Durham E-Theses The Secularisation of Identity in a Religious World: A Case Study of the Atayal Bienjing Village WANG, I-CHUN How to cite: WANG, I-CHUN (2015) The Secularisation of Identity in a Religious World: A Case Study of the Atayal Bienjing Village, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11079/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Abstract The Secularisation of Identity in a Religious World: A Case Study of the Atayal Bienjing Village I-Chun, Wang This study analysed the religious transition of the Atayal people of Bienjing village in Miaoli, Taiwan, and how it influenced the Atayals’ conceptualisation of both the ethnic and cultural identities. The study focused on the Atayal people’s mass conversion to Christianity in the early 1950s, which not only changed their worldview and cultural values but also altered their sense of belonging, as well as the idea of being an Atayal person. In investigating the process and influences of this conversion, I analysed the ritual performances, cultural values and cultural memories of the Atayal people to determine their understanding of the tenets of Christianity. I also examined the power structure, education and daily practices in the village to investigate how the social reproduction of religious beliefs influenced the production of their identity. As a result, rather than looking at the religious affiliations of individuals, their engagement in religious practices or the influence of religion on public matters, I proposed a new mode of ‘secularisation’ that looks at the experience of the sacred. By comparing the experiences of the sacred before and after the conversion, I have illustrated how, instead of being a religious act, the Atayal people’s turn to Christianity was a process of secularisation that divided the Atayal world into the ‘sacred’ and the ‘secular,’ as distinct from its previous status as a whole sacred entity, thus differentiating the domains of ‘religion’ from ‘culture’. Therefore, the modern Atayal identities—individual, social and ethnical—are also being secularised and multiplied. Such a change of the mode of identity from a religious perspective, I also argue, not only deserves further exploration for future studies on aboriginal groups’ identities and religious conversions in Taiwan but also serves as another aspect in the discussion of the idea of secularisation in general. The Secularisation of Identity in a Religious World: A Case Study of the Atayal Bienjing Village I-Chun, Wang A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology Department of Anthropology Durham University Dr. Yulia Egorova, Supervisor Dr. Peter J. Collins, Supervisor 2014 Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 4 Foreword ....................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1. ..................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Research questions ......................................................................................................... 8 1.2 To frame the question / Literature review ................................................................. 10 1.2.1 Secularisation and modernity ................................................................................. 10 1.2.2 On religious conversion .......................................................................................... 15 1.2.3 The construction of ethnic identity ......................................................................... 20 1.2.4. Religious studies on Taiwanese Austronesian groups ...................................... 24 1.2.5 On Atayal religious studies .................................................................................. 30 1.3 Plan of thesis ................................................................................................................. 32 Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................... 34 2.1 Constructing the field: Atayals in Bienjing village ................................................... 36 2.1.1 Selecting the field site ........................................................................................... 36 2.1.2 The formation of Bienjing village ........................................................................ 38 2.1.3 The three Atayal tribes in Bienjing village ......................................................... 42 2.2 Fieldwork methods ....................................................................................................... 44 2.2.1 Participant observation ........................................................................................... 45 2.2.2 Interviews ............................................................................................................... 47 2.2.3 Images ..................................................................................................................... 49 2.2.4 Historical literature analysis ................................................................................... 50 2.2.5 Data storage ........................................................................................................... 51 2.3 Analytical methods ....................................................................................................... 51 2.3.1 Analytical framework ........................................................................................... 52 Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................... 56 3.1 The beginning of the journey ...................................................................................... 57 3.2 The key of the ‘Atayalness’: gaga ............................................................................... 58 3.2.1. Gaga and Atayal social organisation ..................................................................... 59 3.2.2 Gaga: the way of life, or a way of life? .................................................................. 61 0 3.2.3 The nature and formation of the gaga .................................................................... 65 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 68 Chapter 4 .................................................................................................................... 70 4.1 The sacredness in the idea of utux .............................................................................. 75 4.1.1 Maho: offering to utux ............................................................................................ 76 4.1.2 Smyus: offerings for atonement .............................................................................. 77 4.2 The relationship between the Atayal people and utux .............................................. 79 4.3 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 83 Chapter 5 .................................................................................................................... 86 5.1 The first challenge: Japanese modernity and Shintoism .......................................... 88 5.1.1 In between Japanisation and Christianisation ......................................................... 92 5.2 The second challenge: the coming of Christianity .................................................... 96 5.2.1 The arrival of Christianity in Bienjing village ........................................................ 97 5.2.2 The social factors of conversion ........................................................................... 101 5.2.3 The moral demand of conversion ......................................................................... 104 5.2.4 The symbolic construction of conversion ............................................................. 107 5.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 112 Chapter 6 .................................................................................................................. 115 6.1 The Christianised gaga and rituals ........................................................................... 117 6.1.1 Reconceptualising utux: from divinity to humanity ............................................. 118 6.1.2 Reconceptualising gaga: from sacred