" POPULAR RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS AND HETERODOX SECTS IN CHINESE HISTORY
CHINA STUDIES
Published for the Institute for Chinese Studies University of Oxford
EDITORS:
GLEN DUDBRIDGE FRANK PIEKE
VOLUME 3
POPULAR RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS AND HETERODOX SECTS IN CHINESE HISTORY
BY
HUBERT SEIWERT
IN COLLABORATION WITH
MA XISHA
BRILL
LEIDEN • BOSTON 2003
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Seiwert, Hubert Michael, 1949Popular religious movements and heterodox sects in Chinese history / By Hubert Seiwert ; in collaboration with Ma Xisha. p. cm. – (China studies ; vol. 3) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 90-04-13146-9 1. China–Religion–History. I. Title. II. China studies (Leiden, Netherlands) ; vol. 3. BL1800.S45 2003 299'.51–dc21 2003045206
ISSN ISBN
0928–5520 90 04 13146 9
© Copyright 2003 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands
For Bärbel, Anne, and Eva
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CONTENTS
Foreword................................................................................................. xi Conventions and Abbreviations .................................................................. xiv GENERAL INTRODUCTION.......................................................... 1
PART ONE POPULAR SECTS AND HETERODOXY BEFORE THE MING DYNASTY INTRODUCTION............................................................................13 CHAPTER ONE: Prophecies and Messianism in Han Confucianism ...............................................................................15 CHAPTER TWO: Popular Sects and the Early Daoist Tradition ...................................................................................... 23 1. Roots of the Daoist Tradition .....................................................23 2. New Developments during the Han Dynasty..................................27 3. The Formation of Daoist Orthodoxies ..........................................52 4. Popular Sects after the Han Dynasty............................................62 5. Eschatology and Millenarianism.................................................80 CHAPTER THREE: Heterodox Movements in Medieval Buddhism .....................................................................................94 1. Critique of Buddhism as a Heterodox Religion...............................98 2. Buddhism, Popular Religions, and Rebellions.............................. 103 3. Eschatological Beliefs in Buddhist Sectarianism........................... 123 4. The Social Dimension of Heterodox Buddhist Sectarianism............140 5. The Elimination of Heterodoxy.................................................157 6. Conclusion: The Formation of Orthodoxies and Heterodoxies ......... 161
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER FOUR: Popular Sectarianism during the Song and Yuan dynasties ........................................................................... 165 1. Popular Buddhism and Buddhist Sectarianism ............................168 The White Cloud movement................................................ 174 The White Lotus movement ................................................ 178 2. Other Sectarian Traditions....................................................... 186 Heterodox sects during the Song .......................................... 188 Millenarian sects during the Yuan....................................... 197
PART TWO POPULAR RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS DURING THE MING AND QING DYNASTIES INTRODUCTION.......................................................................... 209 CHAPTER FIVE: The Luo Teaching: The Shaping of a New Tradition............................................................................ 214 1. The Formation of a New Tradition ........................................... 216 2. The Unfolding of a Tradition................................................... 235 3. The Dynamics of a Popular Religious Movement ......................... 260 CHAPTER SIX: The Spectrum of Popular Religious Teachings in Late Ming .............................................................268 1. Popular Religious Teachings in Early Ming ............................... 269 2. Huangtian Jiao (Yellow Heaven Teaching) ................................293 3. Hongyang Jiao (Vast Yang Teaching) ....................................... 318 4. Sanyi Jiao (Three-in-One Teaching) .........................................343 CHAPTER SEVEN: Homogenization and Diversification of Sectarian Traditions............................................................... 365 1. The Longhua Jing (Dragon-Flower Scripture) as Synthesis of Sectarian Traditions in North China.........................................366 2. Proliferation of Popular Sects under the Qing............................... 402 Zhang Baotai and His Sectarian Network...............................405 The Shouyuan Jiao and Bagua Jiao Networks....................... 413 Continuation of Cumulative Traditions: Yiguan Dao .............. 427
CONTENTS
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CHAPTER EIGHT: The Dynamics of Popular Religious Movements During the Qing and Ming Dynasties....................438 1. Innovation and Historical Continuity .........................................439 2. The Emergence of New Religious Movements .............................. 445 3. Changing Degrees of Heterodoxy................................................ 454 4. Diversification, Homogenization, and the Dynamics of Expansion............................................................................ 458 5. Rewards and Costs of Membership............................................ 465 EPILOGUE: Popular Religious Movements and Elite Culture....... 485 APPENDIX: On the Two Versions of the Jiulian Jing...................... 502 Bibliography .........................................................................................506 Index ................................................................................................... 527
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FOREWORD
Plans for writing this book sprang up more than ten years ago when a scholarship of the Volkswagen Foundation allowed me to do research in the First Historical Archives in Peking. During these months, Professor Ma Xisha of the Institute of World Religions at the Chinese Academy for the Social Sciences kindly offered me his help. I profited immensely from his stupendous familiarity with the documents of this archive and other sources on the history of popular sects in Ming and Qing China. During our conversations first plans were made for a joint publication. It was again the Volkswagen Foundation that made it possible for Ma Xisha to spent one year as a visiting scholar at the University of Hannover to continue our cooperation and prepare the publication of a monograph on Chinese popular religious sectarianism. During this time Ma Xisha wrote a substantial Chinese draft providing copious historical data to be complemented by the results of my own research. Had I been able to work continuously on this project and to finish it within the planned time, the result would have been a book coauthored by Ma Xisha and me. Yet, events took another turn. Writing a book in English proved to be a heavy exercise for me that required much more time than I had anticipated, while teaching and other obligations left little room for writing during university terms. In 1992, when I had finished the first version of several chapters, Ma Xisha’s and Han Bingfan’s Zhongguo minjian zongjiao shi (History of Chinese Popular Religions) appeared, which contained most (and much more) of the historical information of Ma Xisha’s draft. As this monumental publication of almost 1500 pages provides copious quotations from archival sources unknown to me before, I had to reconsider and revise my manuscript. In 1993 I received a call to the University of Leipzig. Moving with my family to this stimulating city in former East Germany, which at that time was in a rush of transformation, and to work at a time-honoured university undergoing complete restructuring was a fascinating but demanding experience. Writing, however, went slowly and first doubts came whether I would ever be able to finish this book within the next years. Then, in 1996, I was appointed expert member of an Enquête Commission of
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FOREWORD
the German Bundestag to investigate the activities of so-called sects and cults in Germany. Until late 1998 this task absorbed my time and energy, and research on Chinese sects came to a standstill. The experience of this commission did, however, help me to understand how state officials with an average amount of prejudices perceive odd religious minorities. This understanding was useful for the evaluation of reports by Chinese officials on popular sects. When after the Enquête Commission I resumed work on the present book, the project had turned from a dream to a nightmare. In 1994 and in 1999 two large collections of baojuan had been published in Mainland China and in Taiwan. Thus, a huge number of first-hand sectarian scriptures were made available, most of which I knew only from quotations. Though it was illusionary to study thoroughly these scriptures, I had to consider at least those that seemed most important. Whole chapters had to be completely rewritten. Progress was despairingly slow until in 2001 I was granted one term sabbatical leave, which against all apprehension finally allowed me to complete the manuscript. As has been explained, this book owes much to Ma Xisha. I have to thank him for his cooperation and encouragement, without which I would not have envisioned this project. It depends to a great extent on his research, even if in some cases I did not share his views. Needless to say, I alone am responsible for the mistakes and shortcomings of this book. Guo Peihong has translated large parts of Ma Xisha’s handwritten Chinese draft into German and assisted in many other ways during the early phase of the project. Raik Zillmann’s skill at computers rescued me from complete despair when he succeeded in recovering the destroyed files of the manuscript. I want to thank them both. I am also grateful to my colleagues in the Institute for the Study of Religions at Leipzig University for their understanding and support when I had less time for the affairs of the institute than was probably needed. The Volkswagen Foundation has supported this project with a considerable grant that allowed not only Ma Xisha to spent one year in Hannover and me to work in Peking for seven months; it also made it possible to purchase the sources and other books needed for the research. I have to thank the Foundation for this grant and for its patience when the promised results were long delayed. Patricia Radder of Brill Academic Publishers was fast and extremely efficient in considering the manuscript
FOREWORD
xiii
and preparing the final steps for the publication. I am grateful to her and the series editors for accepting the book. I am also indebted to Lynne Miles-Morillo who has edited the manuscript. Most of all I want to thank my wife for her unceasing encouragement and understanding. Although work on this book occasionally strained the tolerance of my family, she read and corrected the final version of the manuscript. Above all, however, her love and supportive spirit enabled me to overcome the many downs that I experienced not only while working on this book. The past fourteen years were a time of intense activity for both of us. It was also a time of important changes, most of them pleasant. When we went to Peking in 1989, our daughter Anne was one year old; Eva was born in 1991. Now both are in their teens. I have to apologize to them if their childhood was sometimes lacking the attention of their father they were justified to expect.
CONVENTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS
Conventions Italics Italics are used for — expressions in languages other than English, unless they have been adopted in the English language. If they are written with diacritics they are always regarded as foreign expressions. — titles of books and scriptures — the titles and designations of deities, unless they can be identified as names of (alleged) human persons. For example: “Laozi” refers to the book of Laozi, while “Laozi” refers either to the legendary person or the deity Laozi. The same deity is also known as Taishang Laojun. Designations such as Wuji shengzu or Wusheng Laomu, which can be translated, are not considered to be proper names but titles or concepts. Sanskrit names of deities are always considered proper names. — the Chinese names of religious sects and movements (for example Taiping dao, Wudoumi dao, Huangtian jiao). It is often unclear whether these expressions are proper names or descriptive terms. Italics are not used for — proper names (of persons, places, dynasties, and so forth) — the names of reign eras. Translations of sect names and book titles Unless there are established and unequivocal translations, the names of religious sects and the titles of scriptures are usually not translated, allowing clear identification. A translation is given in parentheses on first occurrence in the main text. The translation of sect names and Chinese expressions can also be found in the index, the translation of book titles in the bibliography of sources.
CONVENTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS
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Page numbers — References to page numbers of publications and source editions with Western-style pagination are preceded by “p.” or “pp.” — If the page number of Western-style pagination is followed by “a”, “b”, or “c”, it refers to the different sections on the pages in some source editions. — References to Chinese-style pagination are given as numbers (without preceding “p.”) followed by “a” or “b”, which refers to the recto or verso of the leaves (or the right and left side in modern facsimile reprints). Historical dates In the main text years are given according to Western chronology. In the notes sometimes the Chinese chronology of the sources is given, that is, the name of the reign era followed by the year, the month, and then (in some instances) the day. (“Hongwu 3/6” thus means sixth month of the third year of the Hongwu era, “Hongwu 3/6/5” means fifth day of the sixth month of the third year of the Hongwu era.) The year according to Western chronology is then added in brackets, for example Hongwu 3/6 (1370). As a convention, the whole year of the Chinese calendar is referred to by the number of the corresponding year of the Western calendar, although the eleventh and twelfth month often fall into the next year of the Western calendar.
Abbreviations . Vols. 1–40. Taiyuan: Shanxi renmin BJCJ: Baojuan chuji cubanshe, 1994. DZTY: Ren Jiyu, ed. / . Daozang tiyao . Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1991.—The number after DZTY refers to the number in this catalogue. j.: juan (“scroll”), refers to the traditional numbering of “volumes” or “chapters” in Chinese books. JJCLFZZ: Junjichu lufu zouzhe (Records attached to memorials of the Grand Council, First Historical Archives Peking).
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CONVENTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS
Ma/Han: Ma Xisha, and Han Bingfang . Zhongguo minjian zongjiao shi . Shanghai: Renmin chubanshe, 1992. MJZJ: Ming Qing minjian zongjiao jingjuan yu wenxian .—The scripture and literature of popular religion in the Ming and Qing dynasty [!]. Vols. 1–12. Taibei: Xinwenfeng chubanshe, 1999. T: Refers to the number of the scripture in TaishÙ Shinshå DaizÙkyÙ. . TaishÙ: TaishÙ Shinshå DaizÙkyÙ . . Vols. 1–100. Tokyo: IssaikyÙ kankÙkai, 1924–1934. WWDZ: Daozang . Vols. 1–36. Beijing/Tianjin: Wenwu chubanshe, Tianjin guji chubanshe, 1988 (1992). WXZJ: Wanzi Xuzangjing . Vols. 1–151. Taibei: Xinwenfeng chubanshe, 1993. (Memorials presented to the emperor, ZPZZ: Zhupi zouzhe First Historical Archives Peking). Short and variant titles of Chinese sources are listed in the bibliography.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
The sequence of chapters of this book roughly follows chronological order from antiquity to the nineteenth century. My research interest in popular religious movements in China developed, however, in the reverse order. I first noticed the importance of religious communities outside the structures of official Buddhism and Daoism when I did research into the religious history of Taiwan more than twenty years ago. I realized that what during the nineteenth century was considered to be lay Buddhism, in Taiwan were in fact vegetarian religious groups deriving from traditions that on the Chinese mainland were regarded as heterodox sects. In Taiwan, however, few sources were found indicating that these groups suffered from persecution. They rather appeared to have been a generally accepted part of the local religious culture.1 Some years later, I turned again to these vegetarian societies to trace their earlier history in southern China.2 I gained the impression that popular religious sects were a significant part of religious culture during the Ming and Qing dynasties, in any case much more important than it appeared in most descriptions of Chinese religious history. This impression was supported when I met Professor Ma Xisha who informed me about his own research and directed my attention to the countless documents in the First Historical Archives in Peking dealing with popular religious sects. I developed the idea of a monograph on Ming and Qing sectarianism based on archival materials and sectarian baojuan literature that would combine the approaches of the pioneer books by Susan Naquin and Daniel Overmyer.3 Since it proved to be illusionary to give a comprehensive description of popular religious sects in late
Cf. Hubert Seiwert, Volksreligion und nationale Tradition in Taiwan. Studien zur regionalen Religionsgeschichte einer chinesischen Provinz (Münchener Ostasiatische Studien; 38), Stuttgart: Steiner, 1985, pp. 161–194. 2 Cf. Hubert Seiwert, “Popular religious sects in south-east China: Sect connections and the problem of the Luo Jiao/Bailian Jiao dichotomy,” Journal of Chinese Religions, 20 (1992), pp. 33–60. 3 Cf. Susan Naquin, Millenarian rebellion in China. The Eight Trigrams uprising of 1813, New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 1976; Susan Naquin, Shantung rebellion. The Wang Lun uprising of 1774, New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 1981. Daniel Overmyer, Folk Buddhist religion. Dissenting sects in late traditional China (Harvard East Asian Series; 83), Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1976.
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GENERAL INTRODUCTION
imperial China, I intended to treat various aspects in a more systematic way to illustrate their place in Chinese religious culture. It was again Ma Xisha who convinced me that the sectarian movements of the Ming and Qing dynasties should be understood against the background of a long history of popular sectarianism. Thus, the scope of research was further extended to the past and the book now includes a description of popular religious movements prior to the Ming, that is, from the Han to the Yuan dynasties. This first part is intended as a historical introduction designed to illustrate the continuities in Chinese religious history and to show some persisting factors in the religious culture. For a number of reasons, which are explained in the for..."
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