從衝突事件來探討臺灣宗教團體的包容性 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學宗教研究所碩士學位論文. Analyzing Interreligious Tolerance in Post-martial Law Taiwan through Cases of Conflicts. 政治大從衝突事件來探討臺灣宗教團體的包容性立 ‧. ‧ 國. 學 sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. 指導教授：蔡源林 Tsai Yuan-lin. iv. 研究生：賀孟琳 C h Marit Annelize U n Haighton. engchi. 中華民國 107 年 7 月 July, 2018. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(2) Abstract In the religiously highly pluralistic society of post-martial law Taiwan, there is a general sense of peaceful coexistence between groups that worship different deities and religions with distinct truth claims. However, some situations give grounds for conflicts between religious groups; the boundary between the tolerable and intolerable is crossed. This border separates those practices and beliefs that are objected to but because of an acceptance component still can be tolerated, from those that are strictly rejected and should be acted upon. To investigate this border, this thesis searched for case studies of interreligious conflicts in modern Taiwan. Narratives of seven cases of conflicts show the objection and acceptance components throughout the conflict and how eventually a tolerable resolution was arrived at and which methods were used to pursue religious peace. The model of interreligious conflicts in modern Taiwan that I offer is based on these seven narratives. Five of these cases are described briefly, serving as a frame of reference. The remaining two cases are the Da’an Park Guanyin conflict and the 218 Event at Yu Shan Yan Luminary Temple. These are analysed in-depth through the evaluation of current news reports on topics including conflict development through objection and acceptance components as well as the contributing factors and participants, their power to interfere with the religious Other, and the context in which the conflicts are understood. Besides which practices and beliefs of the religious Other have been rejected to the extent that they caused conflict, the cases also show how a tolerable resolution was arrived at. The result is an evaluation of the level of interreligious tolerance in Taiwan by the description of cases of conflict. Still ongoing cases demonstrate the current level of (in)tolerance amongst religious organizations. First, however, this thesis discusses concepts such as “religious tolerance,” “religious peacebuilding,” and “power to interfere,” together with an analysis of the current religious environment in Taiwan, to identify useful guidelines and methods for evaluating religious tolerance in Taiwan.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. v. n. Keywords: tolerance; interreligious conflict; power to interfere; religious peacebuilding; Taiwan. Ch. engchi. i n U. 2. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(3) 摘要臺灣解嚴後，社會上的宗教朝向高度多元化發展，在此情形下，宗教團體之間通常是維持和平共存的關係，各自祭祀不同神祇和宣稱不同的真理。但是，在某些情況下，也會導致宗教團體之間發生衝突。也就是說，某種行為、信仰、或者實踐會跨越某宗教團體對於其他宗教團體的可包容與無法包容之間的界線。這條界線是用來形容個體對於其他宗教實踐與信仰的態度，一邊是他所拒絕但仍可接受的部分，所以會用包容的態度面對，而另一邊則是那些被個體完全拒絕、無法包容，且會進一步採取反對行動的部分。因此，為了瞭解在台灣社會的宗教團體對於其他信仰可包容與不可包容間的邊界，本研究是以現代台灣社會中發生的跨宗教衝突事件來探討。本研究回顧七個宗教衝突事件發生過程的來龍去脈，從之中了解不同宗教團體對於其他信仰會拒絕或是接受的因素，還有最終衝突如何被以一種可包容的方法解決，而當中成功用來達到宗教和平的方法為何。本研究依此七個案例為基礎，建立一個現代臺灣跨宗教衝突的分類模型。其中，以簡單扼要的方式描述五個案例的衝突發生情況，作為本研究的參考架構。另外，大安森林公園觀音神像的爭議，及玉山岩香光寺的二一八事件，這兩個案例則是做進一步深入地分析，以回顧事發當時的許多新聞報導為主。從中不僅分析宗教團體之間拒絕與可接受彼此行為與信仰的程度，同時也探討會促成衝突發生的原因，與介入衝突的人物在事件中是扮演哪些角色、有什麼權力可以去影響他人的宗教實踐與信仰，此外，還將這些宗教衝突事件放在當時的社會背景脈絡中理解，以這些角度切入了解衝突事件發展的情況。這些衝突事件除了可見宗教團體在發生衝突的當下，會拒絕他者宗教實踐與信仰的程度，還可以顯現這些衝突事件最後是如何用包容的方法解決。本研究的成果是透過描述衝突事件發生的情形，評估台灣宗教團體之間對彼此的包容程度。有些目前仍在發生的衝突事件，可以彰顯宗教團體之間實際對彼此的包容程度。然而，本研究首先將如「宗教包容」、「建構宗教和平」，和「權力介入」等概念提出來討論，並與台灣當代的宗教環境一起做分析，以提供後續研究一種可以有效評估台灣跨宗教之間包容程度的準則與方法。. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. n. iv n C 關鍵字：包容、跨宗教衝突、權力介入、建構宗教和平、臺灣 hengchi U. 3. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(4) Table of Contents Abstract ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 摘要---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Table of Contents----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 List of Tables-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 CHAPTER 1: Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 1.1 Study background & motivation -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 1.2 Literature review --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. 政治大 Religions’ power to interfere in modern Taiwan ------------------------------------------------------------------ 13 立 1.3 Research methods ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 19. The concept of tolerance ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. ‧ 國. 學. 1.4 Framework for the cases of conflicts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 Note on transcription and translation of Chinese ----------------------------------------------------------------- 24. ‧. CHAPTER 2: Overview of interreligious conflicts in modern Taiwan ------------------------------------------------ 25 2.1 Bantian Yan Ziyun Temple -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26. Nat. sit. y. 2.2 Siaolin Village------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28. er. io. 2.3 Critique of Yiguandao -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 2.4 Critique of the True Buddha School -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. 2.5 Taichung Mazu Park ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31. engchi. 2.6 Islamic graveyards ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 33 2.7 Model of interreligious conflicts in modern Taiwan ------------------------------------------------------------ 35 CHAPTER 3: Must Guanyin Leave or Stay in Da’an Park --------------------------------------------------------------- 37 3.1 Background --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37 3.2 Narrative ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 39 3.3 References to similar issues ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 46 3.4 Power to interfere ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 46 3.5 Morality among “Us” and “the Other” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 49 3.6 Concessions --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 51 CHAPTER 4: Yu Shan Yan Luminary Temple 218 Event ----------------------------------------------------------------- 53 4. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(5) 4.1 Background --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 53 4.2 Narrative ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 55 4.3 The bigger picture ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 59 4.4 Power to interfere ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 60 4.5 Respecting “Us” and the “Other” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 62 4.6 Adjustments to keep the peace ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 64 CHAPTER 5: Conclusion -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 66 Glossary ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 70 People --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 71 References ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 73. 政治大. News Reports ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 76. ‧ 國. 學. List of Tables. 立. Figure 1. The assesment of normative actions, beliefs, or practices ............................................................ 9. ‧. Figure 2. The assesment of normative actions, beliefs, or practices divided by the boundaries of tolerance ............................................................................................................................................. 10. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 5. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(6) CHAPTER 1: Introduction 1.1 Study background & motivation This thesis is grounded in the assumption that everyone who worships a deity (or deities) and follows a religion thinks that theirs is the best. That would mean that the existence and adoration of other deities and religions, especially when they hold different claims on the world, challenge the success or even the existence of their own deity and religion. Religious beliefs and practices that one does not agree with, require a certain amount of tolerance. Inherent to religious tolerance is a negative validation of the other; tolerance merely asks for “the conditional acceptance of or non-interference” with beliefs or. 政治大 nearly impossible to find such acts of non-interference or non-disapproval and much easier to see acts 立 that restrict the actions of the other. This thesis, therefore, investigates those restrictive acts, to reveal practices that one considers being wrong but not too wrong, such that “they should not be prohibited or. constrained” (Forst, 2017). However, when this aspect of tolerance is applied to lived cases, it seems. ‧ 國. 學. the boundary between intolerable and tolerable religious beliefs and practices. A religious organization’s theological message will decide for them whether they potentially can. ‧. accept other religious traditions with distinct practices and truth claims, thereby sanctifying the rejection of certain beliefs and behaviors. Religious teachings can likewise demand one to pursue. y. Nat. dialogue or cooperation with the religious Other—while the capital letter already shows a perceived. sit. decive difference between the groups. In the religiously highly pluralistic Taiwanese society (Pew. io. Research Center, 2014), there is a general sense of peaceful coexistence (Pew Research Center, 2016:. er. 53). There is a variety of religions, with each one believing and practicing their own. However, the. n. al. i n C actual level of tolerance between religious h groups in Taiwan. U engchi. v. moments at which conflicts between religions do arise, and how these situations are resolved, show the. In post-martial law Taiwan (from 1987 onward), which operates under a separatist model of state– religion relations, religious freedom increasingly consolidated (Kuo, 2013). Because of the aforementioned generally peaceful situation—interreligious violence is a rarity in modern Taiwan—this thesis adopts a broad perspective on “religious conflicts,” including any disputes, critiques, and other actions that have publicly challenged the religious Other. This thesis focuses on cases of conflict between groups from different traditions, including mainstream religions such as Buddhism, Daoism, and folk religion, and smaller religions such as Yiguandao, Christianity, and Islam, which are equally intrinsic parts of the religious composition of Taiwan. Hence, the interreligious approach avoids religions’ internal conflicts. This thesis, furthermore, does not examine hostility from religious organizations toward the secular government or secular society an sich. However, what does fall within the scope of interreligious 6. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(7) conflicts is when a religious organization feels that the government has taken the side of another religion since that would indicate that the government does not keep to its own standards, namely nondiscrimination, no excessive entanglement, and assisting religious organizations according to proportionality. Also interesting are situations wherein the government has created circumstances that put the religions on unequal footing, thereby creating grounds for conflict. In recent years, the Taiwanese society has seen religious groups participating in debates on secular issues, such as environmental policies and marriage rights. However, these debates were not directed at opposing views between religious traditions, so the seemingly religious conflicts are merely a by-product of these societal issues. The research question in this thesis is: what is the level of tolerance and peace between religious organizations in modern Taiwan, as seen from several cases of interreligious conflicts? More concretely, this thesis analyzes which practices and beliefs of other religious groups have been rejected to the. 政治大 acceptance components throughout the conflict and how eventually a tolerable resolution was arrived 立 at and which methods were used to pursue religious peace. Five of these cases are described briefly,. extent that they have caused conflict. The narratives of seven cases of conflicts show the objection and. ‧ 國. 學. serving as a frame of reference, on which I base my model of interreligious conflicts in modern Taiwan. The remaining two cases are the Da’an Park Guanyin conflict and the 218 Event at Yu Shan Yan Luminary Temple. These are analyzed in-depth through the evaluation of current news reports on topics including. ‧. conflict development through objection and acceptance components as well as the contributing factors and participants, their power to interfere with the religious Other, and the context in which the conflicts. Nat. sit. y. are understood. First, however, this thesis discusses relevant concepts such as “religious tolerance,” “religious peacebuilding,” and “power to interfere,” together with an analysis of the current religious. io. al. n. Taiwan.. er. environment in Taiwan, to identify useful guidelines and methods for evaluating religious tolerance in. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. My motivation for this thesis is strengthened by the observation that this topic has not received much attention yet. When searching for case studies on topics such as “religious tolerance” and “religious conflicts,” I found there was a noticeable lack of academic literature on Taiwan. More concretely, within the English and Mandarin literature on case studies of religious conflicts around the world, region wise the focus is primarily on the West, followed by the Arab world and a few specific countries that are notorious for violating religious freedom, such as mainland China. Other areas that have been covered include the nearby states of Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Japan. No material focusing on religious conflicts or tolerance in Taiwan has been published to date. As for religion, Christianity has gathered the most attention in the literature, followed by (and often discussed in relation to) Judaism and Islam. Additionally, there is some literature on Theravada Buddhism and Chinese religions (as a minority religion in Indonesia and Singapore), but not on conflicts with Mahayana Buddhism and Daoism, two major religions in Taiwan. This underscores that such a topic 7. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(8) and approach—taking the abstract concept of “religious tolerance” and using it in concrete situations— is novel within Taiwanese religious studies or in research on Taiwan. As a result, this thesis raises more questions than it answers and primarily functions as an exploration of how to apply the foreign literature and concepts behind interreligious tolerance to the unique situation of Taiwan.. 1.2 Literature review This section reviews concepts and theories in the literature. After establishing a conception of tolerance and its components and borders, we will then dive into the process of how religious groups move across the borders of tolerance and start and end conflicts. We will thereby find some useful approaches for determining the level and methods of toleration in the case studies in Taiwan.. 政治大. The concept of tolerance It is within the Christian tradition, which has been highly intolerant of any perceived unbelievers and. 立. perhaps was the most in need of an argument to act otherwise, that the principle of “tolerance” was. ‧ 國. 學. developed. 1 Political philosopher John Locke presents an early, classical defense of religious tolerance in A Letter Concerning Tolerance. His main reasons for tolerance are twofold: the theological argument of the limited human knowledge of God, and a pragmatic prevention of battles between the plurality of. ‧. religions and opinions. Locke thus proposes the separation of religion and politics, since civil interests demand laws and penalties, while the salvation of the soul only works through personal deliberation. y. Nat. (2010 [1689]). Rex Ahdar and Ian Leigh (2013) demonstrate that his arguments are still widely influential.. sit. In their analysis of contemporary guiding motifs for religious freedom in Western societies, half of these. al. er. io. notions are based upon Lockean arguments. 2. n. Locke’s “natural right” to religious freedom seems liberal. However, Richard Ashcraft shows how. Ch. i n U. v. deeply Locke’s rights of tolerance are grounded into his religious beliefs, not only as a justification but. engchi. also as “a necessary condition for the existential exercise of such rights” (2011 [1996]: 43). Thus, people who deny God are not to be tolerated, for promises and oaths (in God’s name) have no meaning for them (Locke, 2010 [1689]: 32). Moreover, as Ashcraft indicates, this separation of religion and politics was formulated in a strong anti-Catholic political climate in which the Anglican clergy claimed political control and would not tolerate many Protestant churches (2011 [1996]: 51-52). This is visible in two other limits of Locke’s toleration: first, churches loyal to foreign monarchs, such as the Catholics are to the Pope (2010 [1689]: 31-32); and second, churches claiming temporal dominion, as the Anglicans did at the time (14-15, 31). 1. For example, see Beck (2010: 110-115) or Ahdar and Leigh (2013: 24-34), the latter on the historical changes of the ideas of religious liberty and (mostly lack of) religious tolerance throughout the development of Christianity. 2 These are the principle of voluntariness, persecution injunction, fallibility, and eschatological or providential confidence. In addition, Ahdar and Leigh recognize four more leading motifs, namely the dual authority principle, Christological injunction, universal principle, and unrestricted conscience (34-50).. 8. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(9) The final limit to Lockean toleration is doctrines that go against civil society and moral order (30-31). With Locke’s conception of religion being that of an inward faith (17), Ulrich Beck criticizes this last limit for demanding a society with a Protestant and secularized conception of God at the core. He argues that this is actually intolerant against any religions that “seek to maintain their religious claims even in the seemingly ‘insignificant externals’ of religious faith” (2010: 115-117). Here, Beck raises the examples of orthodox Sabbath rest and specific food requirements; another example is the processions around the district as required by local gods in Taiwanese folk religion. Locke not only took important steps toward religious tolerance but simultaneously also showed that this tolerance has clear limitations. Going one step further than these specific conceptions of tolerance and their limitations, political scientist Preston King analyzes the components of toleration, forming the basis of philosopher Rainer Forst’s analysis of the general concept of toleration and its boundaries.. 政治大 looks at morally charged “items,” that is, actions, beliefs, or practices (the use of any of these terms, 立 hereafter, refers to this category) one is not indifferent toward, and assumes that a genuinely held. King focuses on the interplay of objection and acceptance components that creates tolerance. He. ‧ 國. 學. objection is acted upon through a counter-action with relevant effects, such as removing the objectionable item (1976: 25-29). When evaluating the other’s practice, you could (1) primarily find reasons to like or approve of it (“acceptance”), which generally leads to agreement; or (2) primarily find. ‧. reasons to dislike or disapprove of it (“objection”), which tends to leads to rejection; or (3) initially find reasons to object, but then also find reasons to accept; or (4) initially find reasons to accept, but then. Nat. sit. y. also find reasons to object. The latter two cases could result in tolerance because they involve both acceptance and objection components. Therefore, when reaching tolerance, the objection component is. io. er. in no way diminished, but merely seen as a relative concern. In other words, the disapproval of the. al. n. iv n C component can then be very minimal, such as in the example h e n g c h i U raised by King: one “may oppose a different group less than he opposes the idea of demeaning or destroying that group – it being taken tolerated object is less important than one’s disapproval of some other object (44-54). The acceptance. perhaps as an equally legitimate part of God’s creation” (27). Figure 1. The assesment of normative actions, beliefs, or practices (as proposed by King, 1976). [when assessing an action, belief, or practice] └――→ objection ―→ rejection. acceptance ←― subscription ←――┘. └――――――→ (reasons to object) (reasons to accept) ←┘ └→ tolerance ←┘ King here speaks of the inclination of “dislike” and more rational “disapproval,” not as equal, but as both belonging to the category of “objections” (42). Originally, “approval” and “like” were bracketed together as “subscriptions,” which could ultimately lead to “acceptance” (42). However, since King’s use of the word “acceptance” in this second scenario seems inconsistent with his more minimal use of 9. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(10) “acceptance” in the third and fourth scenarios of tolerance, I propose to stick to the use of “acceptance” in the minimal form (thereby also replacing “subscription”), in the sense of “I accept your opinion, even though I do not agree with it.” Consequently, I propose to replace the stronger “acceptance” with “agreement,” which then also becomes more consistent with Forst’s analysis, as we will see shortly. The differences are mapped out in Figure 1 and the upper part of Figure 2. Figure 2. The assesment of normative actions, beliefs, or practices divided by the boundaries of tolerance (largely based on Forst, 2012; and King, 1976). [when assessing an action, belief, or practice] agreement ← acceptance ←――┘. └――→ objection → rejection. └→ (reasons to object) (reasons to accept) ←┘ └→ tolerance ←┘. Intolerable practices; the 治政 finds wrong, but for some 大 reasons for rejection outweigh reason can still tolerate. the reasons for acceptance. 立. Practices and beliefs one. Practices and beliefs that one. agrees with; there is nothing to object to.. ‧ 國. (religious) tolerance. └→ Boundary 2. 學. Boundary 1 ←┘. Related to these components, Forst identifies three realms of practices that are morally charged (2012).. ‧. Of interest here are the two borders that separate these spheres and so determine toleration (Figure 2). The first boundary lies between the realms of nominal acceptance and of tolerance and distinguishes. y. Nat. what needs to be tolerated from what is a non-issue (Forst, 2012). An interesting way to explore this in. sit. the context of religious organizations in Taiwan would be by examining the potential for interreligious. al. er. io. cooperation. Which aspects of the other religion are accepted, in such a way that it can lead to a. n. partnership? The first border becomes visible when this cooperation expires; what is the extent of this. Ch. i n U. v. mutual validation, and what reasons are given for ending the partnership? This seems a more positive. engchi. way to find the limits of interreligious tolerance in Taiwan by examining how the reach of agreements between religious organizations. It also demonstrates the role of the objection component in cases of opposing values or actions. The latter situation requires tolerance of some sort to keep the peace. Because of practical constraints to the scope of this study, this topic will be left for future research. The second boundary lies between the realms of the intolerable and the tolerable. It separates practices and beliefs that are wrong but still can be tolerated from those that are strictly rejected and should be acted against (ibid.). This can be illustrated by situations that lead to conflicts between religious groups or, when there is government entanglement with religious business, between a religious group and the government. For each dispute it is important to not only consider the intensity of the conflict, in order to understand which practices and beliefs cross the line and are strictly rejected, but also to recognize what it took to solve the problem and reach a point where the situation was tolerable for both sides. Therefore, this focus on conflicts may seem negative, but also shows 10. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(11) possibilities for peacebuilding. Still ongoing cases demonstrate the actual level of (in)tolerance amongst religious organizations in contemporary Taiwan. Sociologists Mark Juergensmeyer and Sharon Erickson Nepstad analyze cases that cross this second border. While Juergensmeyer (2003) focuses on the sanctification of violence, Nepstad (2004) recognizes these same traits in radical peaceful religious movements. However, Nepstad also found what sets peaceful religious movements apart in their mentality toward conflict resolution, distinguishing three practices for pursuing interreligious peace. The first is a belief in an individual capacity for both good and evil (versus group divisions of unchangeable good and evil), which urges peacemakers to “intentionally traverse group boundaries to have dialogue and develop relationships with their opponents” (299). The second is the vision of a shared quest to a higher truth (versus claiming to possess the only one truth), which also requires a nonattachment to the religion’s own ideas so as to stay open to persuasion by others toward a higher truth. Lastly, religion is viewed as a means to an end. 政治大 guide individuals and society toward spiritual fulfillment (298-301). 立 All three of these practices for seeking genuinely peaceful resolutions require an active stance (versus as an end in itself), which opens up the possibility to use different religions as equal means to. ‧ 國. 學. toward other religions. Especially the idea of nonattachment to ideas seems to demand a high level of adjustment to the religious Other. Just as with the concept of tolerance, this goes further than mere indifference, such as conflict resolution through the separation of the groups and asking each to stay in. ‧. their own territory. If these practices are rigorously followed, would that still involve tolerance, or cross over in to agreement? However, we have seen that toleration requires acceptance of the other’s beliefs. Nat. sit. y. and practices to a certain extent, to balance the objection. This thesis does not aim to prescribe these practices to religious organizations in Taiwan, but to evaluate if and how much of this rhetoric is used in. io. n. al. er. creating and solving religious conflicts. In this way, the typically peaceful situation among religions in. i n U. v. Taiwan provides an excellent opportunity to examine all the facets of the concept of religious tolerance.. Ch. engchi. A final key point is that tolerance should be practiced voluntarily; that is, it should be a choice as to whether to tolerate the objectionable practice (Forst, 2012). Otherwise, it would simply be a situation of endurance, wherein your actions would be ineffective. “Tolerance […] requires some form of selfrestraint by the tolerator” (King, 1976: 22). In a different way than the practices identified by Nepstad, it does involve an active stance toward the religious other—different, because toleration asks for an action of non-interference. For King, the level of power is crucial for tolerance to happen. A person only can tolerate when holding the power to interfere; they must be in a position that enables them to view an act or belief and either accept or perform a counter-action with relevant effects (1976: 21-25). Forst uses conceptions of majority and minority to understand these differences in power (2012). However, in the Taiwanese context of religious plurality, this power to interfere is less clearly defined. I, therefore, propose to look at the place of each religious organization and tradition in Taiwan. Their amount of power is 11. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(12) demonstrated, first by the sheer scale of religions in Taiwan, which indicates to what extent they are a majority or minority group. The second aspect is tradition, such as the historical dimension of when and how each religion was established in Taiwan, as well as how it was developed vis-à-vis Taiwanese culture; enabling an understanding of how much the religious tradition is considered to be part of the normative culture. The last aspect is the relationship of religions with the government. We will see next that, especially for conflict situations before 2000, this is important for determining the amount of influence the government has over these organizations and the influence of religious organizations on politicians. Moreover, as philosopher Bernard Williams argues, toleration is a matter of attitude towards those who are objected to. “A group or a creed can rightly be said to be ‘intolerant’ if it would like to suppress or drive out others even if, as a matter of fact, it has no power to do so” (1996, 19). In other words, when you are in a minority position, promoting tolerance is necessary to ensure that those in power tolerate you, but that does not necessarily mean that you would keep this attitude when obtaining. 政治大 power. In the case of religious groups, I suggest that this is more concretely put forward in their 立 theologies on the existence of religions with other practices than their own. Different theologies will power yourself. However, it is also possible to maintain tolerant attitudes regardless of your degree of. ‧ 國. 學. decide for a religious organization whether they can accept other religious traditions with distinct practices and truth claims. Moreover, it offers a sacred basis for the attitude that is held toward other religions. Besides the idea that your own god and religion is the most suitable for you, the reality of. ‧. Taiwanese religious plurality is that a manifold of gods are claimed to exist and are worshipped. One way to identify this attitude is by differentiating the theisms that religions are based upon. At. Nat. sit. y. one end of the spectrum is polytheism, acknowledging the existence of multiple deities, each with (part of) a truth and thus worthy of being worshipped. Monolatrism and henotheism worship one deity, with. io. er. the former believing in and the latter not denying the existence of other deities who could be equally. al. n. iv n C existence of other deities. The only theism that makes a claim h e n g c h i Uabout “truth” and “false” religions is monotheism—the other theisms accept to a greater or lesser extent the presence of religions with valuable. At the opposite end is monotheism, which recognizes only one god and denounces the. different truth claims that are not necessarily less true than those of one’s own religious teachings. 3 Based on the premise of a personal god, this approach is limited when considering some of the main religious traditions in Taiwan. For example, Buddhist doctrine entails many gods, but since none can bring personal enlightenment, it ultimately is nontheistic. Yiguandao presents itself to be polytheist by incorporating all gods of major religions. However, with putting the Venerable Mother as the highest deity, it seems to be more monolatrist in its practice. Another limitation is that this method looks at religions in general, without regard to the reality that different groups within the same tradition possess different rhetoric and strategies.. 3. Baumgartner, Christoph. Class Ethics, Human Rights, and Religious Tolerance (February 2011).. 12. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(13) Responding to this last question, Knitter divides the various theological visions on other religions into four models (2004). Knitter’s analysis is focused on the different visions among Christian denominations, but it seems to fit other religious traditions as well. The models show the extent to which other religions can be accepted or objected to as the equal sources of religious truth. The replacement model holds the religion’s own prophet either as the only or as the ultimate path to the truth, thereby insisting on the uniqueness and importance of their own religious teachings and consequently denying equal values to other religions. Second, the fulfillment model argues that the truth is greater than one’s own religion and that other religious teachings could also offer some valuable lessons, although their own religion teaches the normative, best message. This reminds us that the religion or deity in question has the highest claim to truth, but simultaneously patronizes other religious teachings as being less valuable. Next, the mutuality model discovers truth also in other religions and suggests that all religions have. 政治大 religions while making it possible to insist on the uniqueness of a specific religion’s teachings, this model 立 also pushes for a Western conception of religion. The acceptance model, finally, welcomes the diversity. limitations, and therefore that religious diversity should be protected. In granting equal value to all. ‧ 國. 學. of religions and their truths and goals, because it views religions as comparable to different languages or cultures. However, it thereby overemphasizes the unbridgeable gap between languages and cultures, for which religions exactly can be a unifying factor. This method recognizes the reality of religious. ‧. plurality, even within larger religious traditions, and requires that these theological bases be identified in the teachings of specific religious organizations in Taiwan. We then can use the limits of these models. Nat. sit. y. to see the extent of their ability to possibly object to or accept other religions and their practices or. io. religious Other.. n. al. er. beliefs. Knitter thus offers a method to evaluate religions’ sanctification of their attitudes toward the. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Religions’ power to interfere in modern Taiwan To appreciate the current status of relations among religious organizations and between these organizations and the government, we first need to understand the development of the modern Taiwanese religious environment. This shows in part how the traditions at large developed their “power to interfere,” as analyzed by the political and religious scientist Kuo Cheng-tian (2013). Taiwan was left relatively free of central control during the imperial dynasties, as long it did not threaten social stability or the power of the emperor. After the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC) in 1911, the state tried to assert control over religion, such as with the 1929 and still-valid Law Regulating Temples and Shrines (LRTS; 監督寺廟條理, Jiandu Simiao Tiaoli) of traditional Chinese religions—Christians and folk religionists were the major exception of this law (2013: 10). During these early years of the ROC, the island of Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule. The rulers attempted a Japanification of the island by replacing local (Daoist) temples with Japanese Buddhist shrines and shortly before the war, temporarily, 13. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(14) expelled foreign Christian missionaries. However, after the island was returned to the Republic of China in 1945, religiosity bloomed once more. However, tensions rose again and 1949 saw the Nationalist ROC regime flee to Taiwan, together with other mainland Chinese (including many religionists, most noticeably the practitioners of Yiguandao, Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism), and subsequently the start of the martial law era. During this period, the state proved capable of controlling religion. In addition to the LRTS, only a few national umbrella religious associations were allowed to represent the clergy and believers of Buddhism, Daoism, and Catholicism, as will be expanded upon below. As Kuo puts it, “the state was able to influence the management of religious organizations and the theological debates that went on within them. It also restricted the behavior of religious believers outside religious organizations by means of various martiallaw-based regulations” (19-20). The authoritarian regime viewed religion as a functional method to urge people to do good and thus expected religious groups to use their teachings for the improvement of the. 政治大 separationist attitude toward the state; of which the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan was the most 立 noiticable exception.. atmosphere in the Taiwanese society. Most religious organizations took either a submissive or a. ‧ 國. 學. The early 1980s saw the weakening of martial law and in 1987 it was abolished. This major change brought a separatist model of state–religion relations with new laws that also guaranteed the freedom of association and movement. The government let go of the idea of religion functioning to improve. ‧. society and ended their interference with religious doctrines. Some religious organizations that had been growing during the later decades of martial law were legalized (such as Yiguandao) and other new. Nat. sit. y. religious groups also quickly expanded. Religious organizations gained increasing political autonomy; some leaders embraced this chance, while many others kept a more separationist position at first. The. io. er. state’s negative intervention in religion was reduced, but its positive assistance remained the same.. al. n. iv n C balances was developed. Politicians have been more actively h e n g c h i U promoting religious knowledge and activities, and religious organizations have found their voices on social and political issues. The results Finally, Kuo argues that from 2000 onwards a new mode of state–religion relations with check and. are a consolidation of religious freedom and a generally mutual respect among religious organizations and between them and the government (24-31). Part of this is the 2004 “landmark decision” by the Council of Grand Justices that the LRTS violates religious equality and state neutrality. A new Law on Religious Groups (宗教團體法, Zongjiao Tuanti Fa) is in the making to eventually replace the LRTS (2008: 26-27). However, the different opinions on the contents have so far prevented it from being legalized. Because of the major differences between the periods before and after the lifting of martial law, the rest of this thesis will primarily focus on the period after 1987, hereafter referred to as “modern Taiwan.” Although these last decades have seen important political, cultural and religious developments, there are clear common grounds as well: the state has avoided negative intervention in religious business and gradually increased its support. The latter happens by means of finances, promoting courses related to religion in schools, supporting public religious activities, politicians participating in religious ceremonies 14. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(15) et cetera—but always without discrimination or excessive entanglement, and based on proportionality (e.g., larger activities can receive more funding) (2013: 26). Merging the preceding theoretical framework and cultural political background, we can now form a cohesive picture of religious traditions in Taiwan. This will serve as a background for the specific organizations that are involved in the conflicts in the case studies. However, how tolerance is acted out ultimately depends on the specific religious organizations and how their teachings are interpreted and lived. First, we examine the size of each tradition in Taiwan. The number of people following each tradition shows one side of their perceived authority, namely how much of a majority or minority position they have. Based on a global research (2012), the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life estimated that in 2010 the largest religions in Taiwan were folk religion (44.2%), Buddhism (21.3%) and. 政治大 “international” vision on religion does not fit this area, as does the failure of the leading Christian 立 conception of religion to map onto the primary modes of worship in the Taiwanese religious landscape. “other” (16.2%), with the latter including the third major religion in Taiwan, Daoism. This shows that the. ‧ 國. 學. Therefore, for an indication of the size of the religions, we need to look at local surveys. The Taiwanese government does not keep separate official statistics on religious affiliation, except for their estimate that, since 2005, around 35% of the population has identified as Buddhist and 33% as Taoist. 4 The. ‧. religious organizations themselves might count everyone who once joined the group, but not subtract those who have since left, and so publish numbers that exceed those who in reality consider themselves. Nat. sit. y. affiliated with the organization.. For these reasons, the leading figures used in this analysis are derived from the Religious Experience. io. er. Survey, conducted in Taiwan between 2008 and 2009. This survey focused on the religious experiences. al. n. iv n C belong to and which religious community they currently participated h e n g c h i U in (Tsai Yen-zen, 2013: 302-303, 332-333). Because respondents were allowed to identify themselves with only one religion (or none), of Taiwanese people, but also included questions on which religion they considered themselves to. the survey provides a snapshot of the religious composition of the island at the time. This fits better, since among Taiwanese it is relatively common to change between religions (19-20). The survey shows that the three “traditional Chinese” religions, namely Buddhism (18.6%), Daoism (13.2%), and folk religion (38.3%), make up the majority of believers. To this might be added the 5.1% of people who identified with a syncretic and more personal belief in Buddho-Daoism. Moreover, the differentiation between Daoism and folk religion is not very clear-cut, since folk religious festivals often involve Daoist 4. According to the yearly conducted report by the U.S. Department of State on the status of religions and religious freedom, the Religious Section of the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) of Taiwan last tracked population data on religious groups in 2005. Since then, the MOI has stated this estimate remains largely unchanged (U.S. Department of State, 2016: 1). This is confirmed by the numbers that are available in the statistical yearbook of the MOI and are collected by the city and county governments. However, after 2013, this only included the temples from traditional Chinese religions (Taiwan Ministry of the Interior, 2016).. 15. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(16) priests to conduct the rituals. Yiguandao (2.4%), Christianity (5.0%), and Islam (<1%) are small but intrinsic parts of the religious composition of Taiwan. 5 From these statistics, it appears that the definitions of the major religions and who belongs to them is not very clear, especially the more loosely defined folk religion, which can include Buddhist and Daoist deities. Nevertheless, the religions in Taiwan can roughly be divided between the three main traditions (Buddhism, Daoism, and folk religion) and other minority religions (including Yiguandao, Christianity, and Islam). Second, we follow the development of religions in Taiwan. This tells us whether a religion is generally considered to be part of the normative culture. All of the aforementioned religions originated from foreign places and were brought to Taiwan by migration or missionaries. Except for Yiguandao, all have their origins in Taiwan in the 17th century (late Ming dynasty). Guanyin, Wangye and Mazu images used in folk religion and Daoist priests have migrated from China to Taiwan since that time. There has been a Buddhist presence in Taiwan since before the Qing dynasty, but the current Buddhist traditions. 政治大 century, although the current Islamic community largely descends from the companions of the 立 Nationalists who arrived in Taiwan after 1949. The various denominations of Christianity have been mostly have migrated from China since 1949. Likewise, Islam has migrated from China since the 17th. ‧ 國. 學. brought by missionaries to Taiwan since the 17th century, first mainly by foreigners, and later also by Chinese Christians. The youngest religion in this scope, Yiguandao, was introduced by missionaries from China after 1949. From this perspective, we can, for example, argue that Christianity and Islam are just. ‧. as much part of the traditional Taiwanese religious landscape as traditions like Buddhism and Daoism, although this ultimately depends on the different religious organizations.. Nat. sit. y. Here, we must also consider how the religions have been developed vis-à-vis Taiwanese culture. This includes how much each religion has indigenized and became a religion not only “in Taiwan” but also “of. io. er. Taiwan.” Some folk religious rituals are considered to be at the core of Taiwanese culture, and Daoist. al. n. iv n C “evil sect” throughout the first decennia, acquired greater recognition h e n g c h i U after the lifting of martial law. The different denominations of Christianity have various levels of indigenization. For example, ancestor and Buddhist ritual masters play important roles in these rituals. Yiguandao, after being considered an. worship is denounced by all groups, but Presbyterians and Catholics have opened up to some shamanic practices among indigenous people and so adapted to their animistic beliefs. Islam has also been adapted to Taiwanese culture (for example, in dress), but the precept to not eat pork does set Muslims apart from other Taiwanese. Here we see that Christianity and Islam have been adapted to some Taiwanese customs, but also have kept some characteristics that distinguish them from the normative culture. Furthermore, we could expect Buddhism, Daoism, and folk religion to be highly accepted by the normative culture vice versa. 5. The small number of Muslims is partly because this option fell in the category “other,” and partly because the Islamic community consists for a large part of foreign workers from Muslim countries. The US State Department estimates that some 606,000 foreign workers have a religion that differs from the general population, primarily Muslims and Roman Catholics (2016:2). This would add around 4% of religious believers to the total population.. 16. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(17) Next, we turn to the theologies of the aforementioned religions. The theology of a religious group determines to what extent they potentially can accept other religious traditions with distinct practices. Since Taiwanese religions typically refrain from publicly declaring their theological perspective on other religions, in the next stage of this research, I will analyze what the representatives of the major religious organizations in Taiwan have published in spoken or written form on the existence of their own religions and on how to treat the existence and practices of other religions. However, I do not expect to encounter statements from actually exclusivist believers, because of the prevailing moral ethics against excluding other religions. 6 Therefore, it is probable that only Knitter’s last three models (fulfillment, mutuality, or acceptance) can be used in the Taiwanese environment. The standard response when encountering other religions is likely to be along the lines of that Taiwan is a democratic and tolerant pluralist society. 7 Moreover, with the presence of gods recognized by the majority of the Taiwanese society, the theological question is less about a profession of the right faith and more about right. 政治大 worshipped by many. It is the practices to pay that respect that is the point of discussion. This makes it 立 all the more interesting to investigate, based on the following case studies, the actual level of religious. practice. Statues of all deities, especially, are at the least highly respected by most people and. ‧ 國. 學. tolerance in Taiwan. In the next parts, we will look at the specific positions of the religious groups involved with conflicts and discuss what practices give sufficient reason to go beyond a tolerant position.. ‧. The final aspect of the religions’ power to interfere is the place of the religious organizations within the traditions used to be largely related to their relationships with the government. As touched upon. Nat. sit. y. above, the national umbrella religious associations that some religions were required to form under martial law were not only useful tools for the government to interfere with religious matters, but also. io. er. necessary for the religious groups to communicate with the government. The Buddhist Association of. al. n. iv n C right to ordain monks and nuns and thus virtually monastics U were connected to the BAROC. h e nallgBuddhist i h c After the lifting of martial law, multiple new national Buddhist associations were established that the Republic of China (BAROC; 中國佛教會, Zhongguo Fojiao Hui), under martial law, had the exclusive. challenged the sole authority of the BAROC, an example that will be mentioned in the later case studies is the Chinese Buddhist Temple Association (CBTA; 中華佛寺協會, Zhonghua Fosi Xiehui). Moreover, “the monopoly of the BAROC was shattered by the four largest Buddhist organizations,” which are commonly referred to as the “Four Mountains” of Taiwanese Buddhism: Fo Guang Shan (佛光山), Chung Tai Shan (中台山, Zhong Tai Shan), Tzu Chi Foundation (Tzu Chi; 慈濟基金會, Ciji Jijinhui), and Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM; 法鼓山, Fa Gu Shan) (Kuo, 2008: 19-20). Apart from these major organizations, there are a variety of other Buddhist temples and groups found in Taiwan.. 6 7. Professor Tsai Yuan-lin, personal communication (5 January, 2018). Ibid.. 17. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(18) In contrast, the Daoist Association of the Republic of China (DARC; 中華民國道教會, Zhonghua Minguo Daojiao Hui) has no power to ordain Daoist priests. The DARC is also challenged in their authority, not only by similar Daoist associations, but also by the fact that some major Daoist temples are no members of the DARC (Kuo, 2008: 63-64). The various folk religious groups are not organized in a government recognized group, which reflects the group’s individualistic internal structure. Therefore, both for Daoism and folk religion, the major temples are a more suitable way to look at the influential organizations. In both traditions, ritual masters have little authority outside their ceremonial function, as the local temple management committee (管理委員會, guanli weiyuanhui) is in charge of decisions regarding the specific temple and often also hold positions in the local power structure. Yiguandao was repressed under martial law and not allowed to establish an official umbrella religious association. After the lifting of martial law, Yiguandao soon established the National Association of Yiguandao (NAYGD; 一. 政治大. 貫道總會, Yiguandao Zonghui) as their collective representation. However, the practical power is divided over nineteen independent branches in total with a well established strict hierarchical system within each branch (ibid, 71-72).. 立. Christianity is similar to Buddhism in that it is divided into numerous denominations and. ‧ 國. 學. organizations, their relationships with the government inevitably also vary much. Under martial law, the Catholics were united in the umbrella Chinese Regional Bishops’ Conference (CRBC; 天主教會臺灣地區. ‧. 主教團, Tianzhujiao Zhongguo Jiaotuan). Still, the political and religious ties to the Vatican make the Catholic community much valued by the government (ibid, 54). However, there was no umbrella. y. Nat. association for the Protestants. One of the reasons, Cheng-tian Kuo argues, is that the Nationalist. sit. government valued the foreign connections and political lobby of the missionaries (ibid, 10). Moreover,. er. io. Christians were well represented within the nationalist government. There were separate national associations for most Protestant denominations, including the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (臺灣基督. n. al. i n U. v. 長老敎會, Taiwan Jiduj Zhanglao Jiaohui) and the Chinese Baptist Convention (CBC; 中華基督教浸信會. Ch. engchi. 聯會, Zhonghua Jidujiao Jinxinhui Lianhui). For Islam, the Chinese Muslim Association serves as “a quasiofficial organization,” representing Taiwanese Muslims towards the government as well as offering links to the Muslim countries, so offering mutual support (Lin, 2014). Besides on the structure within the religious traditions and organizations, the relationship with the government also depends on which governmental section is involved with specific religious matters. The latter will also influence the concept of religion and view on religious matters that informs the decisions made by different divisions and people within the overall government. As mentioned above, there is a clear development of the view on religion and the handling of religious matters over time, most notably different between the authoritarian and democratic regimes before and after the lifting of martial law. Next, it depends on the level of government, with differences in the issues, interests and strategies between the local and national governments. Responsibilities and hence strategies towards religious matters differ between the legislative and administrative organs as well as between the administrative 18. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(19) and judicial organs. Analyzing the variety of views on religion and religions throughout the government would carry this thesis away from interactions between religious groups to interactions between religion and the state. However, the roles and faces of the governmental units involved with the conflicts have to be noted throughout the case studies.. 1.3 Research methods In this thesis, I describe a collection of concrete cases of conflict in order to analyze how the religious groups involved have moved across the border between tolerance and rejection. At the center are two case studies that each investigate one interreligious dispute in-depth: the Da’an Park Guanyin Statue conflict and the 218 Event at Yu Shan Yan Luminary Temple. For each case, there is a need for. 治政大 picture of the different perspectives on the conflict. 立 cultural texts and academic literature. Cultural texts include any The primary research data includes. triangulation between different types of sources on the same events, to achieve a more balanced. ‧ 國. 學. texts where “one can ‘read’ some meanings into the phenomena” (Walliman, 2011: 82). Firstly, this is the “official” information as published by institutions that interpret religious conflicts. To start with, I read reports from international organizations that focus on religious freedom and conflicts. It appears. ‧. that the human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have not published a single article on the religious situation in Taiwan, which means they have not identified any issues in. y. Nat. that area. Moreover, the annual Religious Freedom Report by the U.S. Department of State consistently. sit. applauds the level of religious freedom in Taiwan. The issues that are mentioned in these reports have. al. er. io. arisen either within a religious tradition or between the secular government and religion in general.. n. Continuing my search for interreligious conflicts in Taiwan, I first conducted several interviews with. Ch. i n U. v. scholars of religious studies in Taiwan. The main reason for this was that although this topic has not. engchi. been researched in this way before, the individual cases have caught the attention of these scholars. Second, I gathered materials published by the religious organizations involved (e.g., on their websites), including statements from these organizations’ leaders. Because Taiwanese religionists usually follow their leaders’ words, the writings and spoken recordings of these leaders will show how each issue is perceived within their organizations. By contrast, blogs and other Internet publications can paint a different picture from official texts. Owing to freedom of expression, these articles are able to offer conflicting opinions. They can generally be expected to contest the officially published information, since the Internet is an excellent platform for such views, for better or for worse. Third, I conducted observations to record data on the activities or the nature or condition of objects. For example, some cases revolve around statues of deities. Even if a conflict has already ended, it is interesting to learn about the current conditions of these objects and how they are now worshipped and by whom. The results of this initial search are presented through brief descriptions of the conflicts in chapter two and 19. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(20) are the basis for the model of interreligious conflicts in modern Taiwan. The model differentiates between three types of conflicts, based on the reasons behind them: discrepancies in the worship practices of the same deity, unfair treatment by the government, and the syncretic use of orthodox teachings by New Religious Movements. During the next stage of the research, I searched for reports in leading Taiwanese newspapers to see which of the conflicts are deemed so intense that they are newsworthy. The two in-depth case studies in this thesis are first and foremost based on articles related to the disputes and their key actors that were published throughout the development of the conflicts in the newspapers. The case studies of the Da’an Park Guanyin conflict and the 218 Event at Yu Shan Yan Luminary Temple serve to further explore the different types of interreligious conflict, falling in the categories of unfair treatment by the government and discrepancies in the worship practices of the same deity, respectively. These two cases are selected based on the amount of news material available on each case. First of all, there were enough news. 政治大 developments of the conflict over time. Moreover, these conflicts have ended, so that it is unlikely to 立 encounter future plot twists. Consequently, this research method favors cases that have been in the reports to form a comprehensive understanding of the facets involved with the conflicts and the. ‧ 國. 學. public eye and with distinct incidents that make it newsworthy. The third type of conflicts, disputes over the syncretic use of orthodox teachings by New Religious Movements, tends to simmer along under the surface with less clear and open incidents. With the New Religious Movements that challenge the. ‧. traditional beliefs tending to stay more underground, the news reporters are less able to interview them to provide the other side of the story in a well-rounded news article. 8 As a result, this last category of. Nat. io. sit. sociological approach.. y. interreligious conflicts is not represented by an in-depth case study of news reports but would ask for a. er. The leading Taiwanese newspapers used in this thesis are, first, the Central News Agency (中央社,. al. n. iv n C (Kuomintang) but after the lifting of martialhlaw transitioned intoU a non-affiliated organization that is still i e h n c g the official news agency of Taiwan. Second is the China Times (中國時報, Zhongguo Shibao), which was Zhongyang She), a state-owned news agency that was founded in 1924 by the Nationalist Party. established in 1950 and originally maintained close relations with the Nationalist government, but since the 1980s has become more liberal and more often supportive of the opposition parties. Third and fourth are the United Daily News (聯合報, Lianhe Bao) and its related evening newspaper the United Evening News ( 聯合晚報 , Lianhe Wanbao). An aspect of Taiwanese newspapers that merits consideration is their affiliation with and often strong support of the main political parties through the blue-green division between the Nationalists and the Democratic Progressive Party. However, with regard to the religious issues presented in the case studies here, political affiliation appears to be less important and news reports are fairly neutral in this aspect. Nevertheless, this combination of newspapers offers a variety of viewpoints and thereby gives a balanced overview. I have gathered a 8. Professor Tsai Yuan-lin, personal communication (2018-06-13).. 20. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(21) total of 155 news articles related to the Da’an Guanyin dispute and 51 news articles related to the 218 Event at Yu Shan Yan Luminary Temple, as well as several tens of news articles for the five other cases of conflicts. These articles consist of both momentary depictions throughout the disputes and several longer reports with overviews and reflections, as well as some scholarly contributions. There is no scholarly research available that specifically applies the abstract concept of “religious tolerance” in concrete situations in Taiwan. A more extensive search on the two in-depth case studies indicated that academic research on the Da’an Guanyin conflict is limited to a collection of master’s theses. The two master’s theses most closely related to the approach that this thesis employs are by Xiao Zi Jun (1995) and Liao Bi-De (2009). Xiao’s thesis in particular has been helpful in that it presents more historical background through a combination of news articles and interviews with key actors, which gives an overview of the dispute on which Liao Bi-De later based his thesis. However, both theses are primarily written from a political science perspective, with the latter focused on grassroots pressure. 政治大 administration on the religious groups and their political activism. This is a different focus than the 立 interaction between religious groups that is analyzed in this thesis. Other theses that also mention the. from the Buddhist side of the dispute and the former on the influence of the contemporary. ‧ 國. 學. Da’an Park Guanyin conflict are written from the perspectives of either artistic value or public space. One interesting master’s thesis in the latter category, by Liao Shu-ting, gives an alternative version of the dispute through an interview with the then-Taipei City Mayor Huang Ta-chou (黃大洲) (2002: 100-103).. ‧. Other than these sources, few publicly accessible or university resources have been published by any of. Nat. the key actors and written solely from their own point of view. From the Christian side, there have been. sit. y. some articles published in the Christian Tribune (基督教論壇, Jidujiao Luntan) that mention or reflect on. io. the issue, but this is a private medium. Other later publications from key actors are a collection of. er. distinctly Buddhist reflections by Venerable Chao Hwei (釋昭慧法師) 9 and a book with contemplations. al. n. iv n C For the 218 Event at Yu Shan Yan Luminary the main h e nTemple, i U sources are also articles from the h c g aforementioned newspapers, including scholarly analyses by Lee Feng-mao (李豐楙) and Lin Pen-Hsuan on the dispute by Mayor Huang Ta-chou, 10 but these are beyond the scope of this master’s thesis.. (林本炫). There is a small amount of other academic writing on this temple, which is clearly divided by the two groups involved in the dispute. Research on the Luminary Buddhists is focused on their gender and the influence of this fairly unique all-female nunnery on feminism in Buddhism (Lin, 2010; Devido, 2010) and on their education, both their own exceptionally high educational levels as well as their engagement with society and the spread of the dharma through public education (Yü, 2010). In contrast, the literature on the Yu Shan Yan folk religionists mainly revolves around the local Hakka cultural identity and is related to the geographic area, with a focus on the yearly pilgrimage temple festival (Chyr and Xie, 2012; Liu, 2010). The 218 conflict is mentioned only briefly, if at all, and (with the exception of 9. Shih Chao Hwei. 1994. Compassionate Guanyin (Ciqing Guanyin, 慈情觀音). Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing. Huang Ta-chou. 2001. Transformation: The Birth of Da’an Forest Park (Tuibian: Da’an Senlin Gongyuan de Dansheng, 蛻變：大安森林公園的誕生). New Taipei City: Cheng Chung Bookstore. 10. 21. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(22) Yeong-Shin Chyr) is largely based on information published by the Luminary nuns on their website and in their magazine. Nevertheless, they offer some interesting findings that have contributed to the understanding of the 218 Event, but primarily reflect back on the issue from over a decade later. Most importantly, during fieldwork for his master’s thesis in the 1990s, Chyr was able to record the legend behind the original establishment of the temple as told by the village elders, which was later published in the magazine of the Luminary Buddhists. I found that this latter publication eventually found its way back to the newer generations of villagers (the exact same story is reprinted in Chyr and Xie, 2012). The religious groups themselves have made a small number of additional contributions. The Luminary nuns have primarily done so through their website and the Glorious Buddhism Magazine published through their temple, including the March 1997 theme issue that reflects on the dispute. 11 The Yu Shan Yan folk religionists have primarily contributed through their Facebook page. 12 Since the main data involves both written and spoken words, a two-pronged method is required for. 政治大 involved have developed and solved conflicts. First, a narrative analysis will serve to extract themes and 立 structures from the accounts of the disputes. This will mainly involve examining what is said and how it. the evaluation of these texts and the messages that they communicate on how the religious groups. ‧ 國. 學. is said, but equally interesting is what is not said and how parts of the story are circumvented. Moreover, a rhetorical analysis will focus on the techniques used to persuade the listener or reader. This method involves vocabulary, structure, and arguments that “may appeal to, and engender belief, in the target. ‧. audience, but is likely to repel and undermine the confidence of others” (Walliman, 2011: 141-142). Both during the development of each conflict and after it is resolved, how the events are reflected upon. Nat. sit. y. by all sides will show which party is thought of as “more right” than the other. This is especially interesting considering the aforementioned Taiwanese ethical standard. Walliman states that credibility. io. er. markers “indicate the ‘rightness’ of the author and the ‘wrongness’ of others, such as assertions about. al. n. iv n C unbelievable” (142). Religious leaders, in particular, might use these h e n g c h i U markers to instruct their followers, and government and other “official” sources will likely also want to ensure that their interpretation of the ‘correct’ moral position, claims or privileged understanding and dismissing alternatives as. events is accepted by the public.. 1.4 Framework for the cases of conflicts The next chapter introduces all the cases of conflicts that I have been able to find throughout my initial search for conflicts, so as to provide an overview of interreligious conflicts in post-martial law Taiwan. The total of seven cases of conflicts is the basis for the model of interreligious conflicts in modern. 11. Glorious Buddhism Magazine 香光莊嚴, issue 49 (March 1997). Accessible through http://www.gayamagazine.org/periodical/detail/147. 12 Bai Qi Liao Yu Shan Yan Guanyin Fozu (白杞寮玉山岩觀音佛祖). Accessible through https://www.facebook.com/groups/1445813572300908/.. 22. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.

(23) Taiwan, as discussed at the end of chapter two. The model differentiates between three types of conflicts, based on the reasons behind them: discrepancies in the worship practices of the same deity, an unfair treatment by the government, and the syncretic use of orthodox teachings by New Religious Movements. Moreover, chapter two offers brief characterizations of the five conflicts from the initial stage of my research. Subsequently, chapters three and four each explore one case study in-depth, as further explorations of the different types of interreligious conflicts. Some of the same themes and concepts play a role in both disputes, but in such different ways that separate chapters do more justice to each case. The chapters start with an introduction to the meaning behind the object, which in both cases is a statue, and its location. This is followed by a brief description of the history leading up to the actual conflict, with special emphasis on how it was picked up by the newspapers: both what made it noticeable for such a public medium to report on it, as well as how the conflict was first introduced. This. 政治大 eventually joined the conflict are introduced throughout the narrative. 立 Next, the narrative sketches how the conflict developed over time, based on acceptance and will then show which religious organizations and figures were involved from the start. Others who. ‧ 國. 學. objection components as experienced by the disputing parties and how these informed their future interactions. The focus here is on newsworthy events that intensified (such as provocations and ultimatums) or resolved the issue (such as calls for concessions), with special attention paid to violating. ‧. actions to determine the extent of religious conflicts in Taiwan. It is interesting to see how certain words and actions are reported later on; only as the narrative unfolds in the public eye can either the actors or. Nat. sit. y. reporters deem some earlier statements and actions important enough to bring up – I attempt to follow the timeline, but also describe the later situation that legitimizes the publication of these facts. The. io. er. narrative starts by identifying the issues that had begun to simmer before the conflict and the trigger. al. n. iv n C and unsuccessful attempts to solve it, and how this promptedU h e n g c h i an intensification of the conflict to the extent of violence. Eventually, an agreement was reached to end the conflict, but that did not. that started the opposition. Then it shows how both sides dragged out the conflict with provocations. necessarily mean that the bickering had entirely ended. After this whodunit is presented, some themes are discussed. This part starts with references to similar issues, by reporters or by the actors themselves, which show the bigger picture in which the conflict has been understood. Next, are the remaining factors of the “power to interfere” that have not yet been adequately discussed. The first that must be considered is the role of the government, as a powerful and potentially important factor in decision making, including related laws, the involvement of the police and various governmental levels and departments, as well as political parties and figures who (aim to) influence public opinion. The second is positions that key religious organizations and figures hold in the wider religious tradition and how much they are accepted by other organizations within the same religion. This involves revisiting the development of support and denouncement by other. 23. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.GIRS.008.2018.A03.