User:Madalibi/Religion in the Qing dynasty

General statement on local religious communities, popular cults, Buddhist and Daoist clergy, Christian missionaries, and state control (through both law and patronage) of religious activities. State involvement should be a recurring theme. Another theme that runs throughout: the importance of ritual.

The religious features of Qing imperial rule

Patronage of religion

Buddhist and Daoist clergy, granting of titles to religious leaders, register of authorized cults, sponsors of religious architecture.

Shamanism

Main article: Shamanism in the Qing dynasty

Shamanism is the religion most typical of the Tungusic peoples (including the Manchus) of Northeast Asia. The word "shaman" itself (saman in Manchu) appears to be of Tungusic origins. The most common religion among the Manchus was shamanism, which Manchus practiced long before they started conquering China in 1644. Each clan had its own shaman (usually a woman), who was responsible for contact with sacred spirits (enduri) and sometimes with dead ancestors. From these spirits the shaman sought a good hunt or harvest, quick healing, success in battle, and other such favors.

Tale of the Nisan Shaman and Manchu myth of origin. Because it was committed to writing in the early twentieth century, the Tale reflects spoken Manchu of the time, but it contains much older elements.

Shamanistic beliefs were integrated into the Manchu myth of origins, and were used to integrate northeastern populations that also practiced shamanism into the Qing empire.

Main shamanic ritual was conducted on the first day of the New Year, when the Emperor would visit the tangse, "a small octagonal building to the southeast of the Forbidden City" that was built in 1653 where the emperor made offerings to Heaven, the horse spirit, the Manchu progenitor, and various other deities.

Qing annals report that on the day of April 1618 when Nurhaci announced his Seven Grievances against the Ming dynasty, he conducted a religious ceremony at a shamanic shrine (M. tangse; Ch. tangzi 堂子) during which he burned an oath to Heaven written on a piece of yellow paper.

State shamanic rites (mostly worship of Heaven) were conducted at shamanic shrines or deity altars (tangse).

Shamanic dances (跳神)

Daily shamanistic rites were also conducted in the women's quarters of the palace, more specifically in the Kunning Palace of the Forbidden City. In the Shunzhi reign, these sacrifices were performed by the wives of Aisin Gioro men and by the emperor's consorts. After that, the shamans were selected from the wives of high officials belonging to Gioro households registered in the "Upper Three Banners," which belonged directly to the emperor. Only members of the imperial clan could attend such ceremonies. These palace rites were managed by the "Office of Shamanism" (神房 shénfáng), a bureau under the authority of the Imperial Household Department that employed a number of shamanesses (薩滿太太) and eunuchs.

The "Shamanic Code" of 1747, the "Imperially Sponsored Rites for the Manchu Worship of Heaven and the Spirits" (Hesei toktobuha manju wecere metere kooli bithe, compiled in Manchu on imperial commission. In 1777 the Qianlong Emperor ordered it translated for inclusion in the Siku quanshu. The Chinese-language edition, titled Qinding Manzhou jishen jitian dianli 欽定滿洲祭神祭天典例, was completed in 1780. A commercial edition published in 1828, the Manzhou tiaoshen huanyuan dianli 滿洲跳神還愿典例, has survived.

SOURCES:

• Crossley (1999), A Translucent Mirror (1999), pp. 19n35, 162 (Cuyen used shamans to bewitch the entire lineage in 1612), 202-3 ("first steps toward state codification of religion"; combine with Elliott 236), 236 (Tibetan Buddhism as partly shamanic), 244 (Nurhaci's exploits reenacted with shamans), 284-85 (Guandi/Nurhaci shrines), 299 (Shamanic Code as "Rites for the Manchu Worship of Heaven and the Spirits": Manzhou jishen jitian dianli; that book "opened Qing shamanism to bureaucratic review").
• Rawski (1998), The Last Emperors (1998): 10, 33, 43, 129, 199, 222, 231-44, 249, 254, 268-69, 276, 298, 369n15, 369n12, 369n16, 370n18, 371n26, 373n37, 373n53, 373n55, 384n17.
• Di Cosmo (1999), "Manchu shamanic ceremonies at the Qing court", in Joseph McDermott (ed.) State and Court Ritual in China, pp. 352-98.
• Elliott (2001): 235-41, 276, 464n3, 465n5, 465n10, 465n13
• Naquin (2000): (shamanism) 304, 334-35, 383, 502; (spirit possession) 244, 446, 527, 545; (tangzi) 334-35, 343n, 355, 383, 384 [contains map!], 475, 684.

Still missing:

• magpies and crows
• detail of Kunning Palace sacrifices
• Manchu myths of origin
• Tale of the Nisan Shamaness
• integration of Guanyin, Buddha, and Guandi
• Nurhaci as Guandi
• wecembi and metembi
• historiographical significance (shows that shamanism could be linked to the state; vs. Mircea Eliade theory of classical shamanism as ecstatic flights; Manchuness of the Qing dynasty)

Daoism

State patronage

Despite being patrons of Tibetan Buddhism, Qing emperors also recognized and supported Daoism. They gave most support to the Zhengyi School of the Celestial Masters, whose headquarters were on Mount Longhu (Jiangxi), the "hereditary home of the descendants of Zhang Daoling." In 1651, during the Shunzhi reign, the imperial court granted the title of "Great Perfected of the Hereditary Lineage of Orthodox Unity" (正一嗣教大真人 Zhèngyī sìjiào dà zhēnrén) to 52nd Celestial Master Zhang Yingjing (張應京), who was put in charge of managing the Daoist clergy, with particular attention on "preventing heretic religious influences." In 1655 his successor Zhang Hongren (張洪仁; 1624–1667) was received at court and lived at the "Numinous Palace to the Right" (靈右宮 Língyòu gōng) among high officials.

Islam

Main article: Islam during the Qing Dynasty

Unlike other religions, Islam was not patronized by the imperial state, or at least the emperor did not present himself as an Islamic ruler like he assumed a Tibetan Buddhist, Daoist, or Confucian Son-of-Heaven figure. Sufi schools in Central Asia, but also in Jiangnan, where some scholars tried to reconcile Islamic teachings with those of Confucianism. Chinese Muslims considered restless and violent. Islam linked to many rebellions in Central Asia and Yunnan. Milayin uprising, Panthay Rebellion (1856–1873), Dungan revolt (1862–1877), Dungan Revolt (1895).

Christianity

Main articles: Jesuit China missions and 19th Century Protestant Missions in China

Jesuit missionaries at court. Linked to the promotion of Western science and techniques. Some converts. Chinese Rites controversy. Taiping rebellion inspired by Christian ideology. Protestant missionaries after 1860. Missionary presence in the countryside. Christian communities in Fujian and other places. Missionary hospitals, translations.

Works cited

• Crossley, Pamela Kyle (1999), A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Imperial Ideology, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-21566-4.
• Dean, Kenneth (2000), "Daoist Ritual Today", in Kohn, Livia (ed.) (ed.), Daoism Handbook, Leiden and Boston: Brill, pp. 659–82, ISBN 9004112081 {{citation}}: |editor-first= has generic name (help).
• Di Cosmo, Nicola (1999), "Manchu shamanic ceremonies at the Qing court", in McDermott, Joseph P. (ed.) (ed.), State and Court Ritual in China, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 352–98, ISBN 0521621577 {{citation}}: |editor-first= has generic name (help).
• Elliott, Mark C. (2001), The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China, Stanford: Stanford University Press, ISBN 0804746842.
• Esposito, Monica (2000), "Daoism in the Qing (1644–1911)", in Kohn, Livia (ed.) (ed.), Daoism Handbook, Leiden and Boston: Brill, pp. 623–58, ISBN 9004112081 {{citation}}: |editor-first= has generic name (help).
• Naquin, Susan (2000), Peking: Temples and City Life, 1400–1900, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-21991-0.
• Rawski, Evelyn S. (1998), The Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-22837-5.