Temples, Urban Society, and Taoists: The Transformation of Modern Urban Chinese Religious Organizations – Temple Taoiste

Where there is a Taoist, there is a temple H Së¿ ß. So goes the proverb. Indeed, the modern history of Chinese temples and that of the Taoists seem to go hand in hand. Yet, while both temples and Taoists serve urban society, the relationship between the two has yet to be thoroughly analyzed. Most temples operate without a Taoist, and many Taoists do not work in temples. So, are temples and Taoists two independent aspects of modern Chinese religion, or are they indissolubly linked? - Our project attempts to shed new light on this issue through an interdisciplinary approach combining historical research and fieldwork. The research project is organized around three field sites: Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and the Han river valley area (Wuhan and Nanyang). While historical and field data will be collected separately, a major aim of the project is through comparison between our three sites, as well as with published evidence and research on other Chinese cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu etc.), in order to reach larger conclusions as to how modern history has changed the structure and social organization of religious life in Chinese cities. - Our research team is made up of both historians and anthropologists, who will examine the evolution of urban religious life in modern China, particularly the ways in which temple communities, lay urbanites, and professional Taoists interact. We look at major Taoist sacred sites (both Quanzhen monasteries and Zhengyi temples) and their function as central institutions structuring local religious systems (training other clerics, organizing the large-scale festivals, etc.), but also at clerics working for neighborhood temples either as resident specialists or as occasional guests. While there is a trend among lay temple leaders to marginalize religious professionals like Taoists, the latter still manage to retain control over important material and symbolical resources. The political changes during the twentieth-century, first during the Republican period and then under the present PRC regime, have deeply changed relationships between lay institutions and clerics; yet, the question remains of whether lay people or Taoist clerics can or should control temple life. -