University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2017 Healing At The Borderland Of Medicine And Religion: A Folklore Study Of Health Care In Taiwan Chia-Hui Lu University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Asian Studies Commons, Folklore Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Lu, Chia-Hui, "Healing At The Borderland Of Medicine And Religion: A Folklore Study Of Health Care In Taiwan" (2017). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2453. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2453 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2453 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Healing At The Borderland Of Medicine And Religion: A Folklore Study Of Health Care In Taiwan Abstract This study is about popular healing and its relation to culture. It is based on my field esearr ch in Taiwan from 2014 to 2016. In addition to modern medicine and scientific Chinese medicine, my fieldesear r ch focused on the connections between different systems of popular healing and the role of lay people in their own healthcare. The correlations between them are ambiguous, inexplicit, superimposed upon or intermeshed with one another. In Taiwan, health care and the healing process is part of popular culture. I make evident the vital role of lay people, which often has been overlooked. Lay people includes all non- professionals──popular ritual practitioners ignorant of orthodox teaching, local medicinal healers without a national license, and followers who disregard religious doctrines but believe in divine power. There are many laymen devoted to religion. All the lines are blurred. Each healer performs rites of various origins, intertwining popular concepts of religion and medicine to compete for survival and prestige. Healers are easily accessible and play a central role in the daily life of the community. Three subjects──medicine in temples, possessed healers who prescribe herbal formulas, and rituals that use drugs──are examples where popular religion and medicine overlap. By setting them in a framework, it is possible to better understand how people receive, perceive and disseminate health care. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group East Asian Languages & Civilizations First Advisor Dan Ben-Amos Second Advisor Nathan Sivin Keywords Chinese Medicine, Health Care, Popular Religion, Taiwan Studies Subject Categories Asian Studies | Folklore | Social and Cultural Anthropology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2453 HEALING AT THE BORDERLAND OF MEDICINE AND RELIGION: A FOLKLORE STUDY OF HEALTH CARE IN TAIWAN Chia-Hui Lu A DISSERTATION in East Asian Languages and Civilizations Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2017 Supervisor of Dissertation: Co-Supervisor of Dissertation: ____________________________ _____________________________ Dan Ben Amos, Professor of Nathan Sivin, Emeritus Professor of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations History and Sociology of Science Graduate Group Chairperson: ___________________________________________ Christopher P. Atwood, Professor of East Asian Languages & Civilizations Dissertation Committee: Justin McDaniel, Professor of Religious Studies ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This study would not have been possible without many people’s generous advice and support, to whom I would like to extend my gratitude. Dr. Dan Ben-Amos was not only an excellent doctoral supervisor, but also an engaging mentor. He led me to the world of folklore where local people and their stories play major roles in culture. I have learned from them, gotten to know them, and grown from them. Dr. Nathan Sivin, I am most grateful to, always gave me his time, expertise and honest opinion. We met almost every week to study Daoism, Chinese medicine, health care and any topic related to life science. With his profound erudition, all the information and education I had absorbed and gathered was challenged and my view of the world was shaken up. He always generously shared his experiences and insights, answered any questions I had, patiently read my writing and made suggestions on ways to improve it. I also would like to thank Dr. Victor H. Mair for his kind help and enlightenment, especially his questions regarding Taiwanese and culture; Dr. Christopher Atwood for his detailed comments and suggestions on my study; Dr. Justin McDaniel for his positive attitude, motivation, and classes on religion and material culture. I am also grateful to Dr. Nancy S. Steinhardt (Archaeology), Dr. Paul R. Goldin (Sinology), Dr. William B. Labov (Linguistics), Dr. Linda H. Chance (Japanese Sinology), Dr. David Kazanjian (Theory of Literature) and all my professors for their valuable seminars that I participated in, which helped me conduct my research in an interdisciplinary perspective. Much assistance and stimulation were offered me while I was doing fieldwork in Taiwan. Very many people have given me their strong support and helped me in different ii ways, directly and indirectly. I am particularly indebted to temple authorities at Pujidian 普濟殿 (Tainan city), Yingchuan Daoist Altar 穎川道壇 (Tainan city), Shenfotian 神 佛壇 (Tainan city), Qingxinggong in Shisandian 什三佃慶興宮 (Tainan city), Tainhougong in Yanhang 鹽行天后宮 (Tainan city), Shangdimiao in Degaocuo township 德高厝上帝廟 (Tainan city), and Yuanshuaimiao in Youchang 右昌元帥廟 (Kaohsiung city). I was fortunate in obtaining important suggestions from Miguel Liu, Liao Zhiwei 廖志瑋, Huang Jianglin 黃江霖, Gong Tianyu 龔添裕 and his sons, Lin Douzhi 林斗枝 (1936-2016), Stephen Flanigan, Xu Ronghui 許榮輝, Jiang Wenzheng 蔣文正, Eric Liang, Huang Minghong 黃名宏, Bill Kang and Zhang Zhiwei 張智威. I am deeply grateful to many mentors and friends for their constant concern: Thomas H. C. Lee, Chien Mei-ling, Beverly Butcher, Boram Choi, Sean Wang, and Lin Ming-hsun. I am also grateful to Annie Chan, Yang Lei and David Mo for their kindest help and incredible friendship; and to Ori Tavor and Frank Clements for their thoughtful and productive communication. My heartfelt thanks go to Susan Chen and Coco Hong who kindly gave me their best support in my daily life during my stay in the United States. My thanks also go to my editor, Karen Vellucci, who drove my writing ever onward. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my mother and to my beloved family. Without their trust and confidence, I would not be who I am today. Last but not least, this dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my father, who always believed his little girl could persevere and overcome obstacles. iii ABSTRACT HEALING AT THE BORDERLAND OF MEDICINE AND RELIGION: A FOLKLORE STUDY OF HEALTH CARE IN TAIWAN Chia-Hui Lu Dan Ben-Amos Nathan Sivin This study is about popular healing and its relation to culture. It is based on my field research in Taiwan from 2014 to 2016. In addition to modern medicine and scientific Chinese medicine, my field research focused on the connections between different systems of popular healing and the role of lay people in their own healthcare. The correlations between them are ambiguous, inexplicit, superimposed upon or intermeshed with one another. In Taiwan, health care and the healing process is part of popular culture. I make evident the vital role of lay people, which often has been overlooked. Lay people includes all non-professionals──popular ritual practitioners ignorant of orthodox teaching, local medicinal healers without a national license, and followers who disregard religious doctrines but believe in divine power. There are many laymen devoted to religion. All the lines are blurred. Each healer performs rites of various origins, intertwining popular concepts of religion and medicine to compete for survival iv and prestige. Healers are easily accessible and play a central role in the daily life of the community. Three subjects──medicine in temples, possessed healers who prescribe herbal formulas, and rituals that use drugs──are examples where popular religion and medicine overlap. By setting them in a framework, it is possible to better understand how people receive, perceive and disseminate health care. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………………………………………………………………ii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………...iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS………………………………………………………….viii INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………….1 CHAPTER 1：HEALING AND HEALTH CARE: A LIFE STYLE………………..27 The Terms “Religion,” “Medicine” and “Healing” The Supplements to Kleinman’s Frameworks A Picture of Health Care in Early Taiwan Conclusion CHAPTER 2：POULAR RELIGION AND POPULAR MEDICINE……………….47 Popular Religion Popular Medicine Conclusion CHAPTER 3：MEDICINE IN THE TEMPLES……………………………………...71 Herbal Drugs in the Temples Chinese Medicine as Ritual The Three-in-One Temples Conclusion CHAPTER 4：POSSESSED HEALER AND THE FORMULAS FROM THE GODS…………………………………………………………………………………....91 Some Clarifications of Terms “Wizards” in Taiwan A Case Study, and Others Possessed Drug Healer: Mr. Gong Medicine Kings and Medicine Emperors Legends and Stories vi Séances, Formulas, and Medical Book Conclusion CHAPTER 5：THE RITUAL WITH DRUGS……………………………………….127 Yaochan and Local Society Ritual Performance and Symbolic Activity The Medical Repentance Litany Texts Conclusion CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………….….152