ECSTATIC TIME Ecstatic Time Ed
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ECSTATIC TIME ECSTATIC Ecstatic Time ed. by Tiziano Tosolini Ecstatic Time The starting point for Ecstatic Time was the realization that the concept of feast, and the role of time in it, are structural elements of any culture, the defining constituents of people’s identities. As missionaries, we recognize and experience every day that, for the people with whom we live, feast is a ruptured time, an interruption in ordinary duration to make space for something else, for another kind of time which is qualitatively different from normal, ordinary time. Tosolini Tiziano This time, which we have called “ecstatic” reflects, complements and fulfils the meaning of life by recognizing the sacred through the celebration of festivals and rituals. —From the Introduction Asian Study Centre Study Asian tudy S C n en ia t s r e A Xaverian Missionaries – Japan Ecstatic Time Asian Study Centre Series FABRIZIO TOSOLINI. Esperienza Missionaria in Paolo. 2002. S. Targa, F. Tosolini, T. Tosolini. To What Needs are Our Cultures Responding? 2003. S. Targa, F. Tosolini, T. Tosolini. Culture and Alterity. 2004. S. Targa, F. Tosolini, T. Tosolini. Experiences of Conversion. 2005. Fabrizio Tosolini. The Letter to the Romans and St. Paul’s Grace and Apostleship:Towards a New Interpretation. Edited with Fu Jen Catholic University Press, Taipei, Taiwan. 2005. Tiziano Tosolini. Controstorie dal Giappone. 2006. S. Targa, F. Tosolini, T. Tosolini. Faith and Money. 2006. Tiziano Tosolini ed., Women in Context. 2007. Tiziano Tosolini ed., Mission and Globalization. 20o9. Tiziano Tosolini ed., The Other Within. 2010. Tiziano Tosolini ed., Church and Culture. Selected Texts (1965–2009). Foreword by Mons. Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontificial Council for Culture. 2010. Tiziano Tosolini ed., Chiesa e Cultura. Testi Scelti (1965–2009). Prefazione di Mons. Gianfranco Ravasi, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura. 2010. Tiziano Tosolini ed., Death and Those Beyond. 2011. Tiziano Tosolini ed., L’oggi del dialogo. 2012. Tiziano Tosolini ed., Threshold Religion. 2012. Tiziano Tosolini ed., Asia and Human Rights. 2013. Tiziano Tosolini ed., Borderline Gender. 2014. Tiziano Tosolini ed., Family Changes. 2015. Tiziano Tosolini ed., God Between the Lines. 2016. Tiziano Tosolini ed., Ecstatic Time. 2017. Ecstatic Time edited by Tiziano Tosolini tudy S C n en ia t s r e A Xaverian Missionaries – Japan Published by Asian Study Centre Ichiba Higashi 1–103–1 598–0005 Izumisano (Osaka), Japan Private edition, 2017 Printed in Taipei (Taiwan roc) Contents Introduction 3 Bangladesh – Sergio Targa The Carak Puja in Chuknagar 10 God Dharma, Low Castes and the Paesantization of Bengal 23 Between Assimilation and Marginalization 33 Conclusion 42 Indonesia – Matteo Rebecchi The Puliaijat 48 Seeking Reciprocity 69 Restoring the Harmony of the Cosmos 75 Conclusion 79 Japan – Tiziano Tosolini Festive Time 84 Times to Feast 90 Matsuri: “Divinities and Humans Enjoying Together in Harmony” 96 Praising Time (Norito) 105 Conclusion: Till the End of Time 109 Taiwan – Luigino Marchioron The Etymology of the Term Feast or Festival 116 The Spring Festival-The Chinese New Year (Chun Jie 春節) or Crossing the Year (Guo Nian 過年) 117 The Latern Festival (Yuan Xiao Jie 元宵節) 121 The Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qing Ming Jie 清明節) 124 127 The Dragon Boat Festival (Duan Wu Jie 端午節) 130 Zhong Yuan Jie (中元節) also Known as Zhong Yuan Pu-Du (中元普渡): Universal Ferry or Universal Salvation of Zhong Yuan Jie 131 The Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhong Qiu Jie 中秋節) 133 The Concepts of Feast and Time in the Bible 142 The Feast in the Christian Tradition 144 Conclusions 153 Conclusion Introduction S. Targa, L. Marchioron he starting point for Ecstatic Time was the realiza- tion that the concept of feast, and the role of time in it, are structural elements of any culture, the defin- ing constituentsT of people’s identities. As missionaries, we recog- nize and experience every day that, for the people with whom we live, feast is a ruptured time, an interruption in ordinary duration to make space for something else, for another kind of time which is qualitatively different from normal, ordinary time. This time, which we have called “ecstatic” reflects, complements and fulfils the meaning of life by recognizing the sacred through the cele- bration of festivals and rituals. The four contributions collected here reveal two fundamental dimensions in the way in which festivals are celebrated in the different cultural contexts of the countries under examination. Apparently, the works on the feast, as elaborated in specific anthropological contexts of Bangladesh and Indonesia, highlight a structural relationship with agricultural cycles, fertility, the regeneration of life, and the need of harmonious relations within and without specific social groups and the multifarious spirits 4 | Ecstatic Time of the surrounding nature. Ostensibly, the relationship between both Mentawaian and Rishi peoples with a transcendent divine entity is not immediate or directly apparent. In fact, for both Mentawaian and Rishi peoples, festivals are occasions for creating a more habitable space outside of a primordial, threatening chaos. On the other hand, the works on Japan and Taiwan reflect a more national perspective, where festivals as such estab- lish, articulate and qualify time. More importantly, Heaven’s calendar is for the people to observe; it is rites and festivals which give meaning to time. By celebrating them, human time is brought into contact with divine time. Festivals and rituals re-actualize and revive sacred events that happened in the beginning. For the Rishi of Bangladesh, the festival of Carak becomes a way to recompose the harmony between the male and female elements of life, making amends for the violence inflicted on the female by the male, in its agricultural activity. The paper highlights the ideological and instrumental uses the festival may be subjected to, particularly by vested quarters of stratified societies. The Puliaijat celebrations of the people of the Mentawai mark different stages of life and particular events in it. These festive occasions summon the whole clan to the com- munal house (uma). The paper focuses on the ritual words employed by therimata , who is the leader of the celebration. In particular, the article stresses the profound meaning of the puliaijat for the Mentawaian soul. The paper on Japan’s festivals analyzes the meaning, structure, and typology of the various Matsuri (festival). While the latter may be private or public, the paper emphasizes the description of the time of praise, that is, the time when the officiant directs prayers to the divinities in order to promote perfect harmony between the will of the kami (divinity) and the will of human beings. The paper on Taiwan concentrates on six major Chinese festivals, all of them con- nected with agricultural, historical, cosmological, celestial and mythological events, with a clear preference for the vision of “round-circle.” The author compares these festivals with Biblical ones, where feasts are an actual memorial of welcoming life as the Creator’s gift. Feast is a delightful time, a time of re-union, joy, peace and fulfilment. The authors wish to thank the Xaverian Missionaries for their support, those who helped us in the research and those who revised the English text: Fr. Steve McKend sx, Fr. John Fagan sx, Ms. Lauren Hanson and Ashley Smith, Sr. Nancy Murphy rscj, Alberto Bertozzi. We remember with deep gratitude the late Fr. Luigi Menegazzo sx, the original architect and patron of the Asian Study Centre. A special word of thanks goes to the Gen- eral Direction of the Xaverian Missionaries which continues to support our endeavour. Our gratitude extends also to the local community of the Domus of Izumisano together with the whole Xaverian Region of Japan, for fraternally hosting our annual meeting in July 2017. To them also our heartfelt gratitude for continuously supporting the Asian Study Centre financially. Last but not least, we express our gratitude to our readers who, with their observations and comments, direct and sustain our effort. Ecstatic Time Bangladesh Sergio Targa he Carak puja, although known and celebrated, often with different names,1 all over the Indian Northeast, is however particularly linked to the religiousT and cultural traditions of Bengal. The festival apparently impinges on multiple layers of ancient popular religious customs and beliefs which lend it particular flavour and interest. Anthro- pologists and historians of religions alike find in it a sort of treasure trove of material useful to pin down and chart the often elusive religious and cultural history of Bengal. The attention of the scholarly community to the Carak puja was first attracted by Haraprasad Shastri who recognized in the festival remnants of Buddhist worship and ideas.2 1. Within Bengal, sometimes even from village to village, basically iden- tical religious practices, assume different names. Carak, Gajon, Gambhira are perhaps some of the more common ones. See B. K. Sarkar, The Folk-Element in Hindu Culture (London: Longmans, 1917), 73. Puja is a generic term for adoration or feast. 2. See S. Haraprasad, “Discovery of the Remnants of Buddhism in Bengal,” in the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, December 1894. Mahama- hopadhyaya Pandit Hara Prasad Sastri, born Bhattacharya (1853–1931), was 8 | Ecstatic Time Without entering into what turned out to be a vexed question, it is necessary to say that indeed the festival continues to maintain a very heterogeneous character. For a start, god Dharma himself, a local Bengali folk deity, around which the celebrations originated, appears to have a mixed nature so that he seems to be the outcome of “Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina, non-Aryan and Islamic strands having united to form him as he is today.”3 To fur- ther complicate things, god Dharma nowadays has come to be identified tout court with god Shiva, so much so that most devotees of the Carak puja do not even remember about the existence of a god called Dharma.