Taiwanese Daoism: Variability of Forms and Immutability of the Social Mission

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of the social structure of Taiwanese Dao­ism and its role in the everyday life of Taiwanese society. The emergence of Tao­ism in Taiwan dates back to the middle of the 17th century, when the first settlers arrived here from the areas of Quanzhou, Zhangzhou and Chaozhou, located in the southern coastal regions of mainland China. Until the 20th century, only Taoists of the Orthodox One school (Zhengyipai) were represented in Taiwanese society. The peculiarity of the ritualists of the Zhengyi school is their close con­nection with the local community, whose spiritual needs they serve. The author, based on the work of Taiwanese researchers and his own humble experience of field research in Taiwan, examines the social history of Taiwanese Daoism and characterizes its main currents. The article discusses the features of the Daoist tradition of Dao-fa er-men, the Lingbao lineage and the Chanhe lineage, as well as the social role of ritual masters fashi belonging to the “vernacular level” of the Taoist tradition, and grassroots spirit mediums tong-ki. As the results of modern research indicate, Taiwanese Daoism has many forms and historical variations, but it retains its social mission unchanged. The modern Taoist ritual­ists of Taiwan, first of all, ensure the normal functioning of the local social or­ganism, its unity and ethnocultural self-identification.