Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Ministers: Ordained, Other

Confucianism is a fairly broad tradition with many different religious authorities.  There doesn't appear to be exact match with the term Minister.  Still, here are some of the religious leaders that are part of this tradition.

The father, or chief elder in the home.  In any family there is someone who is most honored.  Usually it is the father or Grandfather of the family.  They run the in-home family rituals, especially the rituals that honor the ancestors.

A government official, or leader.  In Confucianism there has always been a connection between leadership and Heaven.  This connection isn't very explicit in either China or Taiwan (Taiwan's post-revolution leaders were Christian) at this time, but there are echos of it in Chinese history.  The Emperor had a department of ritual and himself participated heavily in ritual. As Confucianism strengthens in China watch for the ruling elite to reclaim this tradition more explicitly.

The teacher.  Confucianism has always honored education.  Teachers are honored as transmitters of knowledge and role models.  Now that Confucianism is being revived, Confucian teachers are no longer a phenomena of the past.  The new Confucian teacher expects the same respect and uses the same methods as early teachers. 


A Confucian Pre-School

The Confucian Priest.  The temples do have priests with special knowledge of rituals.  In temples without much financial support, true in much of China, these priests are more like caretakers looking after the physical temple.  A Confucian priest at the state supported Taipei Confucian temple however, would be a respected ritual specialist.

The Sage. A Sage is both an ideal that every Confucian can aspire to, and the title of a respected religious elder. Julia Ching writes that a striving for human perfection or self-transcendence is the goal of all Chinese religion (230).  The Sage loves the "...quest for wisdom or moral perfection,and this in turn, is especially discovered in those social virtues that govern family relationships as well as relationships outside the family.  The sage finds the absolute in the relative, discovers the transcendent in immanence" (Ching 68-69).  Very famous Sages are known from China's history: Confucius, Mencius, and Zhuangzi.

Grandmother - Taipei Fine Art Museum

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