A brief introduction to Taoist studies in Canada

Canadian studies on China's religion and China's Taoism didn't take shape until AD 1970, when the study on China's religion and Taoism was one of the hot spots in the world.

Directory 1 China Religious Research Association 2 China Journal of Religious Studies 3. 1 Ou Danian 3. 1 Main Paper 3.2 Bao Shilian 3.2. 1 Catholic Priest 3.2.2 became the main work of Taoist researchers 3.2.3.4. Representative works of the study 3.3 Julia Ching 3.3. 1 Main works 3.4 Yunhua Ran 4 References China Religious Research Association 1974 When the China Religious Group of the American Religious Society held a meeting, Professor Ou Danian of the University of British Columbia proposed to organize the China Religious Research Association. 1975 Canadian scholars have completed the organization and preparation of the seminar. The China Religious Studies Association is recognized not only by China experts in many disciplines, but also by the American Religious Society and the Asian Studies Association. When the China Religious Research Association was launched, there were only six people. One year later, the number of participants reached 44. Ten years later, by 1987, there were 200 members of China Religious Research Association, and it is said that there are now more than 300 members. In addition to Canada, there are scholars from the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Britain, France, Sweden, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, China, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan Province Province. In addition to organizing its own academic activities, the Religious Research Society of China mainly organizes its members to participate in the activities of the Religious Society of the United States and the Religious Group of China of the Asian Research Society.

China religious magazine China Religious Research Association has established its academic status. 1976 to 1977, newsletter of China Religious Research Association, third issue. From 1977 to 198 1, the newsletter was renamed "China Religious Research Association Newsletter", with six issues in total. Since 1982, the Bulletin has been renamed as China Journal of Religion, which is published once a year. The Religious Research Society of China mainly publishes research papers on China religion, and at the same time publishes book reviews, especially some non-English works. In addition to the China Religious Research Association, the China Religious Research Association also publishes a newsletter, which publishes some academic information of interest to its members twice a year.

In the activities of China Religious Research Association and China Religious Research Association, scholar Ou Danian made the greatest contribution. Li Rengang Overmeyer (1935-) graduated from Westminster College with a Bachelor of Arts degree (1957). 1966 received a master of arts degree. 197 1 received a doctorate in philosophy from the university of Chicago. Ou Danian studied religion in China for many years, paying special attention to folk secret religions in Ming and Qing Dynasties. His main works are Folk Buddhism: the Heresy Sect in the Late Traditional China and Religion in China.

The main papers are Dualism and Conflict in China's Folk Religion, Alternative: Folk Sects in China Society, My Opinion on the Role and Position of Baojuan in China's Folk Religious Literature from 16 to 17 Century, the Value of Baojuan in China's Religious Literature in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the Scriptures of the Oldest Sects in China: Buddhist Theory and the Imperial Achievement Baojuan.

Bao Shilian was another scholar who made the greatest contribution to the China Religious Research Association and the China Journal of Religion during his Catholic priest period. Bao Shilian, formerly known as JulianPas, was born in Belgium and is currently a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. Bao Shilian was originally a Catholic priest. When he dedicated himself to God, all his Catholic families, villages and towns were proud of him and celebrated him. From 65438 to 0959, Bao Shilian was sent by the Holy See to preach in Taiwan Province Province. He studied Chinese in Hsinchu Chinese College for two years, then taught in Taichung Theological Seminary, where he conducted missionary activities and had close contact with the religious life of ordinary people in China. Bao Shilian loves China's traditional culture and likes to study China's history and philosophy. Bao Shilian recalled his missionary life during this period: "I began to doubt some basic Catholic teachings that I thought were absolute truth;" At the same time, I have doubts about some rules and principles of the church. "My idea that there is no way to be saved or enjoy eternal life outside Catholicism has gradually changed. I began to think that China people who are absolutely friendly in Qian Qian must have their own beliefs and cannot all be sent to hell." In order to get peace of mind, Bao Shilian "put all his energy into work and prayer, hoping to overcome such difficulties", but "the result of struggle is in vain; I love working with Taiwan Province Province, and at the same time I feel that my ideals and struggles are completely unrealistic. " . So, 1966, Bao Shilian returned to Belgium and decided not to be a Catholic missionary. After a period of waiting, the Vatican approved him to leave.

After becoming a Taoist scholar, Bao Shilian married his fiancee in Taiwan Province Province, moved to Canada, studied for a doctorate in comparative religion, and began his teaching career in Saskatoon, a city in central and western Canada. From 65438 to 0975, Bao Shilian was invited to teach at Donghai University in Taiwan Province Province. In the same year, he worshipped Taoist Lin Zhengqi as a teacher in Taichung and began to study Taoist classics and rituals. 1978, Taiwan Province Zhang held a ceremony for Bao Shilian in Taichung City God Temple, and Bao Shilian became another foreign Taoist who was formally ordained and ordained. 1984, Bao Shilian visited Chinese mainland, 1985, and he also participated in the international symposium on Taoist ceremonies and music organized by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. From 1994 to 1995, Bao Shilian went to Taiwan Province Province to inspect the religious development in China. He believes that "Taiwan Province Province is a part of China, so its cultural background is mainly based on Chinese mainland".

His major works include Selected Taoist Documents, Re-discussion of China Religion, Zhuangzi Articles, Symbol of Shining Light: A Comparative Study of Taoist Spectrometer and the Sanctification of Christian Easter Candlelight, Disaster Mitigation Ceremony, Introduction: Religious Changes in China, Taoist Worship and the Revival of Folk Religion, Travels in Hell: A New Report of the Hell Court mystery tour, etc.

In recent years, Bao Shilian, as the vice chairman of China Religious Research Association and the editor-in-chief of China Religious Journal, has spent a lot of efforts in organizing academic activities, editing and publishing, and made great contributions to promoting Canadian sinology research and Taoist research.

Bao Shilian's academic interests are various. His research covers many fields of China's religious culture. People who have been to Bao Shilian's residence in Canada say that Bao Shilian's home is the China Museum of Folk Religion and Culture. As he has always said, he loves China culture.

The representative work of the study is Symbol of Shining Light: A Comparative Study of Taoist Spectrometer and Christian Easter Candlelight Sanctification and Disaster Reduction Ceremony. The above article was published in the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asian Society, which was a paper presented by Bao Shilian at the International Symposium on Taoist Rituals and Music held by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The symbol of shining light: a comparative study of Taoist spectrometer and Christian Easter candlelight sanctification is divided into four parts:

Comparison of Taoist Spectrometer, Christian Fire Sacrifice and Easter Candle: Hypothesis and Conclusion In the narration of Taoist Spectrometer, Bao Shilian adopted the research results of Professor Su from the University of Hawaii and Professor Christopher Schipper from the French Institute of Advanced Studies, and analyzed the significance and ritual composition of the spectrometer. In Christian Fire Sacrifice and Easter Candles, Bao Shilian analyzed the process of Christian ceremony according to Christian classics and theologians' explanations.

In "Comparison and Contrast", Bao Shilian compared two kinds of rituals of two religions from five aspects, namely:

In the article, Bao Shilian described the comparison method adopted, such as the label of the ceremony, the way to get a new fire, the trinity procedure, the bright March and the structure of the worship ceremony. "The symbol of light is like a model in all aspects." Like it, it is a symbol of water, which is also one of the common recurring themes in religious and anthropological documents. In a binary system, there is a clear difference between time and darkness. Light is regarded as a sacred scattering and a symbol of holiness, purity and life. Darkness is a symbol of evil, evil, filth and death. "

Bao Shilian chose the Taoist light splitting ceremony to compare with the Christian Easter candlelight sanctification ceremony, because both ceremonies use new fire and new light, and they are the products of models symbolizing light. Bao Shilian believes that the symbol of light can be discussed from many different angles. However, he "likes to find a special theme from two apparently unrelated etiquette traditions: they are not only presented to us with an obviously similar thing, but also very similar in meaning or in the specific performance of the ceremony." One example is the Taoist ceremony of dividing lights, and the second example is the Catholic ceremony of offering a new fire by candlelight on Easter Eve.

Bao Shilian's choice of comparison method, comparison object and comparison starting point should be said to be reasonable and meaningful.

The result of this comparison is naturally the first conclusion in the "Hypothesis and Conclusion" section. "First of all, the ceremony itself, in its original sense, is a celebration that the sun gives life strength, and everything returns to the process of winning growth on the day of the vernal equinox. This ritual must be regarded as a primitive model and can be interpreted as an independent phenomenon in every major tradition. " Taking the symbol of light as a model, two independent phenomena with similar meanings and ritual processes were found in the Mediterranean civilization tradition and the Yellow River civilization tradition. Such a comparative study itself adds valuable content to the study of world religious anthropology.

However, in the "hypothesis and conclusion" part, Bao Shilian came to the second conclusion: "A historical hypothesis is that Christianity influenced Taoist rituals". This historical assumption is undoubtedly too bold, so few people in the international academic community respond. Sue Han Hai and Christopher Schipper have studied the division of lamps and musical instruments seriously, and they both come from Catholic and Christian families. They are also very familiar with Christian Easter ceremonies and Mediterranean cultural traditions.

It is estimated that they will not agree with the statement that Taoist lighting appliances are influenced by Christianity anyway. According to archaeological and documentary data, Christianity was indeed introduced to China in the Tang Dynasty, but Nestorianism had little influence on China society and the religious life of China people. There is no material that can be used as the basis for Nestorianism to influence Taoist rituals. Therefore, Bao Shilian's "historical hypothesis" can only be a bold historical hypothesis, not a historical truth. However, people will still be interested in the first conclusion of the article and the comparative study and analysis of Bao Shilian, because it describes people living in different traditions of human civilization, integrating their desire for light into their religious beliefs, forming their own unique symbolic system and ritual behavior of pursuing light, and pinning their ideals for light and curses for darkness on themselves from generation to generation.

Julia Ching Julia Ching (1934-) is a native of Wuxi, China and was born in Shanghai. She is now a professor of philosophy in China, University of Toronto, specializing in Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties.

His major works include Religion and Christianity in China (co-authored with Hans Kong), Four Good Sentences of Religion by Wang Yangming, Zhu and Taoism, etc. Among them, "Zhu and Taoism" is a paper that came to China to participate in Zhu's academic thought seminar. This paper mainly studies Zhu's understanding and evaluation of Taoism and the influence of Taoism on him. Julia Ching believes that "Zhu's criticism of Zhuangzi is not as good as his criticism of Buddhism (especially Zen)". On the one hand, Zhu admits that it is a legal "ghost" and can be sacrificed by the government.

On the other hand, they strongly oppose "obscenity" (illegal temples) and the ghosts and gods they respect. ""Zhu is not completely opposed to the art of immortality, but he does have reservations. " From these aspects, Zhu did not completely deny Taoist thought. Julia Ching also pointed out that Zhu criticized Taoism for not reading the book Laozi and Zhuangzi, criticizing Taoism for imitating the "three-body" of Buddhism and deriving "Sanqing", criticizing Taoism for putting "Laozi" above heaven and god, and so on. From these aspects, Zhu's criticism of Taoism means that he hates iron and does not produce steel. As for the influence of Taoism on Zhu, Zhu's view of the world actually comes from Taoism and Taoism. Although he also reformed it, it strengthened the philosophical nature of Taoism. And link it with his other theories. In addition, he also compiled two Taoist collections, which also contributed to the study of Taoism. The two books mentioned by Julia Ching refer to the Textual Research of Zhouyi's Shentongqi and the Textual Research of Yinfujing. The author of the interesting textual research of Zhouyi Shentongqi is called "Kongtong Road". I'm not sure whether Julia Ching thinks the label "Empty Taoist" is meaningful. However, I generally think that "Kongtong" may mean that Zhu is not a "true Taoist". It is also one of various explanations to regard "empty Taoist" as a false Taoist.

Yunhua Zhan Yunhua Ran (1923-) was born in Sichuan Province, China. 1948 graduated from Sichuan University with a bachelor's degree. 1946 received a doctorate in religious studies from Viswabharati University, India. 1967 assistant professor, 1969 associate professor, 1976 professor, head of the department of religious studies, McMaster university, Canada. After retirement, he was awarded the title of honorary retired professor. After 1979, Yunhua Ran visited Chinese mainland many times and had academic exchanges with China Academy of Social Sciences, local Academy of Social Sciences, Peking University and Sichuan University. Yunhua Ran loves the motherland culture, has a friendly attitude and an objective and fair view.

Views on Taoist Studies in China19911221Yunhua Ran was invited to give an impromptu keynote speech on "Cross-Strait Religious Culture and Current Academic Exchanges" at the "Symposium on Cross-Strait Religious Culture Exchanges" hosted by the Mainland Affairs Council of the Executive Yuan of Taiwan Province Province. The speech said that "what mainland scholars do, from an academic point of view, is mainly to do some basic work." These basic works not only laid a foundation for Chinese mainland's future academic research, but also provided us with reference from overseas and Taiwan Province. "The basic work mentioned by Yunhua Ran includes the compilation of large reference books, the compilation of a large number of religious documents, the publication of some important research works, such as the History of Buddhism in China edited by Ren and the History of Taoism in China edited by Qing Xitai, and the investigation and study of minority religions. For these basic work, Yunhua Ran feels that "there are so many achievements", and some studies "maybe the mainland is ahead now, even surpassing Japan". The so-called "borrowing mirrors" is a criticism of the bad style of study in Taiwan Province Province, which pursues originality and grandstanding.

Early Research on Buddhism Yunhua Ran's religious research was mainly based on Buddhism at first, and from about1970s, papers on Taoism appeared. His major works include Chronicle of Buddhism in China in 58 1-906, Changes of Buddhism in China and Indian Buddhism in Tang Dynasty.

The main papers are The Problem of Tao and Tao Te Ching, A Brief Record of Taoist Silk Books, Taoist Silk Books, The Origin of Tao or Tao, Reason and Law, Thought as Buddha Nature: A Completely Pure Concept of Buddhism and Zen, Research on China's Religious Situation and Buddhism and Taoism, Notes on Zen Books of the North School-Recording Silence and Monks, and Dunhuang Documents. Most of Yunhua Ran's works and papers are written in Chinese.

Philosophical basis of Taoist music. This English paper was published by Yunhua Ran at the International Symposium on Taoist Rites and Music held by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. At the beginning of the paper, Yunhua Ran said: "Compared with other parts of China culture, Taoist music is the least studied, and its philosophical significance has not even been touched by contemporary scholars. The reason for this backwardness is regrettable, partly because when discussing Taoist philosophy, academic circles often pay attention to philosophical works, such as Laozi and Zhuangzi, but are not interested in music, because they think music is non-cultural. In addition, in those famous Taoist studies, although the author knows that music is an integral part of religious ceremonies, few people question its philosophical significance. Taking the music part of Taiping Jing as an example, this paper describes that contemporary academic circles have paid attention to these classics for decades, but no one has studied these published materials so far. " It is reasonable for Yunhua Ran to express this feeling, because there is nothing new in his articles. All the materials cited in this paper are published by Taiping Economic Cooperation School more than 20 years ago. Yunhua Ran mainly introduced the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Economic Cooperation School 1 16 Volume Twenty-four Styles from pages 629 to 646 of Zhonghua Book Company. The essence of this tactic is "to be happy before playing and after playing, and to win the heart of heaven and earth and make it peaceful."

The conclusion of the research on the philosophy of music in Taiping Jing; Taiping Jing holds that music is the expression of happiness. Music is essentially a kind of art and charity with sound. Happiness is a healthy life, which not only exists in the world and the universe, but also permeates all objects and things. It is a natural phenomenon. Sound and melody are the "speaking language" of music, and harmony is the key word in music. The infection of harmonious sound is the power of music. When happiness is expressed through the sound of music, sound has the ability to make other similar world life enter the movement, thus inspiring and prompting them to become happy. When a person, the world or the universe is happy, then the whole world will share and participate in this happiness.

The bridge between man and the universe is built by the sound and power of music. Religious music has some common characteristics with other music, namely, the magic, entertainment and happiness of sound. Meanwhile, religious music is different from other kinds of music. In addition to technical proficiency, religious knowledge is also necessary to build this bridge. In the construction of bridges, a person's talent is often decisive, whether it is success or failure. This knowledge includes the difference, encouragement and tolerance of different lives. Any misunderstanding and change about these lives will not only lead to the failure of building a bridge between gods, but also have the ability to bring disaster to people and the world. However, if this magical music is played harmoniously and competently at the right time, then the world may get peace and prosperity, happiness and good luck. Through its influence, the result will be communication with the universe. This is the purpose of the music mentioned in Taiping Jing.

Yunhua Ran pointed out: "Most scholars who study China culture know that music has the power to influence natural and social phenomena. Its power is to reconcile heaven and earth, including society. This is the same as China's ancient philosophy of music. At this point, Taiping Jing is consistent with other China philosophies. The tangible symbol of Taiping's life and its position in the universe, the emphasis on conditions, the religious knowledge of music, the classification of life and their respective faces are all very important features of the music philosophy of Taiping Jing. " At the end of Yunhua Ran's article, he said: "In short, music has the ability to build a bridge between human beings and the universe, which is beneficial. Only the right players can succeed. Tranquility, peace, longevity and prosperity are the goals of Taoist music. If we want something like this, we will build such a bridge because it is optimistic and full of hope. This is the whole spirit of Taoist religious philosophy. "

Proceedings of the International Symposium on Taoist Musical Instruments and Music (Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1989, Hong Kong, China) and My Relationship (No.56, Kaohsiung Cultural Institute, 1995, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Province Province).