A New Approach to Understanding Chinese Religion

理解華人宗教的新路徑

Jordan Paper

《華人宗教研究》 1期 (2013/05) Pp. 1-33

https://doi.org/10.6720/SCR.201305_(1).0001

摘要

In China and Taiwan, ＂religion＂ is recognized from the perspective of the West, which defines religion from the pattern of Christianity. An analysis of the parameters of Christianity demonstrates that it is unique in the context of religions worldwide. The Christian model either skews the understanding of other religions or implies that they are not religions. Thus, Chinese Religion is either not recognized as a religion or is understood to be a ＂folk religion,＂ meaning the religion of the uneducated, or as ＂popular religion,＂ meaning a religion other than the established religion of a culture. Neither term fits Chinese Religion, as it initially was the religion of the elite and became the state religion as well as the foundation of Chinese culture and society. Chinese Religion, the oldest documented religious modality in human history, can be delineated by twelve behavioral, social and ideological characteristics, which are or were central to most religions. These characteristics delineate the second oldest religion arising with horticulture and early agriculture, which could be labeled ＂Familism,＂ in relation to the earliest religious construct found in gathering-hunting traditions. This approach offers a new means of understanding Chinese Religion from a global perspective, resolves the many contradictions causing Chinese Religion to be either neglected or misunderstood, and is pertinent to evolving government policies regarding religion in Taiwan and China.

關鍵字

huaren jiao ； Chinese Religion ； Familism

並列摘要

在中國與台灣，「宗教」被視為是來自西方對於基督教類型定義的觀點。放在全世界宗教的脈絡裡來看，對基督教特徵的分析顯示其獨特性。但是基督教的模式若不是扭曲了對於其他宗教的理解，就是意味著他們並非宗教。因此，華人宗教不是被認為其並非為一個宗教，要不就是被理解為一個屬於民風未開的「通俗宗教」，或者被理解為「民間宗教」，意味著其區別於該文化中已然建立的宗教。不論哪一個詞彙，都不適用於華人宗教，因為它起初是屬於精英的宗教，並且成為國家宗教，也同時是華人文化與社會的基礎。在人類歷史中，有著最古老被記載宗教形式的華人宗教，可以藉由十二個行為的、社會的以及意識形態的特徵來呈現，而這些特徵不論在過去或是現在，都還是大多數宗教最重要的部份。這些特徵描述了接下來伴隨著園藝以及早期農業而興起的宗教，也可以稱之為家庭主義，與在採集狩獵傳統中所發現的最早的宗教概念相關連。這個路徑提供了一個從全球觀點了解華人宗教的新工具，解決了許多造成華人宗教不是被忽略，要不就是被誤解的矛盾之處。這個新路徑對於台灣與中國，政府推行宗教政策是中肯的。

並列關鍵字

華人教 ； 中國宗教 ； 家庭主義

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