Taiwan's Ancestor Cult: A Contextualized Gospel Approach

by Robert Bolton

"To forsake one's ancestors is too big a price to pay for becoming a Christian believer!" exclaimed a tea merchant recently. He had reverted to paganism after making such a promising start in his profession of faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord. This distressing incident illustrates the dilemma of the ancestor cult which we faced in church planting ministry at Ch'ing-shui (Clear water), a western coastal town in Taiwan.

Taiwan's ancestor cult poses one of the most perplexing problems to the advocate of the Gospel whether he is a Taiwanese pastor or a foreign missionary. Indeed, as Dr. Chou Lien-hua stated in a Consultation on the Christian Response to Ancestor Practices, "the issue of ancestor practices possibly has been the most challenging problem confronting the Chinese churches."1

Ralph Covell, former missionary to Taiwan, writes of "the nagging problem of the ancestor rites," which nevertheless continues to be "the glue holding Chinese society together."2 So strong and deep rooted is the ancestor cult among the Chinese that, in some cases where non-Christians have destroyed their idols, the ancestral tablet has remained.3 Many non-Christian parents adamantly refuse to permit their oldest son to undergo Christian baptism. Were the son to take this step it means to the parents the end of ancestral worship on his part, and an utter lack of filial piety regarding the deceased.

Anthropological Findings the Taiwan Picture

"Everything has meaning," becomes an axiom of the anthropologist as he examines artifacts, rituals, and other concomitants of a given culture. The ancestor cult, involving periodic worship of the deceased, who are in a sense deified,4 deployment of ancestral tablets, and the upkeep of graves, is no exception. Indeed, the ancestral tablet, for example, has significance, for it implies a reciprocity: the living care for the dead by bowing to the tablet and placing food offerings and burning incense before it. The deceased ancestors, represented by the tablet, the shen-wei (sin-ui, in Taiwanese), literally, the "god-seat," in turn, grant propitious favor to the descendants, in terms of wealth, success, abundant harvests and many offspring.

The ancestor tablet implies possession of inherited landed property. R. F. Johnson, a British official, serving in north China, as early as 1910, observed that landed property is "regarded in practice as an inseparable condition of the continuation of the ancestralites." He quoted a Chinese saying, "Mei-yu ch'an-yeh, mei-yu shen-chu (tsu)," meaning, "No ancestral property, no ancestral tablets."5

Anthropologist Emily Ahern, who did field work in Taiwan, observed that once during a death anniversary of an ancestor, a daughter-in-law tactlessly said, "These ancestors didn't leave us anything; I don't see why we have to worship them at all." The descendants had become impoverished through loss of valuable rice-land. Though her mother-in-law rebuked her, the girl voiced true sentiments.6

Anthropological studies of the ancestor cult reveal ''basic design" in Taiwanese social structure, "how groups are articulated and how they are subdivided along economic and political lines."7

The state of an ancestral hall in corporate ancestral worship, for example, is a key to understanding the economic status of the lineage and its territorial power structure. Taiwan's lineage or clan societies developed through worship of one common founding ancestor, usually a pioneer settler and immigrant from mainland China. Other factors contributing to clan unity were the co-operative building of irrigation systems in the new land; the producing of rice involving joining forces in planting and harvesting; and, by banding together to defend their territory from intrusions of bandits or fierce mountain tribal warriors who in olden days practiced head-hunting.

A brief description now must be made of the role or function of the ancestor cult in Taiwanese society. Stephen Liaw explains that the original Chinese immigrants to Taiwan vied for control of the land and irrigation sources. "To withstand the hostile outside forces, it was necessary for Taiwan's inhabitants to cultivate the cohesive force of a clan society. By worshipping a common ancestor, the collective consciousness of the group was strengthened."8

The Taiwanese inherited the cult of ancestor worship from their mainland China progenitors. Since ancestors were thought to exist in the spirit world, the living descendants therefore, were to serve these spirits as if they were still living in the present physical world. By propitiating the ancestral spirits with sacrifices, the descendants would receive from them protection and blessing. If, however, the ancestors were not adequately fed, cared for and propitiated, they would then turn into "hungry ghosts," malevolent spirits, who would roam and cause misfortune to fall upon the descendants. Descendants therefore developed a two-fold attitude: they both showed respect to and were fearful of the ancestral spirits.

Though the ancestor cult is based upon the existence of the immaterial part of man, humanism enters the picture. Liaw writes:

Throughout the long history of China, the cult of ancestor worship was gradually imbued with a spirit of humanism. Consequently, worshipping the spirits of the ancestors eventually developed into an ethical teaching centering on filial piety.9

Filial piety forms the cornerstone of Chinese ethics; also becomes the focal point of ancestor worship. In essence, the ancestor cult is filial piety to the dead. Over the centuries Confucianism taught Chinese to respect their parents, especially the father, the household head. From the Confucius Analects comes the instruction that piety is a duty which consists of serving one's parents when they are alive, burying them when they die, and sacrificing to their spirits later on.10

Filial piety to the dead is expressed in such gestures as prostrating oneself before the coffin, bowing before the portrait of the deceased, or burning incense in front of the ancestral tablet.

However, it must be noted that Chang Litsen, in his Lausanne strategy paper on "Evangelization Among Buddhists and Confucianists," pointed out that the basic meaning of filial piety is not ancestor worship. Filial piety has been distorted and misinterpreted to include the deceased. Chang quotes Ou Yanghsiu, a noted scholar and statesman in the Sung Dynasty.

It is more important to provide respectfully and affectionately for the needs of the parents when they are alive, rather than worship them by burning paper money and spreading a feast before ancestral tablets which are mere superstitious practices.11

In summary of this section on anthropological and historical findings, the ancestor cult, from a positive viewpoint, solidifies the family unit; it promotes genealogies of lineages; it stimulates respect to founding pioneers; and it appreciates heritages handed down by the ancestors.

Some Functional Substitutes as Christian Alternatives to Ancestor Practices

Positive steps must be taken in the direction of transformation of the culture and toward a sinocized theology, within the area of functional substitutes as Christian alternatives to ancestor practices. Instead of worshipping ancestors one should try every means possible to honor them. The following material lists and describes some functional substitutes as channels of contextualizing the Gospel to the ancestor issue.

"Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you (Deut. 5:14)."

This means caring for one's aged parents, respecting them, and remembering them on special days, such as birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and holidays. Provide the extra little touches that gladden their hearts!

Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Create Christian funerals, making them as festive as possible, within the financial means of the family involved.

In 1980, while attending a Bible College conference in Belgium, a pastor-delegate from Bucharest, Romania, told us that one type of gathering, for which the Communist government granted greater freedom was the funeral. "Therefore," he said, "We make our funerals big!" This pastor capitalized on the opportunity and made the occasion a great evangelistic rally both the funeral service itself and the public committal at the grave side.

Similarly, in Taiwan we have sought to place great importance on occasions such as the following:

1. The encoffining ceremony held in the context of a Christian service in the home.

2. The funeral service itself, held in the church, or in a large booth, erected along a busy street. Hope in Jesus Christ is emphasized.

3. The funeral procession in which the coffin is carried by men followed by mourners now mechanized with the hearse and cortege of vehicles.

4. The committal service held at the place of burial, usually out at the hillside. Prayer for comfort in behalf of the bereaved is stressed.

Our Christian funerals often involve several congregations and pastors of the area. As many believers as possible are mobilized to attend thus to reflect the love and concern of the Christian community toward the bereaved family before the eyes of a pagan population We carefully seek to vindicate the truth that Christians are not unfilial the usual charge of the non-Christians and that they do honor their deceased.

A Bible text, a picture of Christ praying in Gethsamane, or even an inscription of the Ten Commandments where the ancestral tablet once stood on an altar table, or on a shelf on the wall. Rather than leaving the place bare, this means enhances the Christian testimony.

Put up multigenerational photographs of the deceased in a prominent place in the home. I have on view before me, as I write, four enlarged photographs: one each, of my mother and father, pioneer missionaries to China; and one each, of my paternal grandfather, founder of Boltons, Ltd., car sales and service, Ipswich, England; and my grandmother. These photographs speak to my Chinese guests that I, a foreign missionary, also honor, respect, and remember my immediate ancestors.

On the death anniversary of some loved one, our Taiwanese pastors conduct memorial services. A photograph of the deceased is placed prominently in front of the congregation. The hymns, the message, and the presence of believers all help to sustain and comfort the bereaved who are again conscious of their loss on such an anniversary.

At the Chinese Ch'ing-ming Chieh (Bright Festival) in the springtime, believers go out with non-believers to graves of ancestors and clean them, placing flowers as tokens of remembrance at the gravesides. Sometimes believers go on other than this festive date, so as to disassociate themselves from the idolatrous connotations of the festival, such as sacrificing at the graves with food offerings and burning of incense.

Though believers are taught not to sacrifice offerings, or kneel or prostrate themselves before the tablets, they attend and bow their heads in prayer to God, thus indicating to non-Christian relatives that they too, respect the ancestors of their common lineage.

Hakka pastors, especially, are known to encourage their believers to do this, to indicate to their non-Christian relatives their regard for their esteemed ancestors.

Mildred Tangen, a missionary teacher, formerly located in the Taipei area, died in 1988 after several years of retirement. Grateful Taipei young people, blessed by her ministry, now remember her by the establishment of a memorial fund, in her honor, to help needy students.

Hakka pastors, ministering in the ethos of strong ancestral worship, so as to preserve memories and names of ancestors before descendants, suggest this means. A large, beautiful frame containing names and brief descriptions of all the main ancestors is hung in a conspicuous place or the wall. Mighty acts of forefathers, they say, must not be forgotten!

As their American counterparts have done in by-gone years, the names of one's immediate ancestors are carefully inscribed in a Bible, which is placed on a coffee or tea-table, readily seen.

This means has been practiced in some areas of mainland China.

This is in keeping with Chinese practice, at the graveside, or elsewhere. An inscription or memorial stone has upon it the name of the party to be commemorated.

Practiced in some churches, this means acts as a counterpart to the non-Christians' ancestral hall.12

Dr. James Graham, a third-generation missionary-scholar in China and Taiwan, did this, thus avoiding the controversial issue of bowing to the deceased: Is bowing merely respect, or is it an act of worship? The act of saluting positively indicates respect.

Two Case Studies in An Ancestor-Cult Environment.

The Hsinchu Case-study

The scene is in Hsin-chu (Sin-tek, in Taiwanese), meaning "New Bamboo," a city of 250,000 inhabitants, located about 50 miles south of Taipei. There, together with a Taiwanese coworker, we were pioneering an Assembly of God church. We visited a Lim family, where a younger sister, Siokleng, and her older brother, Kat-liong, resided. The two attended the young people's meetings.

Upon entering the humble home I noted a high black table, Taiwanese altar, upon which were a golden idol, a white image of the Kuan-yin, the Goddess of Mercy, a pair of red candles, paper money and an incense pot containing incense sticks, which was placed in front of an ancestral tablet, a threedimensional wooden shrine. A photograph of the young people's father, now deceased, hung upon the wall. Opposite the altar over a doorway hung a picture of the Lord Jesus ascending into heaven. This picture comprised the only Christian witness in the Lim home.

Then Kat-liong's paternal grandfather entered the room and greeted us briefly, adding curtly, "I am Buddhist!" With that remark he abruptly left us to visit with his grandchildren. We also met Kat-liong's mother, Mrs. Lim, who welcomed us.

During subsequent visits, we introduced the Gospel message to Mrs. Lim. She became receptive and later attended church service. The old grandmother also attended church with her, but first took the attitude that she could readily add Jesus Christ to the various gods she was worshipping in temples of her area, and to the idols in her home.

During a special evangelistic crusade we arranged in a Hsinchu government hall, Mrs. Lim made a decision to accept Christ. She invited us to conduct house-meetings in her home. Mrs. Lim grew in the Lord, encouraged by her son and daughter, Katliong and Siok-leng, respectively, and by church believers. Then came Easter-time when we planned for a baptismal service at a riverside nearby. Believers gathered for the glad event. Mrs. Lim and two other believers were to be baptized. That Sunday afternoon she carried a cardboard box to the riverside. To the surprise of many, she drew from the box her ancestral tablet and exclaimed, "I want this burned up before I am baptized!"

John T'ang, our national co-worker, explained the significance of this step to all. Mrs. Lim, the widow, was the authority figure in her extended household. Now that she had put her trust in the Savior, the Lord Jesus, she felt that no further need of the ancestral tablet existed. Go Chin-hoat, one of the young men (later to become pastor of the church), lit a fire and threw the wooden tablet, incense sticks, and incense pot into the flames. Believers rejoiced and sang choruses. John T'ang and I then baptized the radiant Mrs. Lim and the other baptismal candidates.

A bi-lingual inscription was purchased by the church and donated to the Lim family. The words read in English: "Jesus Christ is the Head of this House," together with the Chinese text. Later, upon visiting the Lim home, we noted the absence of the black altar table, the golden idol, and the Goddess of Mercy image.

Then Grandfather Lim had a nasty fall and was bedridden. Pastor T'ang and we kept visiting the family, praying with, and encouraging each member. Old Mr. Lim eventually accepted the Lord as Savior, along with his wife, who was hard of hearing. We attended a joyful 81st birthday feast of Grandfather Lim. Finally, both Mr. and Mrs. Lim, the grandparents, were baptized in a borrowed Baptist church.

Old Mrs. Lim died within a year of being baptized. The Hsinchu Assembly arranged a fully Christian funeral for her with no pagan overtones. By then the entire Lim family, except the youngest son, was converted. In contextualizing the Gospel to their frame of reference we witnessed this lower-middle-class Taiwanese family brought to Christ.

The Ch'ing-shui Case

We now assist another church-planting project at Ch'ing-shui, mentioned in the introduction of this paper. Mrs. Ong Hui-ki, a Presbyterian church member, attended her own church Sunday mornings. Occasionally she enjoyed coming to our main Sunday services conducted Sunday evenings. When Mrs. Ong became ill with stomach cancer we visited her in the hospital.

She seemed to gain her health. At times we visited her in her home and prayed with her and her unconverted husband who was crippled.

I noted their living room. Though the high black altar table was retained from idolworship in by-gone years, there were no ancestor tablets placed upon it, nor idols of any kind. Instead, photographs of deceased relatives hung on the wall and a picture of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.

A few months ago Mrs. Ong died. Prior to her death our national co-worker, Victor P'eng, and several believers visited her quite regularly. In her illness she spoke of seeing an angel in her room. Then her departure from this life came peacefully. The angelic visitation and peaceful homegoing (in contrast to the fear of death experienced by non-Christians) were talked about by members of the family and by our church believers.

Though the Presbyterian pastor conducted both the encoffining and funeral services, our believers and Pastor P'eng were present to give what spiritual and moral support they could.

I thought it significant that in the midst of an ancestor-cult environment in Ch'ingshui, God sent an angel as a ministering spirit to serve one who had inherited salvation (Heb. 1:14). The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews writes of our coming (in the present tense):

to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly . . .

to God the Judge of all men,

to the spirits of just men made perfect,

(however, no inter-communication between them and us is here implied)

to Jesus the Mediator of a New Covenant, and to the sprinkled blood (Heb. 12:23 24 NIV).

Appropriation of "Jesus the Mediator" and trust in the merits of His precious shed blood (ever efficacious in our behalf) become, I believe, basic spiritual answers to Taiwan's ancestor cult.

End Notes

1 Bong Rin Ro., Christian Alternatives to Ancestor Practices, (Taichung, Taiwan: Asia Theological Association, 1985), 1 (italics mine).

2 Ralph Covell, Christ, Confucius, and Buddha (Maryknoll, N.Y. Orbis Books, 1985), 117, 121.

3 Bong Rin Ro, Ed., Christian Alternatives, 79.

4 Laurence G. Thompson, Chinese Religions An Introduction (Belmont, California: Dickenson Publishing Company, Inc., 1969), 43.

5 R. F. Johnson, Lion and Dragon in Northern China (New York: Dutton, 1910), 285.

6 Emily H. Ahein, The Cult of the Dead in a Chinese Village (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1973),16l, 142.

7 Ahern, The Cult of the Dead, 92,91.

8 Stephen Liaw, "Ancestor Worship in Taiwan and Evangelism of the Chinese," Bong Rin Ro, Ed., Christian Alternatives, 185.

9 Ibid. (italics mine).

10 Lucy Tan, "Ancestor Worship Judged by Scripture," Bong Rin Ro , Ed ., Christian Alternatives , 86 .

11 Ibid. (italics mine).

12 Many of these functional subsitutes are suggested by David C.E. Liao, The Unresponsive: Resistant or Neglected? (Chicago: Moody Press, 1972), 130 134.

SOURCES CONSULTED

Ahein, Emily H. The Cult of the Dead in a Chinese Village. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1973.

Bavinck, J. H. An Introduction to the Science of Mission. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Presbyterian Reformed Publishing House, 1964

Covell, Ralph. Christ, Confucius, and Buddha. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1985.

Dunnes, George H. Generation of Giants The Story of the Jesuits in China in the Last Decades of the Ming Dynasty. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1962.

Johnson, R. F. Lion and Dragon in Northern China. New York: Dutton, 1910.

Liao, David C. E. The Unresponsive: Resistant or Neglected. Chicago: Moody Press, 1972.

Redfield, Robert. The Primitive World and Its Transformation. Ithaca, N. Y.: Cornell University Press, 1953.

Ro, Bong Rin. "Contextualization: Asia Theology," Ro, Bong Rin & Eshenaur, Ruth, Eds., The Bible & Theology in Asian Contexts. Taichung, Taiwan: Asia Theological Association, 1984.

Ro, Bong Rin, Ed. Christian Alternatives to Ancestor Practices. Taichung, Taiwan: Asia Theological Association, 1985.

Ro, Bong Rin and Eshenaur, Ruth, Eds. The Bible & Theology in Asian Contexts. Taichung, Taiwan: Asia Theological Association, 1984.

Thompson, Laurence G. Chinese Religion: An Introduction. Belmont, California: Dickenson Publishing Company, Inc. 1969.

Yu, Carver. "The Gospel in Chinese," Pasadena, California: Fuller Theological Seminary, School of World Mission, Course MT761, 1986.

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Originally published in the January 1995 edition of Taiwan Mission

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