A discussion of the religious outlook of Chinese people involves considering man's position in the cosmos. The highest ideal for the Chinese is the "unity of man and heaven," and harmony and equilibrium in man's relation to the universe are their highest criterion of value.
This harmony and equilibrium can be viewed on three levels.
First is an equilibrium with nature, which can be explained more specifically in terms of time and space.
The Chinese concept of time differs greatly from that of the West. Age, for example, is calculated differently. A person is comsidered to be "one year old" at birth, and advance one year every lunar new year. Thus, a person born the last day of the lunar year would turn two the next!
Further, Chinese people tend to think in terms of "public time" and "individual or personal time".
The personal time of each individual, they believe, is oriented against the steadily flowing public time of the universe. If public time and individual time are well matched, the moment will be auspicious. If not, there will be obstacles.
The most important time for an individual is when he is born, which determines the eight characters of his horoscope and is related to the heavenly stems and earthly branches, the animals of the zodiac, the five elements, and other theories.
A horoscope represents ming (fate), which cannot be changed. A person who is down and out all his life can only bewail the fact that he was born at the wrong time. There are some important events, though, such as marriage, moving house, or opening a business, that a person can choose the time for and can change. That involves yun (fortune).
Even today, when man has walked on the moon, Chinese people still adhere deeply to these beliefs. Figuring horoscopes, choosing auspicious times, and trying to change one's fortune are still a common part of everyday life.
Just as important as favorable timing is favorable positioning in space, which should be coordinated with the principles of yin and yang and the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Whether it's the positioning of a desk in the office, of windows or doors at home, or even of an ancestor's grave, the location and direction must be properly determined. An architect or interior designer who doesn't understand feng-shui (geomancy) will have few customers, even if he has a doctorate from the U.S.
As to whether these "rules of experience" really work, that's hard to say. People who study religion are accustomed to dividing truth into two types, subjective and objective. Science is objective truth, but religious truth is subjective and depends on the faith of the believer.
Both objective and subjective truth are acceptable, and it cannot be denied that both kinds of truth are "effective" and that there is value in their existence. There are those who try to pull the two together, for example by seeking scientific proof for geomancy in the environment, ecology, or air currents. But most of these kinds of efforts are forced associations which are extremely difficult to maintain.
The second level is equilibrium of the individual, which can be divided into internal and external aspects.
The concept of the internal equilibrium of the body had a big influence on later Taoist thinking. A clear mind, few desires, and the avoidance of anger and annoyance are the main principles of the Chinese method of keeping good health. In addition, the twin forces of yin and yang should be kept in balance through a proper diet.
External equilibrium involves such things as a person's name and physiognomy. The number of strokes in a person's name is believed to affect his fortune, and the components of the characters should correspond to the five elements under which he was born.
The third level is interpersonal equilibrium. The jen (benevolence, or the way people get along with one another) of the Confucianists is an expression of this belief. Their basic theory holds that universal peace must be preceded by the ordering of the state, and the ordering of the state must be preceded by harmony within the family.
As for ancestor worship, that is an expression of the individual's seeking harmony with deceased family members. If someone in the family becomes ill, elderly Chinese first check whether the ancestral tablet had caused the ancestors to be displeased by being awry or short of offerings.
However, "ancestor worship", is not the same as "ancestor deification." People stress the thought and ritual involved; the symbolic and ethical flavor far exceeds that of idolatry.
The extension of ancestor worship is communal harmony. You should not only get along amicably with your neighbors, but should also pay attention to the layout of the neighborhood. If your house runs up against an alley or the corner of another house, you should hang up a trigram mirror to ward off the effect.
In addition, if there has been a death in the family you must not forget to paste strips of red paper on the doors of your neighbors to drive away spirits and prevent your neighbors from catching your bad luck.
Extended further, interpersonal equilibrium also includes harmonious relations between people and the supernatural.
The concept of gods and ghosts is also quite humanistic to the Chinese. Confucian sages, Taoist immortals, Buddhist bodhisattvas, the stars of heaven, and the monsters of the deep--all are simply transformations of man and highly personified. Their relations with people are exceptionally close and intimate. They can even be bargained and negotiated with.
The relation of people to spirits can also be viewed from the types of offerings made at sacrifices.
First, a complete offering of an ox, sheep, and pig should be made when worshiping heaven, and the meat should be uncooked. Next, a large piece of pork should be of fered to most other deities, and it should be only half cooked (scalded in hot water). In worshiping ancestors, one should offer fully cooked dishes, such as one ordinarily eats. Finally, rather inferior fare may be offered to ghosts and lesser spirits.
From this we can conclude that the early Chinese observed a strict order of hierarchy in worshiping gods and spirits. The completeness of the offering reflected the status of the god being worshiped, and the degree to which it was raw or cooked reflected his intimacy with human affairs. In other words, fusing religion with the ethics of daily life has long been a characteristic of the Chinese people!
[Picture Caption]
Li Yih-yuan, a member of the Academia Sinica, has achieved incisive, original insights viewing Chinese religion from an anthropological perspective. (photo by Vincent Chang)
A geomancer uses a Chinese compass to determine feng-shui. This is anoth er characteristic feature of Chinese life. (photo from Sinorama files)
When they encounter difficulties, some people turn to a fortuneteller to point the way.
"Serve the dead as you would serve the living," Chinese people say. Mode ls of a Westernstyle house and car are burned in the hope that relatives can live in style in the afterworld. (photo by Arthur Cheng)
A geomancer uses a Chinese compass to determine feng-shui. This is anoth er characteristic feature of Chinese life. （photo from Sinorama files）
When they encounter difficulties, some people turn to a fortuneteller to point the way.
"Serve the dead as you would serve the living," Chinese people say. Mode ls of a Westernstyle house and car are burned in the hope that relatives can live in style in the afterworld. （photo by Arthur Cheng）
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