Daniel Overmyer: My lecture is really a summary of the things I have discovered during the postgraduate seminar with my students here.  This is a subject I h have never taught before, even in English.
    By looking at evidence from Chinese religious practice, mediaeval European Christianity, local traditions in Japan, India, Burma and even contemporary North American Protestantism and, of course, Islam, we sought to test the hypothesis that, despite marked differences in the doctrines, systems and structures of each religion, nevertheless, there are important similarities at the ordinary, local, practicing level.

Reporter: And?

DO: The similarities are amazing.  The worship of Chinese gods, for example, has close parallels with that of mediaeval Christian saints (although the church probably wouldn't accept this).  People everywhere feel they have a right to pray to local saints, who symbolize local divine power, and are worshiped directly, rather than through priests.  The celebration of their birthday or other annual festival, usually marked with a boisterous procession, is the highpoint of the year in that community.
    People pray to saints for much the same things as Chinese ask their gods (health, wealth, passing exams and winning football games...), and invite them to bear witness to worshippers' vows.  Temples, churches and shrines all sell protective charms, while belief in the healing power of sacred water is widespread throughout the world without, as far as we could find, any direct contact or communication.
    Another common feature is in connection with death.  People seek a comfortable relationship between the living and the dead, and try to harness the diminished powers of the dead for good, especially in the case of those who died young and unfulfilled.  In the Chinese case, their qi energies can be recycled into god or saint material.

R: Is there, then, some kind of common, innate human spirituality that flowers differently in different environments?

DO: Once you shake off the distinctive characteristics of the higher traditions, you find a high degree of similar practices and common beliefs.
    In Islam, for instance, perhaps the religion that takes most pride in its monotheistic tradition, and again its leaders won't like me saying this, but for millions of Muslims in numerous countries, saints and holy men provide the focus of ordinary people's religious lives.

R: Are you suggesting that Islam, Christianity and Judaism are really polytheistic?

DO: I'd rather avoid using inflammatory labels, but would say, perhaps, that the worship of saints and what people hope to gain from it, on a functional level, is similar to the worship of gods by people in a polytheistic society.

R: Maybe we need to take one step backwards.  Do you have a working definition of this popular, common religion, or of religion in China even? Or, is there a bottom line description by which we might understand popular Chinese religion?

DO: Firstly, although I have myself spoken and written about "popular" or even "folk" religion in the past, my current state of understanding suggests that "local religion is a more appropriate term.  "Popular" implies a split society, but the local elite participated along with everyone else.  We are really talking about beliefs and practices common to the majority of people in many societies.  I think in this actual religious practice, religion is fundamentally about contact with what are believed to be extra-human powers in order to solve life's problems.
    In China, the word zongjiao for religion is only around one-hundred years old and was influenced by Western concepts of religious thought and practice.  Today the word xinyang (beliefs) is preferred, though still not ideal, because it is used to describe local traditions that emphasize rituals as much as beliefs.
    As for local traditions around the world, they could be said to share much of the Chinese concept of an ongoing struggle to qi-fu qu-xie, seek blessings and dispel harm, in all areas of life, from childbirth, family harmony and health, to prosperity for oneself and the wider community, and for longevity.

R: Who are the players in this struggle?

DO: The chief players are ordinary people who seek divine aid through offerings, prayers, protective charms and divination.  But there are local specialists as well, concerned for healing and driving away harmful forces.  Here in Taiwan, for example, temples are not only the dwellings of gods but also protective forts, and Ji-tong (divining youths), who allow themselves to become possessed by gods and spirits, might be said to be the shock troops in this ongoing struggle.
    A renao (hot and noisy) atmosphere at festivals is not coincidental, but rather, an intentional stimulation of yang to drive out the yin of the netherworld.  The seeming disorder is a phase through which to establish a new order.
    Within this context, we can see priests as specialists engaged by a local community to empower its survival, based on their knowledge of special rituals and of scriptures that contain the names of gods.  Reciting those names evokes the presence and power of the gods.

R:Is this then the role of priests, monks and clergy in local religion?

DO: Their role is important and complex, of course, but the higher, organized aspects of religions have been studied at length, while local aspects have been neglected.  At the local level, their role is to meet the needs of ordinary folk.

    For better or worse, religion is a powerful force in human culture and it behooves us to understand its causes and effects, how it functions for ordinary people.  If we only study the higher levels, we risk missing how it shapes behavior.