Ritual Treatment of Fortunate and Unfortunate Dead by the Chinese Redemptive Society Déjiāo in Thailand

Bernard Formoso

doi:10.3390/rel11050245

Abstract

This paper compares the ritual management of fortunate and unfortunate dead (hungry ghosts) by a Chinese new religious movement named Déjiāo 徳教 (lit. Teaching of Virtue), which emerged in Chaozhou (the northeast of Guangdong province) in 1939, before spreading to Southeast Asia after World War II. Based on ethnographic data collected in Chaozhou and Thailand between 1993 and 2005, the analysis reveals significant differences concerning both the ideological and performative aspects of the ritual processing of the two categories of dead. The funeral care of orphaned dead by Déjiāo conforms to the Chaozhou tradition of xiū gūgú 修孤骨, a festival of second burial allegedly devised during the Song dynasty by a local Buddhist monk; most of his sequences require the activity of mediums. Turned toward the salvation of the unfortunate dead, this festival was enriched by a universalist ambition through its adaptation to the Thai context. In doing so, it perfectly expresses the moral and religious goals of Déjiāo, one of the most active Chinese redemptive societies.

Highlights

As pointed out by Watson (1988b, p. 9), the Han Chinese belief system makes the fate of the living depend directly upon the ritual and geomantic treatment of the dead
Thailand is the country of Southeast Asia of which the citizens of Chinese ancestry are the largest in number1 and among the best socially integrated, to the point of controlling, at the turn of the twenty-first century, both the domestic economy and the local political sphere
As noted by some observers (Eliott 1955; Willmott 1970), the urban nature of the Southeast Asian Chinese communities, the dispersion of lineage members in search of business opportunities, and the proliferation of intermarriages with native women, are all factors unfavorable to the persistence of strong corporate groups centered on the worship of common ancestors

Summary

Introduction

As pointed out by Watson (1988b, p. 9), the Han Chinese belief system makes the fate of the living depend directly upon the ritual and geomantic treatment of the dead. The richest of them manage hospitals of their own, and apply first aid, and health care to casualties Their charitable activities being closely linked to the combined worship of Buddhist saints and Immortals of the Daoist pantheon, the shàntáng are the main source of Chinese religious activity in the Thai context. They train new generations of priests and serve as rallying points for great annual celebrations.

Fortunate Versus Unfortunate Dead

Funerary Rites Ordered by Families

AADaoist

The Ritual Refining of Unfortunate Dead

Findings

Conclusions