VU Research Portal One House, Two Paths Colijn, H.A. 2018 document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in VU Research Portal citation for published version (APA) Colijn, H. A. (2018). One House, Two Paths: Popular Religion and Protestant Christianity in Contemporary Chinese Households. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. E-mail address: [email protected] Download date: 04. Oct. 2021 VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT One House, Two Paths Popular Religion and Protestant Christianity in Contemporary Chinese Households ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad Doctor of Philosophy aan de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, op gezag van de rector magnificus prof.dr. V. Subramaniam, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van de promotiecommissie van de Faculteit Religie en Theologie op dinsdag 9 oktober 2018 om 11.45 uur in de aula van de universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105 door Herman Abraham Colijn geboren te Kampen promotoren: prof.dr. M. Moyaert prof.dr. P.D. Nyíri copromotoren: dr. P.J. Peverelli dr. A.Y. Chau 1 Table of Contents SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................. 4 PREFACE ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 9 PART I. FORMING PLURIPRAX HOUSEHOLDS ....................................................................... 60 1. CONVERSION TO PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY .......................................................................................... 61 2. RELIGIOUS HETEROGAMY ................................................................................................................................. 99 PART II. MAINTAINING PLURIPRAX HOUSEHOLDS ......................................................... 146 3. HARMONIZING RITUAL CONFLICTS ............................................................................................................. 147 4. TOLERATING INDIVIDUAL ABSTENTION .................................................................................................... 185 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 216 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................................... 236 CHARACTER LIST ............................................................................................................................. 243 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................. 251 2 Map, Table, and Photographs MAP OF CONTEMPORARY SOUTHERN FUJIAN................................................................ 20 TABLE: MODES OF RITUAL ENACTMENT IDENTIFIED IN THE THESIS...................... 42 AT A MOUNTAIN HIKE ON XIAMEN ISLAND.................................................................... 50 CHRISTMAS SHOW IN A PROTESTANT "MEETING POINT" IN XIAMEN ..................... 61 PRACTICING TO GIVE COMPLIMENTS TO A SPOUSE AT A SPECIAL TRAINING COURSE IN A PROTESTANT CHURCH IN XIAMEN .......................................................... 74 CHRISTMAS SHOWS OF XIAMENESE PROTESTANTS IN "ETHNIC" COSTUMES RESEMBLE THE FAMED CCTV NEW YEAR'S GALA ........................................................ 84 PLAYING GAMES IN CHURCH DURING CHRISTMAS IN XIAMEN ............................... 84 A "FIERY BOWL" AWAITING THE BRIDE AND GROOM AT THE DOORSTEP OF HIS HOME IN RURAL QUANZHOU, SOUTHERN FUJIAN ........................................................ 97 RED BASKETS USED TO DISTRIBUTE GIFTS AND WEDDING INVITATIONS IN THE GROOM'S HOMETOWN IN RURAL QUANZHOU, SOUTHERN FUJIAN ......................... 97 DINERS AT A WEDDING BANQUET IN RURAL NINGDE, EASTERN FUJIAN............. 105 WEDDING PICTURE LOCATION FOR ENGAGED COUPLES IN XIAMEN ................... 109 POSING FOR WEDDING PICTURES ON THE BEACH....................................................... 109 SHOPPING FOR "HAN ROBES" IN MR HUANG'S SHOP FOR TRADITIONAL CHINESE CLOTHING AND RITUALS IN XIAMEN ............................................................................. 131 GRAVES OF A MARRIED COUPLE IN A XIAMEN CITY CEMETERY........................... 144 MALE MOURNERS AT A PROTESTANT FUNERAL IN RURAL ZHANGZHOU ............147 FEMALE MOURNERS AT A MEMORIAL SERVICE IN RURAL ZHANGZHOU ............ 147 PROTESTANT MEMORIAL SERVICE IN URBAN XIAMEN..............................................162 OFFERING INCENSE TO THE GODS MOUNTED ON SEDAN CHAIRS DURING A LINEAGE PROCESSION IN XIAMEN .................................................................................. 180 TERRACOTTA BUILDINGS IN MASHAN VILLAGE, ZHANGZHOU.............................. 187 DOMESTIC ALTAR IN MASHAN.......................................................................................... 187 BURNING SPIRIT MONEY FOR ANCESTORS ON NEW YEAR'S DAY IN MASHAN .. 197 THREE JOSS STICKS FOR THE JADE EMPEROR IN A SUPPORTING PILLAR OF THE HOUSE IN MASHAN ON NEW YEAR'S DAY ..................................................................... 197 3 Summary In post-Mao China, forms of popular religion have been revitalized while in the same period millions of people have converted to Protestant Christianity. My doctoral research in the region of Southern Fujian explores how practitioners in these different ritual systems live together as spouses; as parents and children; as grandparents and grandchildren. I focus on the enactment of communal rituals (weddings, funerals, Christmas celebrations, Spring Festival rituals) by such "pluriprax" households, because considering Chinese religious history I expected practices (ways of doing) to be more contested on a grassroots level than scriptures or doctrines (believing). How do people in contemporary Southern Fujian form and maintain pluriprax households, despite their conflicting ritual obligations? In the context of the individualization of modern Chinese society ⎯individual empowerment in the domestic sphere and in relation to socio-economic institutions⎯ my interlocutors in Southern Fujian generally value personal emotional, romantic, and religious fulfillment over adherence to communal ritual obligations (e.g. obligation to venerate ancestors, obligation to abstain from superstition). This creates a field of tension, because as members of ancestral lineages practicing forms of popular religion and as members of churches practicing Protestant Christianity, individuals still have certain obligations to fulfill. Communal rituals thus signal moments of tension and division among my research population. Yet pluriprax households in Southern Fujian have been able to thrive in the context of individualization. Due to the disempowerment of Chinese ritual communities (ancestral lineages, Protestant churches, socialist production brigades) in the course of the twentieth century, individual household members are able to abstain from, simplify, or integrate various rituals through polytropy. These ways to change, evade, or "harmonize" ritual obligations accommodate the participation of practitioners in different ritual systems, allowing them to form and maintain pluriprax households. My thesis contributes to (inter)religious studies by theorizing the central importance of practice (what to do, when, where, and how) in settings of religious diversity. Most studies of "mixed" or "interfaith" families in Western societies still have an inherent bias toward mentalist beliefs and worldviews, but the boundary-transcending ritual practices of pluriprax households in Southern Fujian harbor important theoretical insights for the study of interreligious relations. My thesis also enriches the study of religion in Chinese societies by shedding light on the largely unexplored topic of pluriprax households, and by bringing 4 in a new debate (from the discursive field of individualization) to the field of religion and ritual in Chinese societies. Finally, the thesis contributes to theorizing about modern mainland Chinese society by providing ethnographic examples of the challenges and problems that arise on a grassroots level in the context of individualization (e.g. conflicting ritual obligations), and the creative responses of people facing such challenges. 5 Preface The fieldwork for this thesis brought me to the homes and lives of people in Southern Fujian. The countless conversations, meals, leisurely trips, daily swims in the