The Way of the Gods according to the Confucian Tradition (), also called the ( or )Clart 2003, pp. 27-30 or ()Clart, Jones. 2003. p. 72 or—from the name of its cell congregations—the phoenix halls or phoenix churches (), is a Confucian congregational religious movement of the Chinese traditional beliefs.Clart 2003, p. 5
The first phoenix hall was established in Magong, the capital of the Penghu Islands, in 1853, and from there the movement spread throughout mainland China and Taiwan.Clart 2003, p. 6 Other names of the movement are () or Holy Church of the Confucian Tradition ().
The aim of the phoenix halls is to honour the gods through Confucian orthopraxy () style,Clart, Jones. 2003. p. 72. Quote: « , perhaps best rendered in English as "literati", connects one with the literary style of religious activity in which these groups specialize.»Clart 2003, p. 24; quote from the statute of the Shenxian Tang (one of the leading phoenix halls): «That this is called a "phoenix hall" means that it adheres to the Confucian tradition and the teachings of the gods. Therefore it is called "Divine Teachings of the Confucian Tradition". »Clart 2003, p. 27; quote from the statute of the Wumiao Mingzheng Tang: «The Phoenix School carries on Heaven in response to the cyclical movement . Taking Confucianism as its tradition and the gods as its teachings.» spreading morality through public lectures and divinely-inspired books ().Clart 2003, p. 7 The Confucian Way of the Gods is defined as by the antagonistic traditions, which claim to be closer to the God of the universe.Clart, 1997. p. 12
Theory and doctrine
The phoenix halls are concerned with the salvation of the disciples, which basically means deification.Clart 2003, p. 8 This is worked on in a long process of "cultivating the Way" (Tao), that is the right mode of living through the basic virtues of benevolence (), righteousness (), propriety (), and filial piety ().
Realising the virtues one reaches the state of continuous sincerity () and peace and purity of mind (), proceeding successfully in the cultivation of one's inner numinous nature (). The cultivation of the Way is conceptualised as a path of learning. The symbol of the phoenix represents spiritual renewal of the disciple and the social community.Clart 2003, p. 24
History and influences The tradition of the phoenix halls started in 1853 when a -inspired cult was established in Magong, the capital of the Penghu archipelago between Fujian and Taiwan. Magong intellectuals sent a prominent to Quanzhou, in Fujian, to learn the practice of from the local Society for Public Goodness (). When the tongji returned in the same year he established the Society for Universal Exhortation () to recreate moral conduct, proclaiming the Sacred Edict.
The activities of the society dwindled over the years, especially during the Sino-French War. It was later reformed as the Society for Complete Renewal () by six government students, in 1887. It held regular public lecturing sessions given by carefully chosen lecturers (jiangsheng) who expounded the Sacred Edict and other morality books.
The texts composed between 1891 and 1903 were collected and published as a single volume entitled the . At the same time, similar activities were promoted by literati in the Yilan County of northern Taiwan; the Yilan cults were extremely active and spawned new groups throughout northern and central Taiwan.
Phoenix halls are a variant of two types of religious organisations, patronised by local intellectual elites, that flourished in mainland China since the 19th century, in a period of profound social, political and cultural change: Taoist god-writing () cults usually focused upon a particular immortal, and salvationist charitable societies.Clart 2003, p. 10
In Taoist societies, the relationship between members and their deity follows the model of disciples and master, with the goal of immortality through self-cultivation. Phoenix halls inherit this internal structure combined with the conservative social reformism of the charitable societies.Clart 2003, p. 11 They are concerned with a salvation of society through the reaffirmation of traditional standards of morality.
In the 1920s, phoenix halls in Sichuan adopted the name of . In the same years, under the influence of the medium Yang Mingji, phoenix halls in northern Taiwan began to unify under the name and the liturgical manual published in 1937.Clart 2003, p. 13 Effective unification came after the retrocession of Taiwan in 1945; the was created in 1978 incorporating over five hundred phoenix halls.Clart 2003, p. 21 A new ritual book, the was published in 1979.
While early phoenix halls showed ritual patterns inherited from Taoist cults and Longhua vegetarian halls, since the formation of the Assembly of the Phoenix Halls in 1978 "new-style" urban phoenix halls, such as the Shenxian Tang and the Wumiao Mingzheng Tang, strengthened a Confucian style omitting Taoist and Longhua-derived rituals.Clart 2003, p. 22 The tradition of the Wumiao Mingzheng Tang was influenced by Xuanyuanism and Yiguandao.Clart 2003, p. 27 The book , published in the 1980s by the Wumiao Mingzheng Tang, incorporates , the central concept of Yiguandao and broader Chinese Maternism.Clart 2003, p. 28
See also Chinese folk religion Confucianism Confucian church New religious movement Xuanyuanism Shendao
References
Sources Philip Clart. University of Missouri-Columbia. Confucius and the Mediums: Is There a "Popular Confucianism"?. On: T'uong Pao LXXXIX. Brill, Leiden, 2003. Philip Clart. University of British Columbia. The Phoenix and the Mother: The Interaction of Spirit Writing Cults and Popular Sects in Taiwan. On: Journal of Chinese Religions, Fall 1997, n. 25. Philip Clart, Charles B. Jones. Religion in Modern Taiwan: Tradition and Innovation in a Changing Society. University of Hawaii Press, 2003.