Associations of good-doing
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The associations of good-doing (Chinese: 行好的; pinyin: Xínghǎode) are organised groups of the indigenous religion of Hebei province (河北民间宗教; Héběi mínjiān zōngjiào or 河北民间信仰; Héběi mínjiān xìnyǎng), or the "Pear Area" of China.[1] The Congregation of the Dragon's Name (龙牌会; Lóngpái Huì) is one of these movements of good-doers.[2][3]
Xinghaode associations organise temple festivals and pilgrimages for the worship of certain deities, as well as other types of collective activities.[4] Their purpose is to make rènào (热闹), that is "social living" or "social harmony".[5]
Etymology
[edit]The designation of Xínghǎode (行好的), literally "good-doers" or "those who act well", originated with the spread of the Catholic Church in the Pear Area over the last two hundred years.[6] Local Chinese following the native faith adopted the name in contrast with Catholics, who in the area were called Fèngjiàode (奉教的).[7] Catholics nowadays remain less than 3% of the population of the Pear Area.[8]
Cooperation with local shamans
[edit]In Hebei folk religion, people who have the ability to mediate with the gods are known as xiāngdàode (香道的), "practitioners of the way of incense", and they cooperate with good-doing groups.[9] The major ritual practice of xiangdaode is provide communities of good-doers with "incense reading" (看香; kànxiāng), "incense watching" (瞧香; qiáoxiāng) or "incense kindling" (打香; dǎxiāng).[10] They are mostly female and are also called by the general terms shénpó (神婆) or xiāngtóu (香頭; "incense heads").
In the Pear Area, one can acquire the ministry of the way of incense either through afflatus (or vocation, 仙根; xiāngēn) or acquisition (ordination from another specialist).[11] Often they claim that they are spiritual disciples (童儿; tónger) of the Four Great Gates, whose specialists operated in Beijing in the 1940s, thus connecting their practice with the shamanism of northeast China.[12]
Deities
[edit]The deities (神; shén) of good-doers are divided into two classes:[13]
- generated or natural gods (家神}; jiāshén), who are part of nature and produce concrete things. They can be pan-Chinese deities such as Guandi or uniquely local deities such as the goddess of the Nine Lotuses.
- full gods (全神; quánshén), who sustain the cosmos. They are gods of the three planes of the world (heaven, earth and the underworld).
The Horse god (Mǎshén or 马王; Mǎwáng) has a particular importance in the religion of good-doers.[14][15] Gods that are believed to be particularly powerful are dedicated independent worship halls (仙家堂; xiān jiā táng) or altars (仙家坛; xiān jiā tán), that often start from the house and congregation of popular xiangdaode (shamans).[16][17]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Hua, 2011. p. 1
- ^ Hua, 2011. p. 1
- ^ Hua, Name of the Dragon, 2013.
- ^ Hua, 2013. p. 4
- ^ Hua, 2013. p. 6, pp. 10-12
- ^ Yue, 2014. pp. 55-56
- ^ Yue, 2014. pp. 55-56
- ^ Yue, 2014. p. 56
- ^ Yue, 2014. p. 52
- ^ Yue, 2014. p. 53
- ^ Yue, 2014. p. 61
- ^ Yue, 2014. p. 61
- ^ Yue, 2014. p. 58
- ^ Yue, 2014. p. 59
- ^ Yue, 2014. p. 69
- ^ Yue, 2014. p. 59
- ^ Yue, 2014. p. 76
Sources
[edit]- Zhiya Hua. Dragon's Name: A Folk Religion in a Village in South-Central Hebei Province. Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2013. ISBN 7208113297
- Zhiya Hua. Renao (Heat-noise), Deities’ Efficacy, and Temple Festivals in Central and Southern Hebei Province. On: Journal of Cambridge Studies. Volume 8, No. 3-4, 2013.
- Zhiya Hua. Revitalization of Folk Religion in Contemporary China: A Case Study of Dragon Tablet Festival in Central and Southern Hebei Province. Department of Asian and International Studies, University of Hong Kong, 2011.
- Yongyi Yue. Holding Temple Festivals at Home of Doing-gooders: Temple Festivals and Rural Religion in Contemporary China. On: Cambridge Journal of China Studies, Volume 9, No. 1, 2014.
