival is dedicated to Fuxi 伏羲 – amythicalfiguresaidtohaveinventedthe foundations of Chinese culture, amongthemthe institutionoffamilyand thefamousEightTrigrams (bagua) on whichthe BookofChanges is based. Fuxi is worshipped in alarge,wal- ledtemplecompound. Borderingthe temple wall is asmall temple of theBlack Pool Dragon King (heichi longwang). Part of therituals that canbeobservedduringthe days of thefestivalisapara- ding of thestatues of Fuxi andthe Dragon King,bothsitting in palanquins carried by anumberofyoung fellows. Theparade includes atroupeofDaoistpriests and nuns whoduringthese days also performrituals in frontofthe Dragon King temple. However, theDaoists do notplayany role in themainrituals forFuxi, which take placeinside the temple compound andare performedbylay people of the temple association. It is also inside thetemplecompoundwhere an unusualritualcan be observed.Itconsistsinslaughtering, ratherunceremoniously, apig andasheepin frontofthe temple of Fuxi.The bloodofthe victimsisdrunk by some,but most useittosoakmoney bills, whichissaidtobring good fortune. Lateron, thepig is displayedasanoffering on thethresholdofthe main hall facing thestatueof Fuxi. Thereisnoneedtodescribefurther detailsofthisfive-dayritualevent. The briefdescription should be sufficient to explainwhy,asascholarofreligion, I wasinterestedinattending this ritual.Iwasconvinced Iwouldwitness an exam- pleofthe dynamicrevival of popularreligion, includingthe very rareperformance of an animal sacrifice. However, when Iasked people,theyunanimously explained that therituals forFuxihavenothing to do with religion. Thereasongiven wasvery simple:Fuxiisnot agod butconsideredthe firstancestorofthe Chinesepeople. So,itisaformofancestorworship (Xin Xuan 2015,50).But again, it’snot religious.Otherwise,the mayorofthe city andother representativesofthe Communist Partycertainly wouldnot have participated as guests of honorinthe main offering ritual on thenight of thethird day. Afterall,members of theCommunistParty are notallowed to publicly engageinreligious activities. If religioniswhatpeopledeclaretobeorallow to countasreligion(Lease [1994] 2009,130), then Iapparentlywas on thewrong trackwhenIexpected to observeareligiousevent.But,evenifitmight notbepartofareligion,the Fuxi temple festival without doubtisaninteresting object of research of thestudy of religion. Iwillcomebacktothisfestivallater.

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2Culturaland religiousdynamics andevolution

Beforereturning to theworship of Fuxi,itisnecessary to explainthe theoretical outlookItake on theconcept of ‘dynamicsofreligions’.Apossibleunderstanding wouldbetosimplyequatedynamicswithchange.Inconventionallanguagethe conceptofchangeissufficientlyclear,but as atheoretical conceptitisapt to lead into thetrapofessentialismbysuggestingthatthere is somethingthat changesinsomerespectswhile remainingessentially thesame. Religiouschange couldthusmeanthatreligionchangesits formswithout changing itsessence of beingreligion. Evidently, what remainsthe same is not religion as something that exists behind theempirical data,but religion as atheoreticalconcept used to interpretthe data.Asthe conceptofchangecan implyessentialistassumptions, Iprefertoexplicate religiousdynamicsasanaspectofcultural evolution. ‘Cultural evolution’ is atheoretical concept referringtothe production andreproduction of humanculture.The conceptisrelatedtogenetic evolution, whichin thecaseofhuman evolutionisabout theroleofgenes:their transmissionand modifications as factorsconditioning thephenotypicaltraitsofhumans. Cultural evolutionlikewiseaimsatunderstanding factors conditioning humanphenotypes, whichinclude notonlythe anatomical properties andneuronalfunctions of humanbodiesbut also thewayshumansbehave, think, feel andinteract. From this perspective, thereisagreatdiversity of human phenotypes,which obviously is notdue to geneticbut to cultural diversification. Theculturaldiversification of humans at anygiven time is theoutcome of evolutionary processesthatmake up cultural evolution. To contrast geneticand cultural factorsinfluencing human phenotypes,Itake ‘culture’ to refertoeverythingconditioninghuman phenotypes that is an outcome of humanactivity. It thus includes both material andimmaterial humanproducts. It shouldbeobservedthatthisconceptofculture is more comprehensivethanthe usualunderstanding of theterminthe social sciences, whereculture mostly is takentodenotepatternsofmeaning,values, rules, ideas andknowledge that arerepresented symbolically (Tylor 1871,1;Kroeber,Kluckhohn [1952] 1963,357; Geertz 1966,3;Archer1996, xviii).Inthe terminologyusedhere, this allwould be part of theimmaterialculture,which includes social institutions.However,culture also comprises material products.Inshort,itdenotes that part of realityaffect- inghuman behavior,thinking, feeling, andbodilyfunctions that exists onlybe- causeithas been broughtabout by humans.²

 It should be observed that cultural evolution presupposes genetic or biological evolution because humans are biological beings.They have evolvedgeneticallyinawaythat enables them to

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This appliestoimmaterialaswellastomaterial products.Infact, materialand immaterial cultureare closelyconnectedbecause theproductionofmaterialgoods usuallydepends on availabletechnologiesand knowledge.Furthermore,the meaningofmaterial products,suchastemplebuildings or particular dress, is an elementofimmaterialculture.Because material andimmaterial products existinthe cultural environmentofindividualand collective actors,their behavior hastoadapt to theirenvironment andistherefore to some extent conditionedby it.Thisiswhy cultureisbothaproductofhuman activity andafactor affecting humanactivity. This dialecticalrelationshipbetween human activity andhuman cultureisthe keyfactorofculturalevolution. Theconnectionbetween cultural evolutionand thedynamicsofreligions stemsfromthe fact that religionsare part of humanculture.Whateverdefinition of religion we maychooseand howeverwedefinethe boundaries,itisobvious that there cannot be religionwithout humans.Whenwestudy religion empirically, such as beliefs, rituals, institutions,symbolicrepresentations or material artifacts, we deal with humanproducts. Whilecultural evolutioninvolvesthe wholeprocess of culturalproductionand reproduction in theevolution of humankind, cultural dynamicsapplies to devel- opmentswithinacircumscribedperiodoftime. As atheoreticalconcept, cultural dynamics includes qualitativeand quantitative aspects. Qualitatively, we must dif- ferentiate betweendifferent classesofhuman products such as beliefs, rituals, institutions,socialorganization, technologies etc. Thequantitative aspect of cultural dynamics concerns theincreaseordecreaseofthe numberorfrequency of production of particular products within thetimerange under consideration. To give an examplefromthe fieldofChinese religions:ifwetake culturalproductsclassified as temples, we observethatduringthe threedecades after1980their numberhas increased, whichindicatespositivedynamicsinthe production andreproduction of temples. Thesameapplies to othercultural products such as temple festivals, Buddhist monks,³ or publications aboutdeities.Since allthese products areusu-

produce culture. However,human behavior,thinking, feeling, and bodilyfunctions arenot de- termined geneticallybecause ontogenesis is also affected by environment factors.What Iwant to underline hereisthe fact that alarge part of the environment conditioninghuman life has been produced by humans in the course of cultural evolution. This means that human phenotypes, i.e., the actual behavior etc., is aresult of both genetic and cultural evolution. The production of cultureispart of the biological nature of humans that enables the species to transmit pheno- typical traits to the next generation independentlyofgenetic inheritance.  Buddhist monks arecultural products in the sense that the status of monk dependsonhuman activity.Anincrease in the number of monks presupposes an increase in human activities that confer the status of monks.

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 14 Hubert Seiwert ally classified as religious, theirincreased production couldbetaken as an indica- torofreligious dynamics.The exampleshows that theconcept of cultural dynam- icsprovidesatheoretical perspectiveoncultural processesthathas notthe same extensionascultural change. Of course,cultural dynamics andevolution also implycultural change if we consider theireffects. Culture, conceivedofasthe totality of human products, changeswiththe appearanceordisappearance of certainculturalproducts. How- ever theprocesses that induce thesechangesare notchangesthemselves, butsin- gulareventsthatoccur underparticularconditionsoftime, space, environment andagency. To consider theconditionsunder whichsingulareventsofcultural production occurallowsfor zoomingdownthe theoreticalperspective to the levelofempirical data. As hasbeenillustrated,the dynamicsofreligions canbeunderstoodasapar- ticularaspectofculturaldynamicsreferringtocultural productions consideredto be part of areligionorclassifiedasreligious.The problemisthatwhatisallowed to countasreligionordeemedreligious maybehighly controversial.Thisdoesn’t make theconceptofreligionfutileand thestudy of religion impossible.But we have to be awarethatreligionisnot an empiricalobjectwhose dynamicscan be observed,but atheoretical conceptdirectingthe perspectivewithwhich to look at andinterpret empiricaldata. Applying this perspectiveiswhatcharacter- izes thestudy of religion,evenifthere is no consensusabout what counts as religion. Cultural andreligious evolutioncannotbestudied withoutstudyinghistory. Historyisalsoconcerned with human activities andtheir outcomes. Whilethe em- piricaldataare thesame, thestudy of cultural evolutionand human history are differentintheir research outlooks.The goal of historical studiesistoreconstruct, understand andpossiblyexplain events anddevelopmentsthathappenedatpar- ticularconstellations of time andspace.The studyofcultural evolutionaimsatun- derstandingand explaining thegeneralfactors that conditionthe ongoingprocess- es of cultural production andreproduction. However, data provided by historical research areindispensable forthe analysis of cultural evolution. As will be seen in thenextsection,theoriesofculturalevolution aretherefore pronetotakethe form of theories of history.

2.1Two approaches to cultural evolution

Thereare twomainapproachestoculturaland religiousevolution,which Icallthe ‘progression model’ andthe ‘diversificationmodel’.Theydonot contradict each

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 The Dynamics of Religions and Cultural Evolution 15 other, butreflect different viewsonthe dynamics of religions both past andpres- ent. Theprogression modelfocuses on thesequenceofstagesinthe development of humanculture.The best exampleofthisapproachisRobertBellah’ssequence of tribal,archaic,historical, andmodernreligions,which correspondstothe development of economic andpolitical formations from tribal societiestomodernstates (Bellah1964; Bellah2001). Thebasic structureofthismodel is marked by two majorturning points in theevolution of humanculture:the AxialAge in the firstmillenniumBCE andthe Modern Age. TheAxial Ageisdescribed as abreakthroughintheoretical thinking,which opened newhorizonsofuniversal principles,criticalthinkingand an ontological distinctionbetween differentlevelsofreality:the empiricaland thetranscendent (Arnason,Eisenstadt, Wittrock 2005,2;Bellah2005). Theemergence of historical religions includingBuddhism, Christianity,and Islamisinterpretedasone of theoutcomesofAxial Agetransformations. TheModernAge,which sometimesisconsideredanewaxial age(Lambert 1999), likewise engendered profound intellectual andreligious changes. Although most scholarsagree in consideringmodernity afundamentallynew epochin humanhistory with far-reaching consequences forthe developmentofreligions, thereissomedisagreementonwhatexactly theseconsequences aresupposed to be. Theprogression modelinone form or anotherhas been widely accepted as a basisfor structuringhuman historyand viewingcultural andreligious evolution.It hasthe shortcomingofsuggestingalinear developmentofdifferent stages.Gary Lease hascharacterized such distinctions of stages as aconstructionofWestern historical thinking (Lease [1994] 2009,119– 121;cf. Casanova 2012). Theprogression modelis‘autobiographical’ (Weil1975) becauseitinterprets humanhistory from theperspective of our ownmoderncondition by trying to identifythe stepsthat were necessarytoreach this condition. It is aselective view of cultural evolution that concentratesoneventsand developments that pavedthe waytomodernity. Concomitantly, thecountlessculturalproductions that have no meaninginthistel- eologicalinterpretationare notseenasbeing part of cultural evolution. In this way, theprogression modelovershadows thediversity broughtabout by cultural evolution. In contrast to theprogression model, thediversification modeldoesnot focus on asequenceofdevelopmental stages butonthe cumulative processofcultural production.Fromthisperspective,the intellectual andreligious innovationsthat doubtlesslyoccurredinancient Greece,India or Chinadonot appear as breakthroughs in theevolution of humanconsciousness, butratherasproductsof humancreativitythatbroadened therealm of possibilities. Thesameapplies to

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 16 Hubert Seiwert thetransformations of modernity, whichengendernew possibilities in many fields, includingreligion, withouteliminating what hasbeenproducedbefore.⁴ Thediversification modelavoidsthe teleological implications of theprogression modelbecause it doesnot intend to understand theemergenceofaparticular cultural formation, such as Westernmodernity,but ratherthe mechanisms of cultural production andreproduction. In this respectits theoreticaloutlook is closer to thebiologicalmodel of evolution. To be sure,biologicalevolution canbemis- understood as ateleologicalprocess culminatinginthe emergenceofhomo sapi- ens. Butsuchanautobiographical versionofnatural historyignores thefactthat evolutionled to an increasing diversity of biological species. This is notthe placetotreat thedifferent aspectsofcultural evolutionthat have received theattention of scholarswho discussitagainst thebackgroundof biological evolution.⁵ Ijustwanttoemphasize twopointsinwhich culturalevolution significantlydiffers from geneticevolution.The firstconcernsthe environment. Bothingenetic andcultural evolution,adaptation to theenvironmentisade- cisive factor forthe survival of things andtheir furtherreproduction. Theenviron- ment hasaselectiveeffect in theevolutionary processbyenablingthe reproduction of some formsand restrictingthe reproduction of others.For humans, it comprisesboththe natural andthe cultural environment. Because theproducts of humanactivitybecomepartofthe environment, theenvironment changescon- tinuously as aresultofcultural production.Indeed, alarge part of cultural evolution maybeconceivedofasbehavioral adaptations to environments that increas- inglyhavebeenshaped by humanactivity. This is whycultural evolutionisa cumulative processinwhich theculture produced andreproducedbyhumans feedsbackonthe conditions of furthercultural production (Tomasello 2000). Asecondpoint that distinguishesculturalfromgenetic evolutionisevenmore crucial. Geneticevolution resultsfromrandommodifications in the processofre- production.Ifthe modifiedphenotypeshappentobesufficientlyadapted to their environment, they maysurvive andreproduce (Mayr2005, 150 –154).The same mechanismworks also with culturalevolution:modifications of existingproducts mayberandom, such as copy errors or misunderstandings in thereproductionof textsorrituals.However,the production of culture is notacompletely random processbecause humanscan actintentionally.They canintentionally create prod-

 Ishould mention that Bellah, in his latepublications, to some extent revised his former views on religious evolution by emphasizing the fact that nothingislost in the course of cultural evolution, which shifts the interpretation fromasequenceofstages with increasingcomplexity to increasingpossibilities and diversity (Bellah ;Bellah ).  Foraconvenient overview see Stone, Lurquin , –.

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 The DynamicsofReligions and Cultural Evolution 17 ucts whichare better adaptedtotheir culturalornaturalenvironment.The process of cultural evolutiontherefore is affected by thefactorofagency, i.e.,goal-oriented action,which is completely lackingingenetic evolution. Theprogression andthe diversificationmodelsofculturalevolution arenot incompatible.But thetwo models differ intheiranalyticalperspectives.The progression modelinterprets macro-history in evolutionary termstounderstandthe historical preconditions of modernity. It does notcover cultural evolutionthat hasnosignificanceinthishistory.The diversificationmodel focusesinstead on micro-processesofcultural evolutiontobetterunderstandits mechanism. It therefore allows foranalyzing casesofcultural dynamics withoutconsidering theirhis- toricalsignificance.

2.2Different interpretations

Letmebriefly highlightthe differentviews of theprogression andthe diversification models on theexample of thereligious dynamics in contemporaryChina.A centralelement of Chinese popular belief is asking gods forhelpinquite mundane matterssuchaschildbirth, family problems or business success. Thereligious dynamics visibleinthe large-scale reappearance of this andother popularpractices such as temple festivalsdonot fit very well theprogression modelofreligious evolution.Chinese popular belief canhardlybeseenasaparadigm of ‘modern’ religion, foraskinggodsfor help andcommunalfeastshavebeenpopular practices fortimeimmemorial. They certainlyexisted in Chinaalreadybeforethe AxialAge transformations (Maspero [1927] 1965,130–231).The progressionmodel would thereforesee thecontemporary occurrence of such beliefsand activities either as relics of former stages or even as retrogressions that contravene theprogressive course of religiousevolution. From theperspective of thediversificationmodel,onthe otherhand, religious evolutionincludesthe reproductionofavailable religiousideas andpractices. However, they arereproducedinand adaptedtoculturalenvironments that differ considerablyfromthose in whichtheywereformerlyproduced. They arenot the same as thoseproducedahundred or athousandyears ago. Ritualsand beliefs do notexist as phenomena that manifest in differentplacesand times. Rather, they arealwaysconcrete events dependingonindividualorcollective agents whoperform ritualsormaintainbeliefs. They arealwayssingular becausethey occurunder particularconditionsoftime, space, environmentand agency. Theseparticularitiesmust notbeignored if we want to understandthe dynam- icsofcultural andreligious evolution. Just like biological evolution, it takesplace in smallsteps of modification,which oftenhavenolasting effect.Onlyinretro-

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 18 Hubert Seiwert spectcan we identify theemergenceofnew formations,betheynew biological species, neweconomicorpolitical structures,ornew formsofreligious institutions andbeliefs.

3The Fuxi rituals

To illustratethisviewoncultural andreligious evolution, Inow return to thesac- rificesmadeinthe Fuxi temple at Tianshui on March5,2015, whichwerepartofa temple festival starting twodaysearlier.The ritualsare arathernew inventional- though in popular publications they aresaidtohaveanunbroken history of many centuries(China Culture 2006). Iwillfirst sketch thehistoricalviewonthe ritual andthenexplain it in terms of cultural evolution.

3.1Historicaldevelopment

Accordingtolegend, thefirst temple on this site wasbuilt during theEastern Jin dynasty(317–420) by alocal official whowas laterworshippedasthe tutelary deityofthe region underthe titleBlack Pool Dragon King (Cao Wei2010, 15– 16). Historical documentsshowthatduringthe Ming dynasty(1368– 1644)the imperial sacrifices to Fuxi were transferred from atempleontop of theGuataishan Mountain (‘Trigram Terrace Mountain’)tothe presentsiteatwhattoday is the city of Tianshui.Imperialsacrificeswereregularly performedtwice ayearuntil theend of theeighteenth century, when they were firstreduced to once ayear andfinally no more performedasstate rituals. Thereafter,the sacrifices were organizedbythe localpopulationunder theresponsibilityofthe LanternFestivalAs- sociation (Shangyuan hui 上元會), whosemembers were localgentryand notables (Liu Yanxiang 2003,151– 152. 160).Duringthe Republic(1911–1949) thetemple premises were convertedtomilitarybarracks,but stillamodestfestival wasorgan- ized regularly. Afterthe founding of thePeople’sRepublicin1949, thebuildings housed military offices, atextile mill andfinally ateachers’ seminary.Afterthe Tianshui City Museum movedtosomebuildings in thecompound in 1986,reconstruction of thetemplestarted andin2001the reconstructedtemplewas included in thelistofimportant national cultural monuments(LiuYanxiang2003, 115–117). TheFuxitemplethatcan be visitedtoday is thusafairly recent reconstruction ac- cordingtoamodelofthe temple that hadbeenproducedand continuously repro- ducedonthe same site from thesixteenth to theearly twentiethcentury. Collective ritualsworshipping Fuxi,inone form or another, seem to have been regularlyperformed untilabout 1950,whenthe LanternFestivalAssociation was

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 The DynamicsofReligions and Cultural Evolution 19 dissolvedand thetemplefestivalwithits ritualswas notperformed anymoreuntil the1980s.In1988, theTianshuiCityGovernmentorganized thecelebration of an official ritual in honorofFuxi, andthe next year atemplefestivalwas arranged. Sacrificialrituals were performedbymembers of thenewly foundedLantern Fes- tivalAssociation,whose membersweremostlycommonpeople from theneighbor- ingcitydistrict(CaoWei 2010,27–28). In 2009 thedirector of theTianshuiCity Museum invitedaconferencetodiscuss thereorganization of thepopular rituals. It wasdecided to establishastandard course of action basedonthe staterituals forFuxiinthe Ming dynasty. This newritualdesignincludedaritual called tailao 太牢 (LiNingmin 2013). Tailao,which canbetranslatedas‘GreatAnimalSacrifice’, is thenameofaritual of theformerimperialcult. It usuallyconsisted in offering an ox,apig, andasheep. The tailao sacrificeprovidesthe offeringstoFuxiwithanevenlongerhistor- ical pedigree.SomeChinese historians arguethatthe firstdocumentedsacrifice to Fuxi datesbackto756 BCEwhenatailao sacrificewas supposedly offeredtoFuxi in thestate of Qin(LiuYanxiang2003,145 – 146).Inany case,animal sacrifices in Chinacan be traced back to thesecond millennium BCE. During theHan dynasty, in thesecondcentury BCE, tailao sacrifices were themostimportantofall sacrificial rituals, whichthe emperoroffered in persontothe highestdeities (Bujard 2009,785). Sincethen, they were part of theimperialcult, whichwas abolished only with theend of theQingdynasty in 1911.Inhistoricalinterpretation, we couldtherefore saythatthe tailao sacrificesattestanastonishingcontinuity of rit- ualpracticesoverroughly threethousandyears.Its contemporaryperformance in theFuxitemplemay thus appear as continuing an age-oldtradition. In what sensecan we take this as an exampleofreligious evolution? Theob- servation of historical continuity apparently contradicts theassumptionofdynam- icsand change.

3.2Historicalcontinuityand cultural evolution

Historical continuity is atheoreticalconceptthateasilyhides thefactthatcultural products,which includeinstitutions, practicesand ideas,aswellasmaterial artifacts, continue only insofarastheyare reproduced andmaintainedthrough gen- erations. This reproduction maybeanexact copying, butinmanyifnot most cases it involves minormodifications,which however, in thecourseoftime, canaccumu- late to majorones. This is exactlywhatevolution means. Sacrifices offeredtodeities androyal ancestorswerethe most importantstate ritualsfromthe late second millennium BCEtothe earlytwentieth century. How- ever during thesethreethousandyears,significant innovations occurred.Tomen-

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 20 Hubert Seiwert tion onlyone:For theShang kingsatthe endofthe second millennium BCE, royal ancestorswerepowerfulsupernatural agents whoneeded sacrifices to ward off misfortune(Eno1996).Athousand yearslater,inthe thirdcentury BCE, theCon- fucian thinkerXunziexplained that sacrifices hadnoeffects whatsoever on fortune or misfortune,but were performedasexpressions of cultivated behavior (Xunzi 2014,179.215–216).Inthe Confuciantradition, theutmostimportancegiven to rituals andsacrificeswas not explainedasanattempt to influencesupernatural agents.Instead,the observance of ritualswas seen as away of cultivatingthe individual personalityand securing theharmoniousorder of society. Ancestor worship wasprimarily an expression of filial piety, ratherthangroundedinthe belief that ancestral spiritsneedofferings to feed upon – abeliefthatwas ridiculedby thephilosopher Wang Chong in thefirst century(Wang Chong1962, 509–524). Theprogression modelofcultural evolutionwould take such newinterpreta- tions of ritual andsacrifice,which were first produced during theAxial Age, as in- dicationsofanincreasing rationalizationand criticalattitudeofhuman thinking (Roetz 1992,343 – 363; Bellah2011, 472– 473).Indeed, ancestor worshipisbeing seen as aritualformofpayingrespect to one’sforbears, withoutassumingthat they aresupernatural beings. On theother hand,however,itwould be mistaken to imaginethatsuchrationalinterpretations of ritualshavereplacedthe belief in ancestor spiritsneeding offeringstosecurefortuneand ward offmisfortune (Wolf1974, 163–168; Ahern1973, 191–203).Bothexplanations were reproduced andmodifiedsince antiquityinmanyways. Cultural evolutionresultedinadiver- sification – notonlyofthe explanationsbut also of thedesignofrituals.

3.3Environment andagency

Ritual practices andtheir explanationsare humanproductsthatcan be perceived andexist objectivelyinthe cultural environmentinwhich individualslive. Howev- er,eveninthe same society, thecultural environments of individuals arenot iden- tical. They depend on location,familybackground, gender,socialcontacts,educa- tion, professionand othervariables. Still, some culturalproductsare widespread in asociety andknown to most people.Inany case,the culturalenvironment is thebasis on whichnew cultural products arecreated. Besidesthe environment, thesecond crucialfactorfor cultural innovationis agency.Toproduce somethingnew,there must be agents whoare creative.In the1980s anumberofdevoted worshippersofFuxifounded anew LanternFesti- valAssociation to resume therituals in thereconstructed temple.Incontrasttothe former associationofthe same name,itwas notdominated by localnotablesbut by common people from theneighborhood. Some of them were oldenoughtore-

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 The DynamicsofReligions and Cultural Evolution 21 member theformerritualpractices,which were to some extent reproduced.But they were notcopiedexactly.For example, formerly womenwerenot allowedto enterthe sacrificialspace,but this taboowas abandonedwhenthe leadership of theLantern Festival Associationwas takenoverbyawoman (Cao Wei2010, 28–30). This modification not only illustratesthe role of agency butalsothe adaptation to thechangedstatusofwomen in thecultural environment. However, theLantern Festival Associationwas notthe only agentthatpartici- patedinthe reproduction of therituals.For thelocal believersFuxiisanobjectof worshipsimilar to otherpopular deities,⁶ butthere areanumber of otheragents whowanttopromote thetempleand ritualsprimarily as symbolsofthe localcul- tural heritageand prestige or as public events to attracttourists.Adecisive role wasplayedbymembers of thelocal cultural elitewhose educationalbackground is quitedifferent from thecommonworshipper’s. In 2009,the director of theTian- shui City Museum invitedlocal politicalleaders, retiredcadresand scholars to dis- cuss areformofthe popular ritualstomake them more cultivated.Theydecided notonlytoinclude the tailao sacrifice, afterthe modelofthe Ming dynastystate rituals, butalsotoenlarge thefestivalbyadditionalentertainmentsand exhibi- tions.Anewand officially registered associationfor theorganizationofthe popular Fuxi festival wasfounded in 2013 by localelites(Li Ningmin2013),which re- ducesthe influence of theLantern Festival Association. Therituals that Icouldobserve in 2015 thus were farfrombeing thesameas thoseperformed twenty,let alonetwo hundredyears before.Theyare newcultural products,which aremodifiedreproductionsofolder ones. On theone hand, the main components aretaken from thepooloffestive activities availableinthe cultural environment. On theother hand,eachreproduction involvesinnovations to adaptthe producttoaimsand purposes prevailing in theenvironment. Yetthe actors engagedinthe cultural production do notshare thesamebackgroundand theirinterests diverge. Conflictinginterests have to be negotiatedand it appears that thosewho firstreproducedthe festival some decadesago increasingly lost controlofits yearly reproduction. Although attempts to make thefestivalmore ‘cultivated’ were successful in many respects, andwhile the tailao sacrificesupposedlyfollows theexample of theMingstate ritual to meet thecultural expectations of themoreeducatedstake- holders, stillthe cultural environmentofthe common people provides some of the components of thenewly designed rituals. Thestatues of Fuxi andthe DragonKing

 The Lantern Festival Association also takescareofthe temple festival celebrated some days earlier in the nearby Daoist Jade Fountain Monastery (Yuquan guan) (Xin Xuan , ), which suggests that the members aredevoted religious believers.

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 22 Hubert Seiwert arecarried in palanquins just like otherpopular deities, forexample.Morestriking is thefactthatthe introduction of the tailao sacrificewas not to supersedeanother sacrificialritualoflocal origin,which is called lingsheng 领牲 (‘acceptingthe vic- tim’)and takesplace in theafternoon before the tailao. Whilethe tailao is a ‘cultivated’ sacrifice, whichdoesnot involvekilling theanimals on thespotbut pre- sentingtheir prepared headsasanoffering,⁷ the lingsheng ritualisablood sacrificeand theblood of thevictims,which arebutchered in frontofthe main hall of thetemple, is in high demand by thewatching crowd. Theritualcalled lingsheng seemstobeunknown in otherpartsofChina.Itisattestedinruralareas of southern Gansuand northern Shaanxi, whereitusually involves thekilling of a sheep, andisoften part of burials(HanDian2015;Blog.sina.com.cn2013).Its in- clusioninthe programofthe Fuxi festival showsthatthe design of thevarious ritualsperformed in thetemplereflectsthe different cultural environments of thekey actors.⁸ Theinvention of thecomplex five-dayritualevent in Tianshui thus illustrates very well themainfactors of culturalevolution:environment andagency. Thecul- tural environmentprovidesareservoirofaccumulated humanproducts; at the same time it restrictsorfacilitates theopportunities of production.Agencyrefers to individual andcollectiveactors, whocreativelyselect, useand modify some of theavailable products to invent newones. Of course,cultural reproduction involves notonlytemplebuildings,institutionsorrituals;italsoincludesideas. As to ideas,wecan turn to theideas connectedwiththe symbol of Fuxi.Itis notpossibleheretoexplain in detail theirevolution sinceantiquity.Suffice it to note that it resulted in an extremediversityofbeliefs.Onthe one hand,there aremythologicalaccountsofFuxiand hiswifeNüwa, each with thebodyofa snakeand ahuman head,aswellasmythological narratives that describe them as thefirst beings afterthe primordialchaos,and creators of humankind(Wang Jian 2004). In thecosmologicaltheoriesofthe Handynasty,Fuxiwas identified with oneofthe five deitiesassociatedwiththe five cardinal directions. On the otherhand, in laterhistoricalliteratureFuxiwas consideredahistorical personage of high antiquityand theveryfirst in thesuccessionofChinese rulers (Guo Weny-

 In the stateritual of the Mingdynasty,whole animals,which had been killed ‘offstage’ (Zito , ), werepresentedasofferings.See the MingpaintingofEmperor Han Gaozu sacrificing to Confucius (BBS.F/.com ).  Iwas unable to find out sincewhen the lingsheng ritual has been performed in the Fuxi temple. It is not mentioned by Liu Yanxiangasone of the components that aretraditionallypart of the ritual and festival. He does mention that after  the popular festival included the sacrifice of two pigs (Liu Yanxiang , ). However,inthe lingsheng ritual traditionallyasheep is slaughtered.

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 The DynamicsofReligions and CulturalEvolution 23 ing 2007,21–22; Karlgren 1946,206–207).All thesediverse interpretations – mythological,religious andhistorical – areavailable today. Although in most con- temporarypublicationsFuxiisdescribed as ahistoricalfigure,inlocal lore there stillare narratives aboutFuxiand Nüwa as aprimordialbrother andsistercouple whocreated thehuman race(CaoWei 2010,12). Thecultural environmentprovides achoiceofexplanationsand anyone is free to select andmoldher or hisown idi- osyncratic version.

3.4Contemporarydynamics

Chineseacademicscholarsagree thatFuxiisnohistoricalpersonage.However,the common understandingkeeps to thetraditional historiography andtakes himasa firstofthe ThreeEmperors andancestorofthe Chinese people.⁹ This historical fic- tion is aready-madecomponent notonlyfor thereproductionofthe popularwor- ship of Fuxi;the historical fictionisalsousedasacomponenttoproduce official staterituals. Besidesthe so-called popularsacrificesIhave been referringtosofar,there is also an official ceremony worshippingFuxi.¹⁰ This official ceremony wasinvented in 1988 andorganized by thecitygovernmentofTianshui,but since2005 hasbeen organizedbythe government of GansuProvince. It takesplace each year on June 22. Nowadays it aspectacularevent that starts in thelarge square in frontofthe temple compound with professional danceand musicperformances. Theofficial program is broadcastontelevisionand watchedbycommonpeople. Thereis also aby-programonthe streetswithparadesinhistoricaland fantasycostumes.¹¹ Themainactorsofthe official ritual arethe headsofthe provincial government andhigh-ranking representativesofthe CommunistParty.Hundreds of invit- ed guests attend theceremonywhere thegovernorofthe province solemnly reads aeulogypraisingFuxifor hisgreat achievements as founder of theChinese culture.Soldiersindress uniforms carryflowerbaskets into thetemplewhere theofficial representatives bowthreetimes to thestatueofFuxi. Thetable in frontofthe

 This can be seen from the entries in popular web-encyclopedias (BaiduBaike a; Weiji Baike ).  The Chinese terms are minjian jisi 民间祭祀 (‘popular sacrifice’)and gongji dadian 公祭大典 (‘Grand public memorial ceremony’). Jidian 祭典,which is used for the staterituals,literally means ‘(official) sacrificial rite’,but in modern Chinese is usuallytranslated as ‘memorial ceremony’.The popular rituals for Fuxi arecalled jisi 祭祀,which is also used for sacrifices to deities and ancestors.  Forthe official website of the ceremony see fuxidadian.com .

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 24 Hubert Seiwert statue is loaded with food offerings. Afterthe official ritual thecommonpeople crowdintothe temple to burn incenseand worshipFuxi. What we have here is arecentlyinventedstate ritual worshippingalegendary ancestor of theChinese people.One of itsfunctionscertainly is to symbolizethe cultural heritage of China, to nurture patriotismand foster theChinese cultural identity.¹² Remarkably, to do this,the Communist authoritiesmake useofsymbols availablefromboththe imperial statecultand popularreligious traditions.Offer- ingfoodand bowing to thestatueofamythical ancestor areritualbehaviors that seem strange if performedbyleading representativesofthe Chinesestate andthe CommunistParty.Theytakeplace in atemplesupposedtobethe site where imperial sacrifices to theverysamemythicalfigurehavebeenperformed.These are allingredients that have been produced before,but in thecourse of theirmodified reproduction gain anew meaning. Whatever this meaningmay be,itseems to be quitedifferent from theone attributed to Fuxi by thethousands of villagepeople who, on theday before thestate ritual,participate in apopular sacrificialrituala couple of milesawayontop of Guataishan mountain (TianshuiCityGovernment Net2015; LanzhouChenbao 2007). Thetemplethere hasbeenreconstructed by the localpopulation, afterhavingbeenrazed to thegroundduringthe Cultural Revo- lution. Thereisaremarkable dynamics of religiousreconstruction in contemporary China. Thereconstruction of popular religious temples, ritualsand institutions hasbeenobservedbymanyscholars. Buthow canweinterpret theinvention of newstate ritualsdevoted to mythic ancestors? Theofficial ‘sacrificialrites’ (jidian) honoring Fuxi arenot theonlyones. Thereare similarrituals devotedtoother equallylegendary figures, amongthemthe Yellow Emperor(Huangdi) and Fuxi’ssisterand wife Nüwa (Billioud, Thoraval 2015,189–191).Can we regard thesenew ritualsasmodifiedreproductionsofthe imperial statecult?

4Culturalevolution andselection

This brings me back to theissue of cultural evolution. CharlesDarwin, oneofthe fathersofthe evolutionarytheoryinbiology,explainedthe origin of specieswith theformula ‘descentwithmodification’ (Darwin[1859]1997).Lateron, themeta- phor ‘inheritance’ gained usage. Biological evolutionisthusconceivedasaproc-

 Official reports of the ceremonystress the fact that amongthe official participants arerep- resentativesfromTaiwan, HongKong,Macauand overseas Chinese whoall sharereverence to Fuxi as common ancestor.

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 The DynamicsofReligions and Cultural Evolution 25 essofdifferentiation of speciesbased on geneticinheritance with modification.It is thisparadigmonwhich thediversification modelofcultural evolutionisbased. Inheritancereferstothe aspect of continuity.AsIhave shown, in thefield of cultureand religion what is perceivedascontinuity is in fact theongoing reproduction of cultural products.Culturalproductsdonot persistbythemselves, buthave to be preservedthrough humanactivity, whichisoften called ‘preserving thecultural heritage’. Cultural reproduction rarelyresults in exactcopiesofexistingproducts. There is usuallyarange of variations.Ifwetakebiologicalevolution as aparadigm, we must look formechanisms of selection.Basically,selection meansthatsomevar- iationsare better adaptedtocertain environments than others andcan therefore survivebybeing reproduced. Others maysurvive only in ecological niches or notatall.Fromthisperspective,changes in thecultural environmentinmodern China, whichincludesthe political environment, canbeseenasresultinginamas- sive processofculturalselection.Particularlyduringthe Cultural Revolution, many culturalproducts, includingreligious practices,ideas andinstitutions, couldnot be reproducedunder thenew environmentalconditionsand disap- peared.Otherswerereproducedinculturalnichesorinheavily modified forms. During thepast thirty years,there were againenormouschangesinthe cultural environment. Underthe newpolitical andeconomicconditions,manyelements of what is called popular religion were reproducedinmodifiedforms.The inven- tion of thepopular sacrificialrituals in theFuxitempleinTianshui, in whichel- ements of theimperialstate cult arecombinedwithlocal religiouscustoms,is an example. As thesuccess of cultural innovations largelydepends on theiradap- tation to theenvironment,weshouldexpectthe evolutionary dynamics to reflect selectivepressures.Inacultural environmentcontrolledbyaCommunistParty with adeclaredatheist ideology, thepublicproductionofreligionisseverelyre- stricted.Cultural production adapts to this selectivepressure throughmodifica- tions. Oneofthe possible modifications is to change classifications.Templefestivals need notbeclassifiedasreligious events.Theyhavemanyelementsthatcan be classified as entertainment, such as operaperformances, dance, music, andsight- seeing.Whatweperceive as religiouselements, such as burningincense,praying andofferingsacrifices, arejustone aspect,which – of course – from theperspective of ascholar of religion is the most interestingone.But theseelementsare only part of theevent andincreasinglyovershadowed by countless activities that are adaptedtothe expectations of thecultural environment. Fromthe perspective of thelocal government, prestige,economicand entertainment functionsare the most importantaspects.Theychoosetoclassifythe temple festival as acultural eventofnationalimportance. What appears to be thereproductionoftraditional

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 26 Hubert Seiwert religion is explainedasthe preservation of theimmaterial cultural heritage,which at thesametimeserveseconomicdevelopment.Infact, however,thispreservation is not thereproductionofwhathas been produced before,but anew product(Du Zhun 2011). Forthe studyofreligions,thispresentssomemethodologicalproblems. How do we deal with atempleritualthatinvolves animal sacrifice, food offerings, burn- ingofincense andsolemneulogiesaddressingamythic ancestor,ifall this is de- clared by theparticipantsashavingnothing to do with religion?The studyofre- ligionoffersanumber of possibleinterpretations.Fromapost-colonialpoint of view,wecouldtakethe findings as furtherevidenceofthe fact thatthe concept of religionisaWesternconstruction,whose applicationtoother culturesismean- ingless. However, from theperspective of thediscursive studyofreligion, this view wouldneedtobequalified, becausethere areindeeddiscoursesabout religionin contemporaryChina,evenverycontroversial ones. Butinthe official discourse, worshippingFuxiisnot allowedtocount as religion. Taking thepositionofthe cognitivescience of religion,itcould be assumedthatthe temple rituals arereli- gious activities,atleast forthose participants whoworship Fuxi as an ancestor. However, themajoritywouldprobablyexplain that even though Fuxi is venerated, he is notasupernatural agent. This latter view is also theofficialone giventoexplain themeaning of the staterituals devotedtomythicalancestors. Therestill remainsthe question whether we caninterpret theserituals as amodifiedreproduction of theimperialstate cult,which included worshippingthe very same imagined ancestor.Ofcourse, no- body wouldadmit that theCommunist government is reproducingreligious rituals of theConfucian empire.Whatisobvious,however,isthe fact that theproduction of thecontemporary stateritualfor Fuxi cannotbeexplained withoutreferring to thecultural environment. It is theculturalenvironmentthatprovidesthe symbol of Fuxi as firstancestoraswellasthe ritual formsusedtostage an official ceremony of ancestor worship. It is notareproductionofthe imperial cult.Itisa newcultural productwhose creators make useofavailable componentsto adaptittothe existing cultural environment. It is an exampleofcultural evolution. Evidently,the inventionofstate ritualsdedicatedtomythicalfigures is nota case of cultural evolutioninthe senseofthe progression model. It does notattest to ahistoricalbreakthrough. Breakthroughs areretrospective interpretationsofhis- toricalmeaning anditisimpossibletoknowtowhatextentthese newritualforms andtheir explanationswillbereproducedand elaboratedinthe future.Tobesure, it couldbethatinretrospecttheywillappeartohavebeenthe firstoccurrenceof newforms of sacralizationofChinese orderand history(cf.Billioud, Thoraval 2015,191), buttheymay just as well turn outtobeashortepisode of cultural production withoutany lastingeffects.However,whether they survivebybeing repro-

Bereitgestellt von | Universitaetsbibliothek Leipzig Angemeldet Heruntergeladen am | 29.11.16 11:54 The DynamicsofReligions and Cultural Evolution 27 ducedornot,theyare bits of cultural evolution, whichisaselectiveprocess that worksthroughthe eliminationofculturalproductsthatare not sufficiently adapt- ed to theirenvironment. In theshort range of thelastthreedecades in China, theproduction of quitea number of popular andstate ritualsfor imagined ancestorswithout doubtcan be considered an exampleofcultural dynamics.But howabout thedynamicsofre- ligion? Canthe inventionofnew ancestor rituals, whethertheyare on thepopular or thestate level, be takenasacase of religiousdynamics? Couldthe ritual offerings be religious even though they arenot allowedbythe participants to count as religion?Icannotanswer thesequestions.Iam even notsure that they aremean- ingful questions. Iamsure,however,thatdealingwiththese developments is a meaningful subjectofthe studyofreligionevenifweshouldnot be able to define theconceptual boundaries of religion.

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Hubert Seiwert Universität Leipzig Schillerstr. 6 04109 Leipzig Germany [email protected]

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