I-KUAN TAO 一貫道 (THE WAY OF UNITY): THE EMERGING FOLK BUDDHISM IN CHINA AND TAIWAN
I-KUAN TAO 一貫道 (THE WAY OF UNITY):THE EMERGING FOLK BUDDHISM IN CHINA AND TAIWAN
Tsu-Kung Chuang
I-kuan Tao一貫道 (The Way of Unity) in China and Taiwan is the inheritors of a sectarian tradition that goes back to the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368 A.D.). It was in this period that earlier associations of lay Buddhists incorporated Taoist beliefs and practices and evolved the basic characteristics of sectarian groups from then on. Some of these sectarian sects had a concern for collective security. This concern might be enhanced through millenary beliefs, centered on Maitreya 彌勒佛, the Buddha of the future, whose coming would usher in a new age.
Sometimes groups with these beliefs engaged in armed uprising, aimed at setting up their own states. Because of this, the whole sectarian tradition came to be looked upon by the ruling elite as subversive and potentially rebellious, with resulting sporadic attempts at suppression. One of the first decrees calling for a ban on sectarian sects, the compulsory registration of their members, and the dissolution of their organizations was adopted by the government of the People's Republic in 1949. The governmental directives concerning sectarian sects particularly stressed the necessity of disbanding the largest of them, the I-
kuan Tao, together with societies affiliated with it under other names. Ironically, the government in Taiwan adopted the similar anti-sectarian-sect action. Partly because of this, these sects in contemporary Taiwan emphasize their orthodoxy and support of Confucian values. However, I-kuan Tao has become the fastest growing and most powerful sect in Taiwan. The 1992 census of Taiwan indicates that there are about 870,000 members of I-kuan Tao, as well as 3.5 million Buddhists, 2.8 million Taoists, 420,000 Protestants, and 300,000 Catholics.
I-kuan Tao also has a very aggressive mission plan to reach North America and mainland China. I believe that now is the time for us to study: "Where does it comes from?" "What do they believe?" "What do they practice in their religious ritual?" and finally, "How should we respond to them?" This is the purpose of this article.
I. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
The history of the I-kuan Tao casts considerable light on certain traits of Chinese society, notably the way of life, way of thinking, and social characteristics of the urban and rural poor.
According to Li Shih-yu, a former member, the first I-kuan Tao sects made their appearance in 1911 (Deliusin 1972:226). They did not form a single organization until 1928, and it was only after 1936 that the organization became an influential mass secret society. Just as there is disagreement on the sect's origins, so there are various interpretations of its name. The likeliest derivation is from the famous quotation of Confucius in the Analects: "My teaching is united" (Wo tao i i kuan chih 吾道一以貫之). The implication is that the sect was universal in the sense of not being bound by any particular religions or ethical doctrine.
The sect's religious doctrine, like that of other sectarian sects, did not constitute a fully developed, logically formulated system. Most aspects of it were borrowed from medieval sectarian sects, the White Lotus Society 白蓮教 in particular. Maitreyan Buddhism, on the other hand, was the antecedent of the White Lotus Society. Therefore, we can divide the I-kuan Tao's history into three periods: the Maitreyan Buddhist movement, the White Lotus Sect, and the I-kuan Tao. 1. Maitreyan Buddhist Movements In
Indian Mahayana Maitreya is the Buddha of the future who waits in Tushita heaven until it is time for him to descend to earth many thousands of years hence. The first known Chinese translation of sutra describing Maitreya is the Sutra of Maitreya's Rebirth, translated by Chu Fa-hu in Western Chin (265-275 A.D.). All during the Northern Wei dynasty (385-534) the Maitreya belief was very popular among the people. Images of Maitreya and Sakyamuni 釋迦牟 尼 dominated the Yun-kang 雲岡 cave sculptures in this period.
In addition to this orthodox background of Maitreya belief, there were dissenting popular movements in this period based on similar eschatologies (Overmyer 1976:82-84). Maitreyan sectarianism first appears on the scene as an attempt to implement the advent of the new age by an attack on the imperial palace in Chang-an in 610, near the end of the Sui dynasty (581-618). By the Tang dynasty most of those sporadic Buddhist movements were absorbed in the Maitreya tradition.
The basic belief of Maitreyan Buddhism was the doctrine of three successive world stages: the past, controlled by the Lamp-lighter Buddha; the present, dominated by Sakyamuni; and the future, to be ushered in by Maitreya. The sects believed themselves to be at the very end of the second period, the date of which was continually revised over a period of at least a thousand years. The first clear statement of this doctrine in the sources was in the Kai-yuan period of the Tang Dynasty (713-741). In the Sun dynasty, the best known Maitreya sect was that led by Wang Tse in 1047. But after two battles Wang Tse's uprising was put down in less than
sixty days. After Wang Tse' movement was suppressed, the Maitreya sect went underground and did not reappear in the records until the early fourteenth century. Thus, when Han Shan-tung's 韓山童 White Lotus movement proclaimed the Maitreyan eschaological hope in 1351, it drew on a tradition which had been developing for over 700 years. While much of the Maitreya sect impetus was absorbed by the larger movement, it continued to exist independently until at least the sixteenth century.
2. White Lotus Sects
The best known of the sectarian traditions is the White Lotus, which was active in various forms from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries. Its combination of piety with politics and rebellion makes it the classic example of Chinese folk Buddhist sects. It is not surprising that independent sects such as the White Lotus should appear in the Southern Sung dynasty (1127-1279), for the Sung was a time of increasing social differentiation and economic specialization in the context of rapid urban growth (Overmyer 1976:89). Many new forms of voluntary association developed in this period, of which the sects were just one. Some scholars suggest that Mao Tzu-yuan (1086-1166) founded the White Lotus in 1133.
But in the Pure Land tradition Mao is considered an orthodox patriarch of the school, and the early accounts of the White Lotus do not mention Mao at all. Yet from the mid-Sung on there was an independent folk Buddhist tradition, influenced by the Amitabha cult, variously called the White Lotus Vegetarians, White Lotus Way, or White Lotus sect and so on, all located in east and south China.
By the mid-fourteenth century this tradition was given new impetus by Maitreyan eschatology from Hopei in the north and from then on began to appear all over China (ibid., p.91). All this means that if Mao did found an independent association it may not have been the lineal progenitor of later groups having the same or similar names. Rather, there were groups of sects united by similar beliefs and scriptures and in some cases by connections between leaders. The White Lotus sect began as an independent
association of clergy and laymen, devoted to attaining rebirth in the Pure Land. Its vegetarianism, abstinence from wine and killing, and disciplined piety all mark it as a part of the Mahayana tradition (ibid., p.95). But the most distinction between the White Lotus and orthodox Buddhism was that White Lotus clergy married. White Lotus sects were very active in the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty (1280-1368). While prohibited by the emperor, the White Lotus was involved in no violent activities from the time of its founding until the mid-fourteenth century. It did not participate in a general rebellion until Han Shan-tung's 韓山童 movement in
1351. The structure that appears in early fourteenth century sources is a full-scale religious system, supported by a variety of economic enterprises, operating openly at the local level (ibid., p.98). By this time the White Lotus sect was based on a system of lay monasticism. This communal living in temple hostels was continued all through sectarian history, including permanent residence
in vegetarian halls in Singapore as late as 1955 (ibid., p.96). In the mid-fourteenth century the White Lotus religion entered a new phase under the leadership of Han Shan-tung from Hopei in northern China. In 1355, Han Lin-er 韓林兒, son of Han Shan-tung, was designated as Lesser King of Light 小明王, a title which was taken from a Manichaean text named the Sutra of the Incarnation of the Greater and Lesser Kings of Light.
Thus we can clearly see White Lotus blending of Maitreyan, Manichaean, and Confucian-traditional eschatologies as the basis for messianic warfare. Chu Yuan-chang 朱元璋, the founder of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), had for several years been a successful general under Han Lin-er's command. When Chu finally established his own empire, he kept part of Han Lin-er's old title as the name for his new regime, the Ming period was in fact named after the Manichaean principle of light. Ironically, in 1370, two years
after proclaiming himself emperor of the Ming dynasty, Chu promulgated the strict laws against heresy (including the White Lotus) which became the back-bone of official suppression until 1911. But the White Lotus continued on as before and staged numerous uprising throughout the dynasty which it had helped named. White Lotus activity is noted all through the Ching dynasty (1644-
1911). Because of the threat to the emperor himself, the movement was put down with great ferocity. The suppression was so thorough that the White Lotus tradition was further fragmented at the organizational level and continued to exist only in small groups under a variety of new and changing names.
However, their basic organizational and belief systems seem to have been similar. 3. I-Kuan Tao Societies In its connection it is interesting that there were several sects which continued the Eternal Mother mythology and other aspects of White Lotus belief structure deep into the twentieth century. Among them is the I-kuan Tao, The Way of Unity. I-kuan Tao is said to have been founded by Wang Chueh-i 王覺一 in the middle of the nineteenth century (ibid., p.106). But it is Liu Hua-pu who devised the name I-
kuan Tao and the slogan "Three in One" (Jordan and Overmyer 1986:292n). However, it seems likely that the society was formerly established by Chang Kuang-pi 張光璧 (alias Tien-jan 天然 or Kung-chang 弓長), a vagabond from Shantung who claimed to be the incarnation of Chi-kung Buddha. The first I-kuan Tao sects made their appearance in 1911, but did not form a single
organization until 1928. This sect was particularly active during the period of Japanese occupation, 1937-1945. Its rapid increase in this period was due to the fact of the sect's ties with the Japanese occupation forces. Chang T'ien-jan held a high post in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Wang Ching-wei's 汪精衛 puppet government in Nanking, and some of its branch leaders held positions
at the provincial and county levels (Deliusin 1972:231). But its very success there had made it unwelcome in the Communist- and Nationalist-held part of China. No reliable membership figure exist, though incomplete data for Shansi put the membership there at more than 800,000 in 1940s (ibid., p.232). In Szehwan, if the sect's leaders can be believed, their members constituted 30% of
the population before 1950 (or more than 15 million)! When Chang died in 1947, he did not leave a well-ordered organization behind him. Two women contended for control of his sectarian empire. One was Madame Liu, Chang's second wife. The other was Sun Su-chen, alias Sun Hui-ming 孫慧明, honored today as the "Mistress" of the sect. Sun was regarded as an incarnation of a bodhisattva
named Yueh-hui Pu-sa 月慧菩薩 who became an object of adoration in daily rites since 1939. Today Liu-ists are fewer than Sun-ists in Taiwan, although most I-kuan Tao branches outside China are apparently Liu-ist (Jordan & Overmyer 1986:219n). When the People's Republic was founded, the leaders of the I-kuan Tao actively opposed it.
They even spread reports to the effect that the government of Chiang Kai-shek would soon be restored and terrorized the rural population with slanderous rumors. Therefore, the communist government announced decrees as early as 1949 to ban and to dissolve I-kuan Tao. The decrees were designed to eliminate an important source of strength of feudal and counter-revolutionary elements. Thus between 1949 and 1953, the I-kuan Tao, one of the last and largest of China's secret societies, was officially and finally
dissolved in China. But after 1980, it seems that it has revived again in China by the influence from the I-kuan Tao of Taiwan. The development of I-kuan Tao in Taiwan is somewhat different. Several Japanese studies have noted the activities of Vegetarian Sects 齋教 in Taiwan during the occupation by Japan (Jordan and Overmyer 1986:26). These were associations of lay Buddhists
characterized by their vegetarian diet, strict morality, and group recitation of Buddhist texts. The teachings of these groups were brought from the mainland from the late Ming dynasty on by disciples of sect masters. There are three branches of this Vegetarian sect in Taiwan: the Dragon Flower, the Former Heaven, and the Golden Pennant (ibid., p.28). These Vegetarian sects, which had clear White Lotus tradition, dominated Taiwanese Buddhist sects before 1945 (Yang 1991:3). After 1950, many of disciples of Madame Sun eventually found their way to Taiwan. They had merged and regrouped with the local Vegetarian sects to form many new I-kuan Tao branches in Taiwan. The usual story is that there are eighteen such Sun-derived branches. In fact the number is much
lower. Three major ones are: Promote Oneness of Yunlin, Precious Radiance of Tainan, and Foundation of Taipei (Jordan & Overmyer 1986:220). Other branches include the Culture and Emulate Oneness branches. Thus, there is not a unitary I-kuan Tao in Taiwan, nor one person can be considered to be "the" head of the sect. The various branches on the island have been so separate that one branch often enough has not even known what tracts another branch has succeeded in publishing (ibid., p.221). After forty years in
Taiwan, I-kuan Tao has once again become the largest sectarian sect in Taiwan. Sung Kuang-yu gives an estimate of 500,000 initiates of I-kuan Tao for 1982, a tenfold increase from the 50,000 he estimated for 1963 (ibid., 245n). From 1950 through 1985, I-kuan Tao was still an illegal sect in Taiwan because of some rumors about their immoral religious activities. Since it was officially recognized as a religious group in 1985 (?), I-kuan Tao has experienced a boom. Now the national census of 1992 indicates that they have more than 870,000 members in Taiwan. They even set up a ambitious plan to march into mainland China and the whole world!
II. DOCTRINAL BELIEFS
The basic characteristic of I-kuan Tao's beliefs and myths is syncretism. It claimed that they were guided by a single principle and accordingly worked out a system by which the Three Doctrines - Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism - fuse into One. In fact, they did not limit themselves to the Three Doctrines but made constant use also of Christian and Islamic teachings.
This liberal attitude toward the various religious doctrines is reflected in their sanctioned traditions. 1. Religious Antecedents
This mixture of varied ideas and notions drawn from the three principal religious and ethical doctrines of China, compounded with extensive borrowing from local superstitions, lent a particularly hazy and diffuse character to the sect's teachings. But there were many earlier popular religious movements that influenced the I-kuan Tao, including Taoist and Manichaean groups, and two Buddhist traditions, the Maitreyan and Pure Land. Taoist Groups. The earliest Taoist groups appeared in the late second century A.D. during the decline of the Han dynasty. But after mid-fifth century, popular Taoism seems to have moved in two
directions, eschatology oriented sectarianism or absorption by folk religion (Overmyer 1976:75). Though Taoism remained a distinct tradition centered on its own deities and rituals, it had a strong influence on other groups, including models of theocracy and eschatological warfare and an emphasis on healing and magic charms. All the later folk Buddhist sects adopted these characteristics to a greater or lesser degree. Manichaeism. Manichaeism entered China in 694 with the Uighurs, a Central Asian
tribe which had great military and political influence in China during that time. When the Uighur kingdom collapsed in 843, Manichaeism was immediately proscribed, its temples destroyed, and its priesthood executed or scattered. But several priests fled to southern China and reached Fukien. A temple, in which the worship was offered to Manichaean Buddha, was built in the Yuan period in Chuan-chou 泉州 of Fukien province. Despite amalgamation with Buddhism and Taoism, Chinese popular Manichaeism retained the
dualistic core of its original doctrines. The major scripture text of Manichaeism are called the Sutra of the Two Principles and Three Stages. The two principles are light and darkness, and the three stages mean past, present and future. The Manichaeans influenced their folk Buddhist counterpart indirectly at several points, and directly at one (ibid., p.77). First, Manichaeism provided a precedent for full-time lay vegetarianism. Though Buddhist monks had long eaten an exclusively vegetarian diet, the common practice in lay Buddhists was intermittent vegetarianism on regular stated days of the month in fulfillment of vows for
wishes granted, or meatless feasts on the occasion of anniversaries. Second, the Manichaeans offered a well-known model of an independent religious sect composed of laymen, possessing its own scriptures, tightly organized around hierarchical leaders, and accomplished in the practice of mutual aid. Third, Manichaean three-stage chronology may have served to reinforce the influence of the similar time scheme which had developed independently in Chinese Buddhism. The basic time scheme of White Lotus and I-kuan Tao belief was the doctrine of three successive world stages: the past (Green Yang 青陽期), controlled by the Lamplight
Buddha; the present (Red Yang 紅陽期), controlled by Sakyamuni; and the future (White Yang 白陽期), to be ushered in by Maitreya. Fourth, the Manichaeans provide the clearest precedent in China for the sun as a main object of worship. The sun was the central object in the eschatology and worship of the Green Yang Sect and Eight Trigrams Sect. It thus seems reasonable to conclude that sectarian sun worship is related to Manichaean influence, however indirect. Some scholars maintain that the White Lotus and related sects originated in sectarian Manichaeism, but other modern writers agree that while the White Lotus was influenced by
several different traditions, its original impetus came from Amitabha pietism rather than Manichaeism (ibid., p.80). However, since most of the ancestors of the Taiwanese immigrated from Fukien, the central base of Manichaeism during tenth to fifteenth centuries, the Vegetarian sects in Taiwan might have been more strongly influence by Manichaeism than other mainland sectarian sects. Maitreyan Buddhism. In India Mahayana Maitreya is the Buddha of the future. As we have noted before, since the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534) the Maitreya belief was very popular among the people. But in addition to the rich orthodox background of Maitreya belief, there were dissenting popular movements in this period based on similar eschatology. The three-stage doctrine which will be ushered in by Maitreya is clear evidence of its influence on those sectarian sects. From the late Yuan dynasty around 1300 forward, the Maitreya belief was a cornerstone of White Lotus theology. While much of the Maitreya sect impetus was
absorbed by the larger movement, it continued to exist independently until at least the sixteenth century. Pure Land Buddhism. The earliest known Pure Land devotees were Chueh Kung-tse (d.c.265-275) and his disciple Lo-yang. But the first man to propagate Pure Land teachings at the popular level as a means of universal salvation was Tan-luan (475-542). In the Sung dynasty the reciting Amitabha's name movement coalesced with a long tradition of lay devotional groups attached to monasteries which began in the mid-
fifth century. This tradition of Pure Land devotional societies is the immediate context in which the earliest White Lotus sect developed. But the chief contribution of the Pure Land associations to the sects was a concern for universal salvation. Though orthodox lay devotional societies have continued to exist down to the present, after the Sung dynasty their concern for mass salvation was largely carried on by the sects.
2. Syncretic Context
The syncretism of I-kuan Tao should be understood against the background of a long process of the Sinification of Buddhism. In the mean time there was also a tendency toward syncretism between Buddhism and the popular cult which was developing around them. The most important influence toward syncretism was the "Cult of the Three Religions" with its slogan "The three religions are one",
the three being Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Many scholars say that while this "Three Religions" tradition goes back to the third century, not until the Tang (seventh to tenth centuries) did it obtain public recognition (Overmyer 1976:133). By Sung times it became so popular among the people that there were temples of the three religions all over the land. Such blending reached a
peak during the late Ming, at the time of the greatest sectarian literary activity. When even the elite encouraged such syncretism it is understandable that folk sects with half educated lay leadership could develop their own myths and scriptures different from their Buddhist beginnings. Sectarian beliefs are a rich combination of background traditions, fused by charisma and
hope. Therefore, when I-kuan Tao devised the name "The Way of Unity" and the slogan "Three in One" in late nineteenth century, it followed the long tradition of syncretism. It borrowed from the Confucianism their ethical rules of conduct, from the Taoists their notions of cosmogony and magical rituals, and from the Buddhists some sacred texts as well as numerous names of saints,
various special terminology and universal salvation. On the other hand, they do not limit themselves to the Three Religions but make constant use also of Christian and Islamic teachings. But while I-kuan Tao doctrine shows Christian and Moslem influence, this influence is largely indirect and peripheral. 3. Creation and Salvation Mythology I-kuan Tao, which is one of the
ramifications of the White Lotus system, disseminates the same creation and salvation mythology. The Eternal Mother (Wu-sheng lao-mu 無生老母) is the supreme deity of these groups. The Creation Myth. The account of creation is stated as follows (ibid., p.135): The Eternal Mother gave birth to Yin and Yang, and two children, male and female.
She named the male child Fu-hsi and the girl Nu-kua....... They were the original ancestors of man. .... They married. .... After the end of primeval chaos, they gave birth to 9.6 billion of sons and daughters from the imperial womb, and also numberless auspicious stars. What is the background of this creation mythology? Where did the Lao-mu motif come from? When did it
become a part of sectarian belief? While there are no certain answers to these questions, some suggestions are possible. As to the origins of the Eternal Mother, some scholars say that by Ch'ing times (1644-1912) her myth was a part of general popular religion (ibid., p.138). There were, of course, earlier antecedents. For example, it seems very probable that historically she
herself is a later manifestation of the Mother Queen of the West (Hsi Wang-mu 西王母). The Western Mother is mentioned on Shang dynasty (1500-1050 B.C.) oracle bones. By the first century A.D. she appeared as a popular goddess who lived on top of the Kunlun mountains. She had a number of sons and daughters, all of whom were immortals. Thus, in the Hsi Wang-mu legends we see many
elements of the Lao-mu mythology. The Lao-mu also presided over a glorious paradise on the top of Kun-lun mountain. And, like the children of Hsi Wang-mu, those of Lao-mu also attained immortality, though in its Buddhist form, the cessation of birth and death. Another historian, Huang Yu-pien, insists that the Lao-mu myth first appeared in the late Ming dynasty (ibid., p.140). There was an
account which says that Lao-mu was the reincarnation of a white mule who was killed by lighting after having preached "heretical religion" with Piao Kao in 1573. After her death, Piao Kao, a central leader of the late Ming sects, began to worship her as founder of the religion and wrote the texts exalting her as creator of mankind, and so on.
Then sect leaders, like Huan-yuan, Kung Chang, and others, all accepted his teaching and began to worship Lao-mu. There were other accounts somewhat different from this one. But these ambiguous accounts agree at least that Lao-mu began teaching after becoming incarnate as a human being. On the other hand, Eternal Mother usual function parallels Amitabha as a saving being in paradise
who send down intermediaries, and to whom men pray for grace. But the Eternal Mother was also believed to have appeared on earth herself, in this resembling more the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin 觀音菩薩, who manifests herself in many forms in order to rescue the lost. Thus the Wu-sheng Lao-mu seems to have been created by sects themselves from a rich tradition of female deities in the popular
religious background. In the same situation, much of the I-kuan Tao creation story was based on earlier mythologies. The sect leaders evidently combined traditional cosmologies with popular female deities and the aboriginal motif of the creation of man by a divine brother-sister couple to form the characteristic sectarian myth of origins. The Salvation Myth. The salvation account is
stated as follows (ibid., p.135): The Eternal Mother sent her children to the Eastern Land to live in the world. Here their heads were surrounded with light, on their bodies they wore clothes of five colors, and with their feet they rode on two magic wheels...... But after they reached the Eastern Land they all became lost in the red dust world and the Mother sent a letter
summoning them to meet together again in the Dragon-flower assembly. The account goes on to say that the inhabitants of the earth are separated from the Eternal Mother by their "ignorance." Because she wishes to save them from the approaching catastrophe, she indicates the means of salvation by sending down several saints to teach people to recover their true nature. But Men refuse to listen and persist in recognizing the mothers of their bodies but not the Mother of their spirits. Now all the celestial spirits are sent down to save mankind, and finally Lao-mu writes a letter with her own blood, urging all men to conversion. All these teachings are found in sixteenth century White Lotus texts. And from the texts of I-kuan Tao's Precious Scroll (Pau-chuan 寶卷) we
can see clearly how the old Maitreya belief provided the salvation structure for Lao-mu. The Eschatology Myth. The basic structure of mainline folk sect eschatology was Buddhist-Maitreyan. Though in Indian Buddhist tradition Maitreya's advent is as yet many thousands of years in the future, and he has no direct involvement in political life, the Chinese sectarians radically
foreshortened the expectation of his coming, combined it with popular ideas of descending sages and charismatic leadership, and made it conform to indigenous theories of cyclic decay (ibid., p.150). In common with many earlier sectarians, I-kuan Tao sees human history as intimately involved with salvation by a series of Buddhas, the last three of whom are Lamplighter Buddha, the
Sakyamuni Buddha, and most recently the Maitreya Buddha. The Buddhas were commissioned by the Eternal Mother to bear tidings of salvation to floundering humanity. For I-kuan Tao, recorded history is divided into three periods, corresponding with the periods when each of these last three Buddhas held sway, and referred to as the epochs of the Green, Red, and White Yang, respectively.
For contemporary I-kuan Tao sectarians, the Epoch of the White Yang began in 1912, corresponding with the founding of the Republic of China. The first patriarch of the White Yang, was Lu Chung-i ("Central Unity"). He was born in Shantung in 1853. Lu is believed to have been an incarnation of the Maitreya Buddha (Jordan & Overmyer 1986:215). The second master of the White age was Chang
Kuang-pi 張光璧, more usually called Chang T'ien-jan 張天然. He also had an alias Kung-ch'ang which was the same with the author of the Dragon Flower Scripture in seventeenth century. Chang T'ien-jan was conceived to be an incarnation of Chi-kung Buddha (ibid., p.252n). I-kuan Tao was in fact founded as an independent
organization only in 1928 by Chang T'ien-jan himself (ibid.,p.216). He is said to have led the sect from about 1925 until his death in 1947. In I-kuan Tao's texts, there is the turmoil and confusion of the present age. This is what they call "the disasters at the end of the third period." The intensely eschatological orientation of the I-kuan Tao text, in which turmoil and sufferings of the last age are frequently invoked, supports the urgent task of proclaiming and centering the Way.
III. RELIGIOUS PRACTICE
1. Leadership
A discussion of sectarian leadership must begin with an under-standing of the traditional Chinese view of human's integral role in the cosmos, for it is this role which made possible the wealth of charismatic and mediumistic phenomena. In China, since man and deities are in the same continuum of being, most of the gods of popular religion were deified persons. This traditional anthropology dominated the popular consciousness until deep in the twentieth century and is still a living force in the villages of
Taiwan. The most important element in the theoretical background of sectarian leadership was the widely held belief in "reincarnate bodhisattvas." The thrust was always toward "emergent deities," toward more immediate and direct contact with divine power. Even such saviors a Maitreya and Amitabha at times appeared too distant and were replaced by more familiar and accessible figures (Overmyer 1976:166). While folk Buddhist belief dominates the Precious Scroll, there are also records of purely popular-
Taoist theories of incarnational leadership. This basic structure of leaders as incarnate deities continued into the twentieth century. On the other hand, this power of ascent and descent is rooted in Chinese folk shamanism. The character of shaman (Wu 巫) appears both on Shang dynasty (fifteenth to tenth centuries B.C.) oracle bones and in the Book of History (Shu-ching). In pre-Han China there was a form of shamanic priesthood which was only gradually pushed out of state circles
by Confucianism and became the functioning priesthood of popular religion. These shaman were both male and female, though in archaic times female shamans probably pre-dominated (ibid., p.163). All this activity was still present in south China in the late nineteenth century under such names as Wu Master (Sai-kong 師公), Red-head (Hung-tou 紅頭), Jumping Boy (Tiao-tung 跳童), and Divining Youth (Tang-ki 乩童). However, another kind of activity of such mediums was spirit writing (fu-luan 扶鸞), in which
messages were transmitted by the movement of a wooden implement across a surface of sand or flour. The spirit-writing tradition is said to have been brought to Taiwan in about 1890 (Jordan & Overmyer 1986:27). The characteristics of spirit-writing groups in general is particularly prominent in the I-kuan Tao, which is very concerned with writing and scripture. Some scholars indicate that common means of divination can be ordered along a continuum from least precise to most precise as follows (ibid.,
p.85): (1) Divination blocks (poah poe) (2) Revelation verses (thiu ch'iam) (3) Dream revelation (khun sian-bang) (4) Spirit-speaking mediums (tang-ki) (5) Spirit-writing mediums (hu-loan) Mediums are classed with means of divination, not in their psychodynamics, micropolitics, or orthodoxy, but in the precision with which they can tie their messages to their clients' particular needs. From an anthropological perspective, whether a medium writes
or speaks seems not to matter very much. The difference is important to many patrons, however. There is nothing elevated about the social position of a tang-ki. The association of fu-chi divination with literature and of literature with upper-class life makes it generally respectable among people with traditional values (ibid., p.86). The differences in social valuation of the two types of mediumship, combined with the potential functional similarities, leads to some people stressing the differences, some the
similarities. I-kuan Tao, who would elevate pai-luan activity as specially worthy, often condemn tang-ki as "superstition." In Taiwan, the religious hierarchy and the titles in I-kuan Tao are similar to a business organization rather than a religious institute. The organization of a typical I-kuan Tao branch would look like the following chart (ibid., p.223): Religious Title Organizational Title Number of Positions Senior Director of Studies 1 General Manager 1 Counselor Assistant General 30+ Manager Initiator Manager 300+ _____ Local Hall Chairman unknown
2. Rituals
The whole ritual is based on Buddhist models, with the addition of some folk Taoist and Confucian elements. On the other hand, I-kuan Tao has a fairly complex meditation ritual, basically Taoist. Jordan reports in his field study that there are five major rituals in I-kuan Tao gatherings (ibid., p.227-8): (1) The Ritual of Saluting and Taking Leave of the Honorable Presence. This is performed thrice daily and for use as an elaborate form of salutation at an altar of the sect upon entering a temple. This
ritual consists of nineteen "preceded by a salute": five to Most Bright Emperor, three to "all celestial gods and saints", three to the "Patriarch Maitreya", and the final eight to Ancient Buddha, Chi-kung, "Moon-Compassion Bodhisattva", and several former masters and initiators. (2) The Ritual for Presenting Incense. This is for use as the routine rite of the house chapels, and
have a somewhat more elaborate form on the first and fifteenth of each lunar month than on other days. (3) The Ritual for Presenting Offerings. This is used on more elaborate ritual occasions such as a formal feast day. There is a contribution of one hundred New Taiwan dollars (US$4.00) for the "initiation fee." But there is no compulsory contribution after the initial initiation fee.
However, of course, initiates are encouraged to make further contributions from time to time. (4) The Ritual for Inviting Spirits to the Altar. This is used to invite divine presences to the hall preliminary to an initiation. (5). The Ritual for Transmission of the Way. This is used to transmit the secrets of the sect to new initiates, making them "members." The "Three Treasures" introduced in the initiation rite are: the "Mantra", the "Contract Mudra", and the "Mysterious Gate". I-kuan Tao insists that if one does not know the Three Treasures, one will never properly under-stand the religious texts, and the effort will be useless. It is strictly forbidden to divulge secrets of sect to outsiders. If one does so the god of thunder will smash him to pieces. Because of the emphasis on reading classical texts and on conducting simple and standardized rites, there is
comparatively little spirit-writing (fu-chi) in most home meeting halls of I-kuan Tao. However, the tradition of fu-chi divination persists. It is conducted both in temples operated by the sect and in some meetings in private houses. Although there are a few pai-luan in which one or two people can have private revelations which successfully compel some action from some members, the freedom to do this is very slight (ibid., p.273). The legitimacy of revelation is focused upon the oracle of the fu-chi, and the
adventures of one individual pai-luan member on the sacred landscape seem to become suspect when they start requiring the participation of other people. On the other hand, on many occasions, the sect revelators use their chi not merely to inspire their followers in acts and merit, but also to maintain their subsectarian identities and to support the competition among the various "Seniors" (ibid., p.238).
3. Scriptures
We have already noted that the use of vernacular scriptures is a prime characteristic of sectarian movements. Chinese pao-chuan (Precious Scrolls寶卷) literature was the main scriptures of White Lotus and related sects. According to many scholars, there are three types of pao-chuan (Overmyer 1976:180): (1) Texts from Buddhist or Taoist stories (including the Eternal Mother mythology) in order to propagate secret religions; (2) Books to propagate the teachings of "secret religions", most by spirit
writing; (3) miscellaneous texts based on folk tales, historical novels, operas, and so on. The pao-chuan also show the influence of several other traditions, including Confucian historical legends, religious Taoism, the cult of the three religions, alchemy, and divination. Of course the sectarian faithful did not see their scriptures historically as inheritors of the religious literature tradition. To them the pao-chuan were delivered by the gods through the agency of their own founders and
leaders. This conviction of the divine origin of the pao-chuan is related to the belief that sacred scriptures have a saving efficacy in their own right. There are many spirit-writing texts and pamphlets written after 1950 which were nearly always attributed to Chi-kung. As we noted, Chang T'ien-jan was believed to be Chi-kung Buddha's 濟公活佛 incarnation, and accordingly, after Chang's death his revelations through the chi are inevitably signed with the name of this divinity. In those texts, I-
kuan Tao places emphasis on Confucian ethical teachings, the decline of the age, the compassion of the Mother, and revelations by way of fu-chi. In sum, these books present I-kuan Tao as a literate tradition, aware of itself, and concerned for the moral improvement of self and society. 4. Mission Strategies
Unlike popular religions in the village, I-kuan Tao rarely attracts intensive community support and is therefore a matter of free choice. The unit of membership is not the family, but the individual. But this sect does have a policy to recruit entire families. One report indicates that a member who recruited one new member was promised deliverance from all suffering; if he recruited ten
new members, his whole family would be delivered from misfortune (Deliusin 1972:229). It was made clear that the sect's protection and magical powers covered members only. In both the city and the country, the sect worked chiefly among the most oppressed and politically backward social orders, people who were unaware of the causes of their poverty and whose discontent with the existing
order was unconscious and ill-defined. Their illiteracy and ignorance, coupled with their age-old habit of submission, made them easy marks for clever adventures, men who paradoxically were made rich by these nearly destitute people (ibid., p.233). The syncretism of varied ideas from different religions and ethical doctrines of China has the advantage of offering each new member
something that corresponded to notions already familiar to him. I-kuan Tao at present provides access to a range of Chinese sacred symbols that connect many less-educated Chinese with the heritage of elite philosophy and religion. Motives for joining the I-kuan Tao varied. Some joined to protect themselves and their families, others to improve their lot, still others to cure illness or overcome some misfortune. The sect's agents were quick to learn of people's misfortunes and turn them to the sect's advantage.
Data from two independent surveys indicated that the motives of the members for joining are as following (ibid., p.230): Case A Case B No. of Members 502 1,108 To insure themselves & family 45.8% 30.8% To be healed 12.0% 29.3% To obtain material blessings 14.3% 14.9% To assure an afterlife 7.6% 19.5% To have children 4.6% 5.4% Others motives 14.7% --We can see clearly that most of the motives to join the sect are for immediate needs, and only about 8 to 20% of
members are concerned with ultimate needs. On the other hand, Jordan indicates that the I-kuan Tao is perhaps second only to the public school system in its pursuit of education for its members (Jordan & Overmyer 1986:237). The bulk of almost every sect meeting is in fact devoted, not to worship, but to the study of and commentary on moral books. It seems likely that the study of the Chinese heritage attracts many working-class and uneducated people to membership. Therefore, if I-kuan Tao has earned a right to be taken "more seriously" than other sects in Taiwan, it is not because of subversive
tendencies, underground organization, or household temples; rather, it is because of its rationalization of its theological claims, a stronger commitment to religious education, and the profound sense of its own tradition as the unique carrier, through the mandate held by its line of patriarchs, of the single way by which humanity may attain salvation.
VI. CONCLUSION
Having reviewed the history, beliefs, and behaviors of I-kuan Tao in China, we can see clearly that I-kuan Tao inherits the beliefs and practices of White Lotus sects. Of course during the past one hundred years, I-kuan Tao has developed a few of their own new concepts and practices. For example, now their teachings are based on the harmony of the "Five Religions" rather than "Three Religions." They even adopt the melody of Christian's hymns in their own religious meetings. But the core of their religion is intact. 1. Characteristics of I-kuan Tao There are several characteristics of I-kuan Tao. First, it provides a stage for individual religiosity, in contrast to many other aspects of popular Chinese religion, which focus upon the perspective corporate group. Unlike the "membership" of the popular religions, which traditionally included all village inhabitants, members of a I-kuan Tao often have only that membership in common, and the possibility of apostasy is a realistic alternative for the believer who
becomes disillusioned. Their organizations must therefore concern themselves with the attraction and retention of members and a significant concern in the revelations and activities of the group has to be satisfying the desires and expectations of present and prospective members in ways that retain their fragile loyalty. Second, the importance of the syncretism was pointed out and suggested as an important motivation in I-kuan Tao membership. Chinese sectarianism is in fact syncretistic. Participation in I-
kuan Tao therefore is most typically motivated by an individual quest of integration with merit-gaining aspects of selected features of the Chinese "Great Tradition." Syncretistic sectarianism is the ultimate compromise solution to human's problems, for it incorporates the more visible and flamboyant elements of many different avenues of Chinese traditionalist moral practice and
loudly proclaims its superiority to them, by the simple argument that it encompasses them all. Third, I-kuan Tao is a laity movement. For Buddhism, the lay opportunity for merit, in the popular mind at least, is less than that provided to the full-time monastic specialist. But the Buddhist monastic commitment is both unappealing and unpractical for most Chinese. On the other hand,
the life of a Taoist priest is not a viable, available career for most men either. I-kuan Tao is institutionally new, hailing the dawn of a new age of the democratization of religious merit, and it is conceptually primordial, mythologically and logically prior to the traditions from which it has in fact borrowed. People participating in all these religious activities are allowing
themselves a theater of merit-gaining action from which they are normally cut off. And fourth, from a cultural perspective, I-kuan Tao is a revitalization movement of traditional Chinese culture. Many members have at one point or another found themselves shut out of the officially encouraged routes to success through modernization. But the sect provides satisfactory self-esteem by
traditionalism as superior to modernity. It may hold a key to understanding the expansion of self-consciously traditionalist sects in modernizing Taiwan among the less-educated people. In sum, I-kuan Tao activities may provide a psychologically coordinated and socially cooperative imitation of activities upon which Chinese culture places a high valuation, and which are associated with
a positive self-image on the part of participants. 2. Missiological Implications Christianity in Taiwan and China is now facing a severe challenge from I-kuan Tao. How can we respond to it? What is the appropriate approach to reach out to those people in I-kuan Tao? There is no easy answer to those questions. But several suggestions can be proposed here. First, the Christian
church should develop a new mission strategy to the people of the lower class. As we have noted, I-kuan Tao is most attractive to the less-educated people of lower or lower-middle classes. They have successfully broken through the dominance of popular religions, Buddhism, and Taoism in the villages and the cities through "evangelism" and education approaches. Churches need to
develop a holistic mission strategy, which should include both the concern of man's ultimate and immediate needs, to reach out to those people at this level. Second, syncretism is the strength but also the weakness of I-kuan Tao. The "text-proof" tactics in many occasions bring about inconsistent teachings. This is a common feature of cults.
We should collect I-kuan Tao's scriptures, study them systematically, and respond to them apologetically. There are some Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian literatures which may also be helpful in this regard. Christians can challenge those believers of the sect to rethink their own mythical doctrines critically. Finally, we Christians can also learn from them. As a laity movement, I-kuan
Tao has effectively and successfully demonstrated the dynamic power of the lay people. Indeed, most of the cultic movements - including Jehovah's Witness, Mormonism, Baha'i, etc. -are all depending on lay people. The biblical model of the Church growth is the model of laity movement - every believer is a priest. However, the ecclesiastical structure in the past eighteen hundred years
has tied up most of the people in the church and it has lost its momentum to move ahead. What we should do now is returning to the biblical model of the church, and "unleash the church" (using Tillapaugh's term). If the church is unleashing its people so they can utilize the gifts of the Holy Spirit within themselves, the church may extend its focus of concern away from itself, and the
members are free to reach beyond the fortress walls to where hurt and needs are in the community. REFERENCES CITED Deliusin, Lev 1972 "The I-kuan Tao Society", in Popular Movements and Secret Societies in China: 1840-1950. Edited by Jean Chesneaux. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Jordan, D.K. and D.L. Overmyer 1986 The Flying Phoenix. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Overmyer, Daniel L. 1976 Folk Buddhist Religion: Dissenting Sects in Late Traditional China.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Yang, C.K. 1967 Religion in Chinese Society. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Yang, Hui-nan 1991 Contemporary Buddhism Prospect (in Chinese). Taipei, Taiwan: Tun-da Publishing Co.
Submitted To Prof. Paul G. Hiebert DME 910: Folk ReligionMarch 19. 1993 Deerfield, Illinois
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
II. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
1. Maitreyan Buddhism Movements 2. White Lotus Sects 3. I-kuan Tao Societies III. DOCTRINAL BELIEFS
1. Theological Antecedents 2. Syncretic Context 3. Creation and Salvation Mythology IV. RELIGIOUS PRACTICES1. Leadership 2. Rituals 3. Scriptures 4. Mission Strategies V. CONCLUSION
1. Characteristics of I-kuan Tao 2. Missiological Implications BIBLIOGRAPH
