UC Berkeley GAIA Books Title Daoism in the Twentieth Century: Between Eternity and Modernity Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/13w4k8d4 Authors Palmer, David A. Liu, Xun Publication Date 2012-02-15 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ 4.0 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Daoism in the Twentieth Century Between Eternity and Modernity Edited by David A. Palmer and Xun Liu Published in association with the University of California Press “This pioneering work not only explores the ways in which Daoism was able to adapt and reinvent itself during China’s modern era, but sheds new light on how Daoism helped structure the development of Chinese religious culture. The authors also demon- strate Daoism’s role as a world religion, particularly in terms of emigration and identity. The book’s sophisticated approach transcends previous debates over how to define the term ‘Daoism,’ and should help inspire a new wave of research on Chinese religious movements.” PAUL R. KATZ, Academia Sinica, Taiwan In Daoism in the Twentieth Century an interdisciplinary group of scholars ex- plores the social history and anthropology of Daoism from the late nineteenth century to the present, focusing on the evolution of traditional forms of practice and community, as well as modern reforms and reinventions both within China and on the global stage. Essays investigate ritual specialists, body cultivation and meditation traditions, monasticism, new religious movements, state-spon- sored institutionalization, and transnational networks. DAVID A. PALMER is a professor of sociology at Hong Kong University. XUN LIU is a profes- sor of history at Rutgers University CONTRIBUTORS: Kenneth Dean, Fan Guangchun, Vincent Goossaert, Adeline Herrou, Lai Chi-tim, Lee Fongmao, Xun Liu, Lü Xichen, David A. Palmer, Kristofer Schipper, Elijah Siegler, Yang Der-ruey New Perspectives on Chinese Culture and Society, 2 Daoism in the Twentieth Century New Perspectives on Chinese Culture and Society A series sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies and made possible through a grant from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange 1. Joan Judge and Hu Ying, eds., Beyond Exemplar Tales: Women’s Biography in Chinese History 2. David A. Palmer and Xun Liu, eds., Daoism in the Twentieth Century: Between Eternity and Modernity Daoism in the Twentieth Century Between Eternity and Modernity Edited by David A. Palmer and Xun Liu Global, Area, and International Archive University of California Press Berkeley Los Angeles London The Global, Area, and International Archive (GAIA) is an initiative of the Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with the University of California Press, the California Digital Library, and international research programs across the University of California system. University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2012 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Manufactured in the United States of America 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper). Contents Acknowledgments vii Foreword, by Kristofer SCHIPPER ix Introduction: The Daoist Encounter with Modernity 1 David A. PALMER and Xun LIU part I. Daoist Clerics and Temples in Changing Sociopolitical Contexts 1. Zhengyi Daoist Masters in the Pearl River Delta: Ruptures and Continuities in the Transmission of Tradition 23 LAI Chi-tim 2. Revolution of Temporality: The Modern Schooling of Daoist Priests in Shanghai at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century 47 YANG Der-ruey 3. Daoist Monasticism at the Turn of the Twenty- First Century: An Ethnography of a Quanzhen Community in Shaanxi Province 82 Adeline HERROU 4. Urban Daoism, Commodity Markets, and Tourism: The Restoration of the Xi’an City God Temple 108 FAN Guangchun part II. Transformations and Reinventions of Daoist Self-Cultivation Traditions 5. Daoists in the Modern Chinese Self-Cultivation Market: The Case of Beijing, 1850–1949 123 Vincent GOOSSAERT 6. Scientizing the Body for the Nation: Chen Yingning and the Reinvention of Daoist Inner Alchemy in 1930s Shanghai 154 Xun LIU 7. Dao and Nation: Li Yujie—May Fourth Activist, Daoist Cultivator, and Redemptive Society Patriarch in Mainland China and Taiwan 173 David A. PALMER 8. Transmission and Innovation: The Modernization of Daoist Inner Alchemy in Postwar Taiwan 196 LEE Fongmao 9. Yuanjidao: From Daoist Lineage to Prisoner Reform in Post-Mao China 228 LÜ Xichen part III. Daoism, Chinese Diasporas, and Globalization 10. Daoism, Local Religious Movements, and Transnational Chinese Society: The Circulation of Daoist Priests, Three-in-One Self-Cultivators, and Spirit Mediums between Fujian and Southeast Asia 251 Kenneth DEAN 11. Daoism beyond Modernity: The “Healing Tao” as Postmodern Movement 274 Elijah SIEGLER Notes 293 Bibliography 327 Contributors 359 Index 361 Acknowledgments This book has its origins in a conference held June 13–15, 2006, co- sponsored by the Harvard Fairbank Center for East Asian Research and the École Française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO), with financial support from the American Council of Learned Societies/Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, as well as the Library of the Western Belvedere of Fuzhou University, which brought together scholars from three continents working in the fields of Sinology, Daoist studies, modern Chinese history, the sociology and anthropology of Chinese religion, and religious studies. We would like to thank all those who made the conference a success: Franciscus Verellen and Wilt Idema, who as directors of the EFEO and of the Fairbank Center, respectively, enthusiastically supported our plan. Kristofer Schipper and Peter van der Veer gave inspiring keynote speeches. The following scholars, as paper or film presenters or as discussants, made invaluable contributions to the discussions, either during our preparatory meeting held in 2005 or during the conference itself: Alain Arrault, Adam Chau, Prasenjit Duara, Patrice Fava, Gai Jianming, Paul Katz, Livia Kohn, Li Dahua, Li Yuanguo, Liu Zhongyu, Rebecca Nedostup, Michael Puett, Elena Valussi, Wang Ka, Robert Weller, Mayfair Yang, and Everett Zhang. We also would like to express our gratitude to the two anonymous reviewers of this manuscript for their valuable suggestions. Our thanks also go to Ron Suleski and the staff of the Fairbank Center for their logistical support, to Dr. Stephen Wheatley of the ACLS for its funding support for both the initial confer- ence and the publication of the present volume, to Michele Wong, who compiled and edited the bibliography and the glossary, and to Vito Yu, who prepared the index. And we are most grateful to Nathan MacBrien of the Institute of International Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, vii viii / Acknowledgments for his careful copyediting and for shepherding the book through produc- tion. We take responsibility for any errors that remain. A note on romanization and Chinese characters: We use hanyu pinyin for transliterations, except in cases where alternative spellings are more common (for example, Chiang Kai-shek and Kuomintang/KMT). The Chi- nese characters for proper names and specialized terms are given upon first occurrence in each chapter. D.A.P. and X.L. Foreword It is as if the alternation between the positive and the negative—the prin- ciple of Daoist cosmology—also is a key for understanding its history. For instance: when the early ecclesia of the Heavenly Master was banished from its homeland in northern Sichuan, its dioceses spread all over China, and what was at first a disaster transformed itself into triumph. Later, when in the fourth century ce North China was massively converted to Buddhism, the ecclesia began to flourish in the South. But when the North reverted to Daoism, the South changed also and embraced Buddhism. The Tang saw the revival of the classical ru 儒 learning and hencefor- ward it was the “Three Teachings” 三教 that interacted, borrowed from one another, and alternatively occupied the limelight. Daoism’s fortunes for a time were high under the Yuan, only to end in the persecution of 1282. Then Buddhism rose to eminence, but the founding of the national Ming dynasty—by a former Buddhist monk—advanced the ru. Over time, a certain homeostasis developed among the three. Although their fortunes alternated, each one retained its own niche, with that of Daoism being local society. The Three Teachings became to be seen as the three legs of the tripod symbolizing the state: none should be lacking. When we refer to “Chinese religion,” it is this composite institution we have in mind. The very stability of these religious institutions rendered all forms of innovation difficult. The leaders of the recognized Three Teachings branded all new organizations heterodox and prevented them from obtaining legal status. The resulting immobility created a situation of sclerosis and cor- ruption that contributed greatly to the crisis of state institutions at the end of the Ming. The accidental victory of the “Manchus” in 1644 brought an even more conservative rule, and this caused the system to degenerate at an ever quicker pace. When, then, the Western powers finally appeared ix x / Kristofer Schipper with their opium “trade” and their militarily backed “religion,” modern China was born in the torment of material and cultural genocide.