The Salvation of Religion? Public Charity and the New Religions of the Early Republic

Thomas David DuBois. “The Salvation of Religion? Public Charity and the New Religions of the Early Republic.” Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre and Folklore 172 (2011.6): 73-126.

杜博思。〈宗教救濟？民初的新興宗教與慈善團體的演變〉。《民俗曲藝》172 (2011.6): 73-126。

Abstract

Founded in 1921, Daoyuan combined a growing interest in spiritualism with the emerging civic Confucianism of the post-imperial era. In response to the lack of effective government services, Daoyuan formed the World Red Swastika charitable society the following year. The World Red Swastika Society, which enjoyed the political support of many well-connected individuals, soon began organizing relief activities on a large scale, but would eventually come into conflict with the newly founded Nanjing government. At the same time, elements within the group were moving increasingly close to Japan, forming an ideological alliance with a new Japanese religion called the Teaching of the Great Source (Ōmotokyō), and eventually becoming a breakaway organization under the Japanese client state of Manchukuo. Like Nanjing, the government of Manchukuo remained wary of offering institutional support, and began laying the foundation for its own charitable sector under direct state control. Rather than new sociological phenomena, this article views organizations such as the Daoyuan-Red Swastika Society as a response to a particular set of political and social conditions.

成立於1921年的道院，把對靈學與日俱增的興趣和帝制結束後方興未艾的市民孔教，結合起來。為了應對缺乏有效政府服務的局面，道院在次年成立了慈善團體——「紅卍字會」。紅卍字會在政治上得到許多名流的支持，所以很快就開始組織大規模的賑濟活動。但是，它最終仍將和新成立的南京政府發生衝突。同時，卍字會裡的成員和日本愈發親近，並且跟一個被稱之為「大本教」的日本新宗教結成了思想同盟，並最終成為日本的附屬國——滿洲國——扶植下的一個獨立組織。和南京中央政府一樣，滿洲國政府在給予該會制度上支持的時候，非常小心翼翼；而且，它開始為隸屬於自己的、處在國家直接控制之下的慈善組織奠定根基。所以本文認為，與其把道院/紅卍字會之類的組織看成是新的社會現象，倒不如把其視為對特定的政治和社會環境的反應。