Religion in Taiwan

In order to understand the role that religion has played in Taiwan's history, it is necessary to take certain things into consideration.  They are:

1.  Religion, from a Judaeo-Christian standpoint, is considered humankind's attempt to reach and understand God.

2.  The Judaeo-Christian tradition purports to be God reaching out to humankind through self-disclosure.

3.  Liberation Theology seeks to discover the liberating elements in all religions.

The world in which the original inhabitants of Taiwan lived, was filled with spirits.  Although the tribal groups had differing religious customs and beliefs, they were united in their traditional religion that all of life was controlled by spirit activity. Spirits existed in all of nature-the trees, mountains, rivers, rocks, wind, and the earth.  For the most part, these were evil.  They might be thought of as "spirits" or "gods."  Most prominent among the spirits were the ancestral spirits. Depending on the good or bad conduct of the departed one, these spirits could be beneficial or evil.  People tried to communicate with them and offered sacrifices to them (Ralph Covell, Pentecost on the Hills of Taiwan.  Pasadena, California: Hope Publishing House, 1998, p, 20.)

The ancestral rites varied according to the customs of each group.  The Paiwan and Rukai had ancestral houses and men's houses, and in the latter could be found ancestral statutes.  In some literature, these two houses are referred to as "temples (C. S, Yang, "Animism in the Mountain Tribes of Taiwan." Southeast Asia Journal of Theology, April 1969, p, 29)"

The Paiwan had three levels of ancestral figures: the "grandfather" who must be recognized as the most important for every ritual; the "father" who was worshiped chiefly for harvest and sowing festivals, and the "son," who was responsible for rituals associated with warfare.  Paiwan ancestral rites were done as needed, annually or in five and six-year cycles.  (Yao-Te-hsiung, Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village.  Nantou Count: Aboriginal Culture Village Tourism Co. Ltd, 1987, p. 138)

The Tayal and Sediq also had ancestral rites, but these were not associated with special ritual places or with any specific physical representation of the spirits.  As with other tribes, they had special terms to refer to the spirits.  With the Tayal, the term was "rutux," and with the Sediq, it was either the general word for "spirit (utox)," or the word for "wind (bighorn)." (Covell, p. 20).

The Sediq term "utux," has a wide meaning.  It referred to the spirits of the natural world, to ancestors, to a being who knew all about human conduct., and to what was seen in a dream.  If the words good or bad were used before "utux" as modifiers, he meaning was good luck or bad luck.  No terms existed for an evil spirit, only a term meaning "a spirit to be feared (Ibid, pp. 29-21)."

The Amis used pictures, rather than statutes, to remind them of their ancestors.  The Tsou put the old clothes of their ancestors in a basket and made sacrifices to it (Ibid, p. 21).

Creator Gods

With the Tayal and Sediq, if the terms "rutux" or "utux" are not used with modifiers, the indication is that they refer to the ancestor(s), then they indicate a "high god."  They believe that this one controls the entire universe, including human beings.  He knows about all the inequities that humans face.  Even if there are wicked people who mistreat others, the victims are not to retaliate because the "spirit above" knows about this.  He will take revenge either through judgement now or in the future upon the perpetrators of evil (From a text by Wiran Takoh on that which he heard from his father on the "utux)."

The Sediq and Tayal have no clear concept of creation.  And when people die, if all conditions have been met, it is to the home of the rutux or utox that they go (Covell, p, 21).

The Puyuma believe that there is a creator god who gives a soul to human beings and that at death, the soul returns to this one.  It is not known where this god came from or whether he is personal or impersonal (Yang, "Animism in Mountain Tribes, pp 29-31)."

The Yami have a complex hierarchy of divine beings.  Various "gods" exist on the highest levels as well as humans who have taken on divine qualities.  Some of these deities have specific names such as Nunurao, Shipariud, Shibairai, and Shinunmanuri.  Each has responsibility for a particular sphere of human existence.  Within this system there are no creator gods or those who exercise retribution on the human race (Arundel Del Re, Creation Myths of the Formosan Natives.  Tokyo: Hokuseido Press, n.d. pp 53-71).

The Amis also recognized special deities as a part of their religion, with no clear boundaries between "gods" or "spirits."  An exact listing of these is difficult, since names differed from district to district.  The most common of the deities was Malatau, who was created, but yet had the power to bring sickness and death.  Tsidar was the sun goddess and Bolal was the moon god (Robert Donnell Mc call, "Conversion, Acculturation, and Revitalization: The History of Fataan Amis Presbyterian Church."  Unpublished D. Miss. Dissertation, Fuller Theological Seminary, 1995, pp.67-68).

In the hierarchy of the gods, the Amis placed these three at the top.  Just below them were the Tatakusan, a generic name for all of the ancestral spirits.  Those responsible for worship and the rituals were the Cikawasai or shamans, and the Kakitaan or priestly families (Ch'en Chi-lu and Michael Cove, "An Investigation of the Ami Religion."  Quarterly Journal of the Taiwan Museum, vol. 7, pp. 249).

The interaction of these several gods was best seen in the ancient "ilisin" ritual, the Amis New Year Festival.  The chief priest, the priestly families, and members of the senior and junior grades were the most active participants in this ceremony intended to purify and renew the worshiping community (Covell,p. 22).

Religious Intermediaries

In their practice of traditional religion, all of the original inhabitants depended on the mediation of the shamans.  Usually younger or older females, shamans were thought to have developed such an intimate relationship with the spirits that their ecstatic dancing, crying, and ritualistic acts could overcome any evil or produce the desired blessing.  On the negative side, this included cure from illness, overcoming misfortune caused by a broken taboo, casting out evil spirits, praying for rain and interpreting bad dreams.  On the positive side, this included divination or predicting the future, presiding over the various agricultural festivals to insure and give thanks for good crops, the erecting and finishing of houses, boats, and community buildings, and the celebration of enemy heads.  They sometimes were asked to help interpret birds, although the common people learned the meaning of certain bird calls or flight in a certain direction.  Proper understanding of this determined whether or not the men would go hunting, whether omens were favorable for taking a head, or whether some type of danger was lurking (Ibid.).

In these various activities, the shamans used magic and often were in a state of ecstasy. Their function was not that usually associated with a priestly figure who was not possessed with the spirits to the same extent.  They depended more upon experience, attention to ritual procedure, and their reputation within the community (Eugene A. Nida and William Smalley, Introducing Animism. New York: Friendship Press, 1959, p. 29).

The frenzied activity of the priests and priestesses was that which most impressed some of the 17th-century Dutch missionaries when they first visited the "raw savages" of the high mountains.  They reported that" "Temples are everywhere to be met with, there being one for every sixteen houses: and while all other nations have priests to perform religious ceremonies, this is done by priestesses called "inibs."  The inib sacrifice the heads of the pigs and deer, which they are accustomed first to boil somewhat, and then, to place before their gods with some rice, strong drink.  Thereupon, two of the priestesses rise and call upon their gods with a horrible shouting and screaming, so furious that their eyes stand out of their heads as they foam at the mouth, causing them to look as if they were either demon-possessed or suffering from madness.  On recovering, the two priestesses climb to the roof of the temple and stand, one at each end, calling upon their gods in a violent way.  Every article of clothing is now laid aside, and they appear stark naked before their idols, to honor them and move them to answer prayers by the exhibition of, and continual touching of their female parts (William Campbell, "Formosa," in James Hastings, ed.  Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics.  New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1995, vol. 6, p. 84).

The Sediq did not regard the shaman as highly as did many of the other tribes.  In fact, the village chief made some of the sacrifices to the streams, mountains, or trees.  The shamans were known to all.  They were not selected as such, but gained recognition by their success.  Each village had two or three families referred to as "mhoni."  All within the family-not merely the females-had this power.  The mhoni cast their spells, not face, but by putting a curse on a person from a distance.  If the people within a community knew a person or a family to be a mhoni, they killed them.  Often if a person were suspected of being mhoni, the potential accuser would come and say "Put a curse on me."  In this situation, the mhoni would not dare do anything, since by putting a curse on the accuser, if that person should die, the others would now that a person was a mhoni and kill him (Material obtained from Sediq Informants).

Religion is thriving in Taiwan.  Political candidates sometimes secure their promises by beheading a cock, thus making their oath directly to the gods.  New temples have popped up everywhere; many are unlicensed, but the government has problems closing them because no workers are willing to tear them down.  Buddhist clergy often preach for hours on television, and movies about various gods and temples are frequent.  These examples attest to the health of religion in Taiwan and to the ways in which it is embedded in everyday life (Robert Weller, "Identity and Social Change in Taiwanese Religion," in Taiwan: A New History, Murray Rubinstein, ed.  Armonk, New York:  M.E, Sharp, Inc., 1999, p. 340).

The embeddedness of religious practice in Taiwanese life has linked it closely to changing notions of identity.  The close ties among religion, kinship, and community have made temples and rituals an arena in which we can see historical changes in contending notions of self and society, especially in the absence of a higher religious authority that could attempt to impose such an interpretation.  Religious practice has both shaped and been shaped by Taiwan's history, and speaks especially clearly about ethnic identities over time, the changing nature of social marginality, and the current dilemmas of modernity (Ibid.).