Chinese Taoism has spread beyond China’s borders. According to the material provided by the late Mr. Gong Qun, a senior figure in Taiwanese Taoist cultural research, in his 1984 article.
1 Number of Taoist altars or Taoist temples and Taoist priests in various places in the 1980s 1.1 Outside Asia 1.2 Asia 2 Methods of spreading overseas 2.1 Please come out 2.2 Exchange 2.3 Lead out 2.4 Make a living 3 Functions of overseas Taoism 3.1 Soul comfort Book 3.2 National Cohesion 4 Reference 5 Note: The number of Taoist altars or Taoist priests in various places in the 1980s North America outside Asia: 54 Taoist altars or Taoist temples, 25,000 Taoist priests; South America: 85 Taoist altars or Taoist temples, 27,000 Taoist priests; Europe : 98 Taoist altars or temples, 29,000 Taoist priests; Africa: 54 Taoist altars or temples, 3,400 Taoist priests; Australia: 130 Taoist altars or temples, 9,500 Taoist priests; Asia and Japan: 12 Taoist altars or temples, 4,200 Taoist priests people; South Korea: 11 Taoist altars or temples, 3,400 Taoist priests; Thailand: 9 Taoist altars or temples, 5,200 Taoist priests; Myanmar: 7 Taoist altars or temples, 2,700 Taoist priests; Indonesia: 4 Taoist altars or temples, 820 Taoist priests; India: 2 Taoist altars or temples, 120 Taoist priests; Philippines: 258 Taoist altars or temples, 38,000 Taoist priests; Singapore: 198 Taoist altars or temples, 27,000 Taoist priests; Malaysia: 135 Taoist altars or temples There are 12,500 Taoist priests;
Although the statistics of these materials are relatively early, at the same time, people can not believe them all. However, these materials are from the hands of Mr. Gong Qun. Mr. Gong Qun is a veteran in Taoist research and organization in Taiwan. He wrote articles specifically to introduce these materials. He must have his own basis and reasons. In any case, Chinese Taoism has spread to many corners of the world. This is an indisputable fact that people today can see.
Ways of spreading overseas
Taoism has a long history of spreading overseas. Historically, Taoism has been spread overseas in three ways.
Please show off
Historically, China once had a period of great strength and glory in terms of political, economic and military power. At that time, China had great influence on its neighboring countries and regions. Neighboring countries have also asked China to send various envoys to spread China's political system, ideological beliefs, culture, science, technology, etc. Among these envoys were Taoist priests. The introduction of Taoism to the Korean Peninsula falls into this category.
According to the Korean history book "Relics of the Three Kingdoms", "During the Wude Zhenguan period of Liji (about 618-649 years), the people of the country competed for five buckets of rice. When Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty heard about it, he sent Taoist priests and a statue of Tianzun to talk about it. "Tao Te Ching", the king and the people of the country listen to it." According to China's "Tongkao of Documents", the Taoist priest invited at that time was Shen Shuan. "Heritage of the Three Kingdoms" also said that a few years later, the then prime minister of Goguryeo, Gaisu Wen, advised the emperor that "Confucianism and Buddhism are coexisting, but Huang Guan has not yet flourished." So he sent an envoy to the Tang Dynasty to study Taoism. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty sent Shuda and other eight Taoist priests to the Korean Peninsula, and they also brought the Tao Te Ching with them. After Shuda and other Taoist priests arrived in Goguryeo, they were ordered to hold sacrificial ceremonies in various mountains and rivers.
During the Song Dynasty, Goryeo sent people to China to invite Taoist priests, trained Goryeo Taoist priests, and established a Taoist temple - Fuyuan Palace. There are Tianhuang Hall, Sanqing Hall, etc. in Fuyuan Palace. The hall enshrines portraits of the Three Qing Dynasties. Korean Taoist priests did not become monks. They perform fasting rituals in Fuyuan Palace during the day and go home at night. According to records, the Korean Taoist priests in Fuyuan Palace all chanted sutras in Chinese and used Chinese rituals. They did not "localize" Taoist classics and rituals. Therefore, when China's national power began to decline, its influence decreased, and there were no Taoist priests who could understand Chinese, the spread of Taoism on the Korean Peninsula was suspended.
Exchange type
Historically, China has always had close or distant exchange relations with foreign countries, especially with neighboring countries and regions. Along with these exchange activities, Taoism was also exchanged. This is the impact of Taoism on Japan. In the 260 years from 630 to 894, Japan sent about 19 groups of "envoys to the Tang Dynasty" to China to learn advanced ideas, culture and various systems.
When these envoys returned to their countries, they also brought Chinese Taoist documents, beliefs and practices back to Japan.
According to the "Japanese National Bibliography" at the end of the seventh century, among the Chinese classics brought back from Japan by people who came to China to study, 63 kinds of Taoist classics were included. Over the years, Japanese academic circles have had heated discussions surrounding the introduction of Taoism into Japan. When I was engaged in long-term research work twice at Kyoto University and Tokyo University in Japan, some Japanese scholars also asked me about my views on this issue. There are no Taoist temples and Taoist priests in Japan. This is an objective fact. However, it is also an objective fact that Taoism has had a profound impact on Japanese politics and culture. The highest ruler in Japanese history is called the "Emperor", and the word "Emperor" comes from the Taoist Emperor the Great and the True Emperor. The emperor inherited three artifacts: seal, mirror and sword, and these three artifacts are Taoist magic weapons. The Japanese royal family and court admired purple, and purple was the color advocated by Taoism. The Japanese historical classic "Enki Shiki" contains blessings from Japan's national religion, Shintoism, including an article called "The Curse of the Presenting of the Horizontal Sword". "The Curse of Presenting the Hengdao" contains Taoist words, and the gods invited are also Taoist gods. List them out and it will be clear at a glance:
"I would like to invite you: the emperor and the sky, the three great kings, the sun, the moon and the stars, the gods of the eight directions, the Ming Si Ji, the father of the king of the east on the left, the queen mother of the west on the right, the five directions The five emperors, the four seasons and the four qi. If you hold someone with you, please eliminate disasters; if you hold a golden sword, please extend the emperor Zuo. The curse says: to Fusang in the east, to Yuyuan in the west, to Yanguang in the south, to Weishui in the north. Long live the city and the whole country. Long live the fine governance." [1]
The gods invited in this message are the gods of Chinese Taoism, and even the orientation concepts of east, west, south, and north are centered on China. No matter who wrote this "Curse of Presenting the Hengdao", whether it was written by Japanese or Baekje people, it is included in Japanese historical books, and it records the traces of the influence of Chinese Taoism on Japan. This is also an undoubted fact.
Bringing out type
The so-called bringing out means that the Chinese brought Taoism out when they went abroad. When China's national power is strong, if China's neighboring countries are in danger of being invaded, they will ask China to send troops to support them. For example, when Japan's Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea, the then Ming Dynasty responded to the request of the Joseon Dynasty and sent troops to repel Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army. During the Ming Dynasty, China's belief in Guandi flourished day by day, and Guandi temples were built wherever the Ming Dynasty troops went in North Korea. As a result, Guandi belief was also introduced to the Korean Peninsula. The army later withdrew, but the Guandi Temple remained. It's just that Emperor Guandi of North Korea later evolved from a loyal god of war into a god of wealth in charge of human wealth.
The northern part of Vietnam, from Youyi Pass (formerly known as Zhennang Pass) in Guangxi, China, to the Red River Basin, has been guarded by Chinese troops in history. There are still some temples dedicated to Emperor Zhenwu there. Emperor Zhenwu is the Xuantian God of Taoism. During the Song and Ming dynasties, the belief in Xuantian God was widely popular, and these temples were also traces brought out by the Chinese army at that time.
Making a living
When China's national power was in decline, starting from the late Qing Dynasty, due to social unrest, Chinese people began to go abroad many times. The first time was at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. At that time, China was experiencing the collapse of the feudal system that had existed for thousands of years. Foreign powers were swarming in and invading, causing natural and man-made disasters, and the people were impoverished. As a result, some people from coastal areas, especially those in Fujian and Guangdong, went to Southeast Asia and some to North America. The world called them the first generation of overseas Chinese. The first generation of overseas Chinese went abroad just to make a living. Their economic strength was weak and their cultural level was low. It was only after 40 to 50 years of hard work that they gained a foothold overseas. Another overseas trip occurred around 1949.
Facing the political changes in China at that time, some people who had concerns about their future went abroad one after another, and they were called the second generation of overseas Chinese. Most of the second-generation overseas Chinese have certain economic strength and considerable cultural level. After forty or fifty years of hard work, they have also established a foothold in Southeast Asia or Europe and the United States, and some have also achieved a certain status in business, academia, or politics.
*** Again *** appeared after the 1980s. At this time, some people went abroad to obtain knowledge and get a degree, and some to work and earn money to improve their lives. Most of them have certain economic strength and certain cultural level. Most of them have no political purpose. Therefore, after they complete their studies or make some money, they quietly return to China.
These three trends of going abroad are completely different in terms of social backgrounds, social conditions, and the quality of the people who go abroad. However, one thing is the same, that is, they are all Chinese. They lived in foreign lands and brought Chinese beliefs to foreign lands, including Taoism.
When the first generation of overseas Chinese went to Southeast Asia, they had no ships and no weather forecast. They squatted in wooden boats for ten days and a half on the vast sea. They encountered typhoons, plagues and disasters at no time. Pirates, therefore, placed their hopes on gods. When they board the ship, most of them have to bring a statue of a god from the temple in their hometown, or a wooden tablet with the name of the god on it. At the same time, they also pack a small bag of incense ashes from the incense burner in the temple in their hometown. They took these protective objects and wandered on the vast sea. If they reach their destination successfully, they will build huts with wooden planks on the beach and worship the gods or shrines from "Tangshan" (the name of their hometown of the motherland). As time went by, as more people came from the same village, the statues or deities were moved and enshrined in the hometown association or in the home of a fellow villager. Later, when the Chinese achieved success in planting, animal husbandry, mining or small commodity trading, and economic conditions improved, overseas Chinese raised funds to purchase land and build temples. The inscriptions on the construction of some temples read: "Every piece of wood, every brick, every stone pillar or stone beam in the temple was brought from "Tangshan"." Therefore, they all proudly claim that their temples are "separated" from Tangshan. However, most of these temples are managed by hometown associations or boards of directors, and no Taoist priests are involved in their affairs. For example, the famous Guandi Temple in Kobe and Yokohama in Japan has always had no Taoist priests. The Zhongyuan Pudu Dojo in Kobe's Guandi Temple has always been performed by monks from the Huangshu Sect of Japan. Precisely because these temples were spontaneously established by overseas Chinese, they concentrated on the characteristics of folk beliefs after the Ming and Qing Dynasties, including the integration of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The Guandi Temple in Yokohama, Japan, also worships the earth god, and there is also a City God Temple in Malacca, Malaysia. Both the city god and the land god are gods who manage matters on Chinese land. Now they have become "diplomats" in overseas temples.
Most of the Taoist priests in Nanyang, including those from Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Chaozhou and Qiongzhou (Hainan), arrived in Nanyang in the 1930s and 1940s of the 20th century. This is because the first generation of overseas Chinese already had the ability and need to hold Taoist ritual activities in accordance with the beliefs and customs of their hometown. Therefore, they asked Taoist priests to come to Nanyang to host Taoist activities. The Taoist priests who went to Southeast Asia not only worked as a monastery, but also farmed, raised or ran a grocery business to make a living. Most of the Taoist priests who went to Nanyang belonged to the Zhengyi sect scattered in the south and had limited Taoist cultivation. Therefore, it goes without saying that the overall level of the Taoist priests who went abroad with the first generation of overseas Chinese was not high. However, the Taoist temples built and spread by the second and third generations of overseas Chinese are different. In the past ten years, Hong Kong's Green Pine Temple has established a series of Green Pine Temples overseas under the auspices of the late Master Hou Baoyuan, such as: Green Pine Temple in the United States, Green Pine Temple in Australia, Green Pine Temple in New South Wales, Australia, Green Pine Temple in Singapore, and Canada. Qingsongguan and so on. These overseas Qingsong Temples all relied on the financial resources of Hong Kong Qingsong Temple and were established according to the Taoist system of the Quanzhen Sect of Taoism. Its internal system and ritual activities are modeled on those of Qingsong Temple in Hong Kong. Although overseas Qingsong temples have now embarked on the path of self-sufficiency, they are not exactly the same as local Taoist temples that rely on hometown ties and kinship. At its overall level, it seems more standardized. Of course, the Taoist priests in these Taoist temples have also gone abroad in the past ten years. Their Taoist level is higher than that of the scattered Taoist priests in the past, and their ritual activities also meet the requirements of orthodox Taoist beliefs.
Functions of Overseas Taoism
Overseas Taoism naturally has its own characteristics because its living conditions are different from those of local Taoism in China. For example: there are many sects of overseas Taoism; the gods worshiped by overseas Taoism are complex and numerous; the degree of organization of overseas Taoism varies, and some are relatively loose; the ritual activities of overseas Taoism have been greatly simplified, but some still maintain Some ancient traditions.
Although overseas Taoism has many different characteristics from local Chinese Taoism, they all use the same classics and worship the same gods, so they still play the same function among the Chinese. This unique function refers to the function of ideology, the function of social entity, the function of cultural inheritance and the function of communicating between gods and men. In addition, overseas Taoism also has its own special functions, such as the function of spiritual comfort, the function of a social place, and the function of national cohesion.
There is a town of Tampines in the northeast of Singapore. In the early years, the Chinese ancestors reclaimed land here and engaged in planting, breeding, and washing out sediment to make a living. Many villages were formed and more than 20 temples were formed. The oldest Chinese temple in Tampines Town is the "Shun Hing Ancient Temple". It was first built in the first year of Xianfeng (1851) and has a history of 150 years. It is dedicated to Emperor Hong Xian. It is said that at that time, Tampines was sparsely populated and densely forested, and there were tigers that appeared and harmed the villagers. Emperor Hongxian accepted the tiger as his mount. From then on, the people were safe and the tiger problem was eliminated. Therefore, local villagers built Shunxing Ancient Temple to worship Emperor Hongxian. In addition, there are three Tua Pek Kong temples including Tampines Nine Mile Tua Pekong Temple, Sinba Tua Pekong Temple and Luoyang Tua Pekong Temple. Tai Bo Gong was originally the God of Land in Fujian and Guangdong, China, also known as the God of Fortune and Righteousness. Tampines used to have a narrow and winding road with many vehicles, frequent car accidents and frequent casualties. Later, a local Chinese gathering unanimously decided to build a Tua Pek Kong temple near the road to pray for the safety of villagers. It is said that the local area has been peaceful since then. "Special Issue Commemorating the Inauguration Ceremony of Tampines United Palace", pages 16, 53, 77, 85, Singapore
Twenty or so gods in Tampines Town today Temple and the Tampines United Palace were jointly built due to the need to build a new town. Tampines Union Palace has become the largest Taoist temple in Singapore. On every god's birthday, the ceremony in the Union Palace is solemn and the incense is flourishing. Just like in their hometown, the Chinese talk and pray to the gods in their hometown during worship. In this sense, overseas Taoism plays the same function of communicating between gods and humans as domestic Taoism.
There is a Zhongyi Temple in Queenstown, Singapore. The Zhongyi Temple is dedicated to Emperor Guan. The late Mr. Wang Shuijun once recalled the history of the establishment of Zhongyi Temple and said: "The population of Wuweigang Village was sparse at that time, and everyone lived a quiet and ordinary life. In order to obtain spiritual comfort and for the villagers to have a gathering place, it was necessary to build a A temple allows residents to have a place to pray to God to protect the safety of every household in the village. Under the promotion of some village elders, around 1931, a temporary altar was set up in a house in the village to worship Guan Sheng. The three statues of the emperor, Dai Tian Xun Shou and Da Bo Gong were built in this way, so that the villagers could have a place to worship, where everyone could gather to chat and drink tea in the evening." "A few years later, the village's There were more and more faithful men and women, and the family-style altar was no longer enough. We discussed finding another place to build a larger temple. Due to financial problems at that time, I donated a house where goods were stored as a donation. After everyone agreed, and with the concerted efforts of everyone, the house was renovated, and the temple with walls built of attab boards was finally completed. After that, the altar set up in the family was moved in, and all the good men and women had a better time. It is a good temple to worship. Later, everyone thought that the temple should be named. Everyone agreed to use Zhongyi Temple as the name of the temple, so Zhongyi Temple was chosen that year." [2]
Soul Comfort
The so-called spiritual comfort function refers to the fact that in order to make a living, overseas Chinese leave their hometowns and struggle overseas. They live lonely lives and need spiritual sustenance and comfort. Although they are in a foreign country, they still place their hearts on the gods enshrined in their hometown, hoping that the gods will protect their livelihood and make them safe and happy, and pray for the good health of their relatives back home. The so-called function of a social place refers to the fact that overseas Chinese make a living in a foreign land and are busy and tiring. At first, their living quarters are simple and simple, and they need to interact with their compatriots when necessary, so there is a lack of suitable places. Temples were originally public property and had always been a place for public discussion and communication in their hometown. Therefore, overseas Chinese brought this tradition of their hometown overseas and built temples to meet the needs of Chinese communication activities.
National cohesion
The so-called function of national cohesion refers to the fact that overseas Chinese live in big families of different nationalities in foreign countries, and their common beliefs bind them to each other. The complex of motherland and hometown manifests itself as a kind of unique behavior. Whenever large-scale religious activities are held, the same religious beliefs make them burn incense and worship together, uniting and uniting them together, so that they can gain a sense of cohesion that they are not alone in their hard work.