Discussion notes on “Chinese Family Religion: Prospects for the 21st Century” by Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew
Uvsh Purev (Ph.D, Mongolia)
Thank you very much for Dr. Chew for presenting an interesting paper. Drawing on the convergence of family studies, religion and philosophy, this paper explains the intricate relationship between family and religion in China and observes the changes that modernization and globalization brought and their resistance. Understanding the influence of religion on family relations is important not only in the case of China, but also in almost any human society. With the arrival of globalization and modernization, the significance of material aspects of life in family formation, marriage, parenthood and upbringing has increased, but the non-material and spiritual aspects are still important, especially in Asian societies. Therefore, drawing on the conclusions of Dr. Chew’s paper, it would be interesting to discuss the relationship of family and religion in the context of Mongolia.
Historically, the Mongol families had been organized into exogamous, polygamous, patrilineal clans. Famous for their genealogical knowledge, the Mongols during the Mongol Empire used family origins to place one another socially. One was not allowed to marry from within 11 generations of his genealogical line to prevent intra-clan marriage. Scholars of ethnic studies and historians have studied these clans in accordance with what we can call “system of fives”. The family generations were divided into five major groups depending on blood and bone relations and each of them broke down further to fives categories. Each clan had their strong leader and was differentiated by the brands and colors of their animals. Another thing that distinguished various clans were their common burial and worship of their ancestors. However, this is a very different concept from what one might see in China, because its customs were not as strict and it was isolated almost only to the practice of burial and general worship. It was more of a background broad guideline, rather than an everyday step-by-step ritual. At this time, Mongolia was remarkably tolerant towards different religions. Shamanism and later Buddhism were the main religions, but because of the political stress on tolerance, their influence has not spread to family life as strong as in China. Unfortunately, by the 19th century the strong patrialineal, same-bone clans were visibly breaking down.
Through the centuries of history the strongest form of family religion in Mongolia has been “lay religion” practiced by the common people. The most prominent lay religion practice has been the fire cult, which is a symbol of family continuity. Fire is meant to purify the family from outside forces. Another form of lay religion for families was libation of milk to heaven and 99 (ninety nine) deities by the mother. Mongolian families also worshiped standards or local nature through cairns. Lay religion aimed to celebrate social orders of the clans and families and give the clan and family timeless cosmic status. [1]
The predominance of Buddhism in Mongolia in the past couple of centuries has changed the family religions in Mongolia in a way different from China. Buddhism has one aspect that is very different from Confucianism—family is less central in Buddhism[2], although it preaches love for everyone including family and ancestors. According to mainstream Buddhist teachings, an individual can search for different religious resolution, leaving the family and one’s obligations to the family to go after personal religious salvation. Moreover, in times of major life experiences such as birth, illness and death, one’s pursuit of knowledge and truth will be the road to security and peace. These experiences, by definition, can never be free from a sense of individual anguish and feeling of personal incapacity. Therefore, Confucianism is more concerned with maintenance of harmony within society and social responsibility, while Buddhism aims to deal with internal experiences, emotions, and suffering of individuals.
As it could be deduced from Dr. Chew’s paper, practices of family religion mainly focus on three different points in life—birth, marriage and death. Mongolian families still practice certain parts of family religious traditions on these three occasions. For example, when a family has a new baby, the family members follow religious guidelines to name, perform ablution and welcome the new child. When a young couple decides to get married, the parents almost always consult with monks and religious figures about the other side’s family origins, age and year as well as the couple’s astrological fitness. Even after these questions are settled and the actual wedding happens, religious traditions are followed including the fire cult. Likewise, when a family member passes away, religious traditions define who does what during the funeral and after the funeral.
In conclusion, historically Mongolian family religion has been mostly lay religion practiced by the common people. Buddhism has become more influential in family practices in the recent centuries, but the lay religion practices in families have not lost their vigor since the time of the Mongol Empire. Although Mongolian families still observe religious traditions on three main occasions of human life—birth, marriage and death, the traditional Mongolian family and the dynamics of Mongolian family religions are changing, similarly to the Chinese family religion. It is not a new phenomenon that resulted from social changes in the 1990s, but it has been in progress even under the Communism regime, which tried to systematically suppress religion. As a result, the religious customs of the family’s every day life and the role of family members have changed significantly. One has more choices and freedom when making family related decisions and in some families women started playing the role of a head of the household.
Once again thank you, Dr. Chew, for the thought provoking paper presented today. I hope with the help of the representatives from Mongolia at this conference and of course with the permission from Dr Chew, this timely and insightful paper could be translated and contribute to the research of historians and family studies scholars in Mongolia.
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