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Charitable activities and religious life

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prefatory remarks

enable VPN to Oxford

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definitions the voluntary giving of help to those in need

who are not related to the giver (Wikipedia) Terminology

gong 公 , yi 義 types:

related to livelihood ritual services for others than family

to be distinguished from local mutual help? “without expecting a direct return from the

recipient”

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charity in Europe connected to Christianity: late ME onwards in

Western Europe (esp. NW Europe) need to deal with orphans, widows and the

poor in general in urban centres innovation NW Europe: cheap urban labour

force regions which suffered from labour shortage

after the great plague epidemics of 14th century region of religious reform > (unsuccessful)

reformation (Flanders, Low Countries)

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local mutual help hard to document historically in the absence

of sources & research not impossible through anecdotal literature

( 待考 ) 20th century fieldwork

Japanese (Mantetsu 滿鐵 etc.) Western/Chinese (Sidney Gamble, Li Jinghan

c.s.) missionary accounts “missionary cases” 教案 (Litzinger a.o.)

bias: northern China and coastal southwest China

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an attempt at reconstruction late 19th early 20th century (not

necessarily same as before, but maybe indicative of informal neighbourly help) crop watching cooperation on harvest etc. credit societies self-defence societies to maintain temples & festivals irrigation networks (LY & Southern China)

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forms of help state charitable institutions

expression of the paternalistic obligation of the ruler to his people

lineage organizations mutual help for those within the same line of

descent mutual help within a village

restricted to those who were accepted as members of the village community

charity per se: indiscriminately help of all

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social functions of charity alleviating social stress symbolic expression of attitude of

caring for larger whole on part of elites

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Buddhist charity

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circulation of gifts In Theravada B. traditionally gifts primarily to

monastic community, in Mahayana B. also to lay people

gifts managed together to maintain Buddhist institutions recitation & rituals for the benefit of all (incl. dead) monasteries as shared investments/pooling

resources (?) ultimate aim: gathering merit & public standing

(doing good is never invisible)

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Buddhist merit fundamental Buddhist concept of

gathering merit 功德 by giving (to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha)

different forms of giving: to adorn the teachings (grotto temples,

statues, wall paintings and so forth) charity for the needy (identified

recipients) alms (entirely anonymous)

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“Fields of merit” 福田 principal concept is planting a field of merit different lists of very practical activities:佛告天帝：”復有七法廣施，名曰福田，行者得福，即生梵天。何謂為七？”

一者、興立佛圖、僧房、堂閣； 二者、園果、浴池、樹木清涼； 三者、常施醫藥，療救眾病； 四者、作牢堅船，濟度人民； 五者、安設橋梁，過度羸弱； 六者、近道作井，渴乏得飲； 七者、造作圊廁，施便利處。

maintaining the community

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常施醫藥興立佛圖、僧房、堂閣

園果

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early charity problems of information

quantitative estimate impossible, only qualitative

normative (as above) rather than descriptive known concrete examples (usually urban &

individual/incidental) distribution food to poor monastic “hospitals” inn-function of monasteries for travellers and

pilgrims

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Song-Yuan Buddhist monks building bridges etc. (merit) Buddhist lay believers (merit)

bridges roads free tea

state (northern Song): local order medical aid

hospitals distributing medicine

old people’s homes homes for foundlings (including wet nurses) distributing food aid, coffins (incidental)

private/local (southern Song): local order (same contents)

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religious vs. secular religious charity clearly continued into Yuan state and private charity Song period: were

people involved only secularly motivated? the very active lay Buddhist Su Shi founded a kind

of hospital , built the nearby Su Dike on West Lake! problem of insufficient knowledge private

convictions would be strange when (re)invention in late Ming

was Buddhist inspired and earlier Song efforts would not have been religiously inspired

Water and Land Gatherings & rituals to feed the hungry ghosts can be seen as forms of charity!

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towards secular charity?

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background to charity differences charity

from Buddhist perspective from state perspective from Neoconfucian perspective

presently standard view: Buddhist (religious) charity evolved into largely secular charity

similar the in West: Christian (or Christian socialist, do not forget Judeo-Christian origins Marxism/ socialism)

but: is there a “secular” world in premodern China? and: to what extent did this new charity really

become fully secular (same applies to Western situation)

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Li Gong: secular or not 1659-1733 famous for classicist lifestyle in which he tried to stay

faithful to the Analects and other classic works Worship and religious beliefs

burned incense (much later than Analects) visited his parents and his natal mother on 1st and 15th days maintained all kinship rituals and paid respect to graves of

acquaintances gathered relatives at 清明 for sacrifice of animals and music also set up paper spirit tablets 紙位 for relatives in female

lines without descendants (of at least two different family names) on New Year's day

kept a Ledger of Merit and Demerit supported ritual suicide by widows (rather than remarriage)

hardly just a secular classicist philosopher

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the charitable movement (1) one large movement of performing shan 善 ,

institutionalized in generic “charitable gatherings” 善會 and “charitable halls” 善堂

Setting Free Life Gatherings (fangsheng hui 放生會 ) => charitable movement, in terms of: support group and audience (the local gentry elite) internal organization combination of moral education with moral acts change: from preserving animal life to saving

human life conspired by growing Neoconfucian interest in

human life

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Shanghai

Guilin

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the charitable movement (2) Buddho-Daoist inspiration

祩宏 1535–1615 introduces Daoist Ledgers or Merit and Demerit 功過格

Morality Books 善書, e.g. 太上感應篇 (Daoist inspiration), later Buddhist and cultic versions of morality books (e.g. 陰騭文，關聖帝君覺世真經 )

bureaucratic procedures Community Compacts 鄉約

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activities taking care of orphans (Keeping Infants Halls 留嬰堂 or Nourish Infants Halls 育嬰堂 ) taking care of widows to prevent remarriage prevention of cremation and making available free burial alleviating famine (esp. late Ming, taken over by state

during Qing)

In service of Confucian values, though often initiated first by elites with primary lay Buddhist identity

But: to what extent had this become a Confucian movement?

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again: secular or religious Zhang Cai 張才 (fl. late Ming)

founder Restoration Academy moral lecturer in “secular” hall devout worshipper Lord Guan

Shi Chengjin 石成金 (fl. 1660) Yangzhou Nourish Infants Hall active lay Buddhist (influential commentary on Jin’gangjing) the popularizer of Buddhist and Confucian values among non-literate

people (in baihua) Liu Shanying 劉山英 (1733-1806)

official who became active lay Buddhist at circa 40 years of age. active in charitable works, including a large public cemetery in

Huzhou in the late eighteenth century and the publication of a Buddhist inspired morality book. Efforts continued by his, who was also a lay Buddhist ánd a conscious Confucian official

his own 信心應驗錄 reprinted by pp with Buddhist background as well In all 3 cases: religious context not clear from the sources

directly dealing with the charitable activity

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佛緣之印度為甚廣也

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傳家寶

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moral rearmament increase “Confucian” values does not mean

secularisation, but moral rearmament reliance on specific deities a source moral values:

Wenchang, Lord/Emperor Guan, Lu Dongbin, and so on

late 18th century onwards spirit writing movement starting out in eastern Sichuan

during 19th century fusion with practice of reciting the Saintly Edict 宣講聖諭 inYunnan

developed into the new religious movements of early 20th century

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内鄉縣衙門宣講聖諭

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宣講聖諭 in Yunnan：洞經音樂

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other forms of religious charity

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missionary charity Christian charity in China as much part of

Chinese history as other forms foundling homes (source

misunderstanding) medical mission (beginning with eye

surgery, took off in 20th century) educational mission (to enable often

illiterate converts to read the Bible, took off in early 20th century)

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Daoist charity True Man Wu (Fujian)

popular cult since 11th -12th century, strong Daoist links Quanzhou elite developed it into venue for dispensing free

medicine from 1878 onwards Liu Yuan 劉沅 (1768-1855) (Sichuan)

founder influential Daoist-Confucian family tradition of teachers

found inspiration in texts that we conventionally label Confucian and Daoist

himself advocated Daoist ritual for the common good sixth son added charitable activities (namely the free

distribution of grain, clothes and medicine; the provision of coffins and burial land; setting free life, as well as not eating bovine and dog meat)

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清

1878 Quanzhou gentry and merchants founded an Office for Dispensing Medicine in the local 花橋慈濟宮 , on basis of myth of True Man Wu (Tao 夲 )

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20th century and after

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Taiwan & mainland with you!