Chinese Religions in Southeast Asia
Time & LocationSession 10
Fri 11:00–12:30 Room 1.405
- Lin Yu Sheng Academia Sinica
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- Confucianism in Indonesia: Monotheism or Polytheism? Yeh-Ying Shen National University of Singapore
As we can see, two Confucian-based faiths appear in the society of Indonesian Chinese. One is the religion of Confucianism (Agama Konghucu, also known as MATAKIN), which was locally established by Peranakan Chinese in 1918. The other is Yiguan Dao, which came from Taiwan since 1950. The two faiths differ in their theological systems which present distinct possibilities of Confucianism among the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia.
MATAKIN is the social production of Indonesia’s religious background. Its doctrines were clearly defined during the New Order era. In order to keep a legal position in Indonesia, MATAKIN became an absolute monotheistic religion, in accordance with the official philosophical theory of Indonesia (Pacasila). The only God in MATAKIN is “Heaven” and Confucius becomes a prophet. Yiguan Dao, however, regards Confucianism as the mainstream but also brings along the Chinese tradition of aggregation of three teachings, namely Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. Since social morality and ethics are the essence of Confucianism. MATAKIN focuses on practicing secular morals and rarely discusses the transcendence of religious experiences. Yet, moral practice in Yiguan Dao is the approach to achieve the extreme gospel, not the gospel itself. Yiguan Dao also views transcendent power as an important part of devotees’ religious experiences. Both of them have moderately developed in the society of Indonesian Chinese. By examining MATAKIN and Yiguan Dao in Indonesia, we could discover that each of them has different groups of the ethnic Chinese followers due to the distinct theological systems
- Phota Tosae Worship in Phuket Island, Thailand Lin Yu Sheng Academia Sinica
In Malaysia, there are many studies about Datuk Gong, which is mainly Muslim deities worship by ethnic Chinese. Scholars indicate its origin and development mainly because of their settlement in the Malay world and intensifying Malay nationalism. However, similar worships are not limited in Malaysia, but they exist in Indonesia or Thailand. In Phuket, South Thailand, there are also many Muslim deities called “To”. In this research, I will focus on one of those ‘Tos’, ToSae, or Phota ToSae, which is mainly based on Phuket Town. By analyzing three different patterns of its development in Phuket, I aim to reveal the similarities and differences of Muslim deities worship between their developments in South Thailand and Malaysia.
- Temple Worship and Historical Reasons: A Case Study of the Goddess of Mercy Ritual in a Kelantan Chinese Village Siew Boon Lew National University of Singapore
Pulai village is located in Kelantan, Malaysia. It was a settlement of Hakka immigrants from southern China. Although they suffered from local political disorder and difficulty in making living after migrating, they remain their faith to their ancestral gods. According to the villagers, Pulai village has a six-centuries long rich history. Over the centuries, they continuously held the ritual ceremony of Guanyin festival annually to comfort their predicament. The Guanyin is the main Goddess worshiped in the Shui Yue Gong (Water Moon Temple). However, there are also other Gods worshiped in the temple. This paper is focused on three parts of the ritual ceremony, namely ‘Inviting Gods”, “Procession Gods” and “Worshiping Heaven and Earth” to discuss my research finding.
In this paper, I will show the history of the village and relate it to the temple and the Guanyin festival. The origin Pulai temple and its belief have a close relationship with region and trade network. Besides the narrative stories from the villagers, I also included the newspapers collection and Chinese classical texts to analyses the historical phenomenon of Pulai temple.
There is a long history of Chinese in Nanyang, or South Seas since their ancestors migrated there. They brought along their belief once they settle in the ‘new land’. Studies on Chinese religions or beliefs in Southeast Asia tend to take them as tools of Chinese identities in the diasporic context. However, this paradigm neglects their interactions with local societies and supposes an unchangeable ‘Chinese-ness’. The purpose of this panel is to challenge this paradigm and focus on how the ‘Chinese-ness’ were contested when Chinese religions or beliefs encountered with non-Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. Three panelists will present their work on the contemporary and historical Chinese religious practices in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.