The Study On Religious Medicine Culture Of Taiwan Flying Phoenix Hall

At present there are three medical systems in Taiwan, i.e. Western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine and folk medicine. The first two belong to the mainstream medicine, the last one is based on the experience obtained from long-term understanding about diseases by the folk, and it is considered to be a non-official mainstream culture, existing necessary to people’s daily life and it is the reflection of the local culture. The Flying Phoenix Hall religious medicine is a part of the folk healing activities, in which empirical religious approaches and supernatural methods are adopted in the treatment of diseases.This thesis aims on the Flying Phoenix Hall medical culture as the representative of Taiwan folk religious medical culture. Flying Phoenix Hall, one of Taiwan folk religious sects, discipline in Confucianism, belief in God, is so-called Ruzong Shenjiao, it does spiritual writing ritual to evoke people from bad to good to become morality one in society as religious activities. Flying Phoenix Hall serves people with Confucianism aspiration to enlighten and cultivate people in order to build up one’s morals, set the etiology on Buddhism karma, use supernatural methods to solve people’s daily problems and heal illness by Taoist. Flying Phoenix Hall chooses Taoist medical model to integrate physical, psychological, mind and other aspects of medical treatment for a wide range of medical culture. It mixes up like a ring with the factors of social human relationship and religious belief, form a pattern from inside out. It is a multi-angled, multi-faceted healing treatment of mind and body of the salvation means on Flying Phoenix Hall medical culture.The paper consists of six parts. In the first part discusses about the religious sects in Taiwan today, the sorcery beliefs and the relation between the folk religion and beliefs, from which knowing that the folk religion in Taiwan is not only mixed with Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, but also with witchcraft culture. Since the Taiwanese there attract close attention to universe harmony and retribution to sin, which is the basis conception of disease cause, so the healing activities are other than modern medical treatments arc adopted. The second part focuses on the development of the Flying Phoenix Hall in terms of historical track, the relation between Confucianism and Divine Religion of Confucianism, and the connection between the local officials and elites and Confucianism. Since the quack medicines arose then, it has driven Flying Phoenix Hall ran its effort with relief in a society, the believers therefore rely on religious remedies. The third and fourth parts are about the religious therapies practiced in the Hall, it is good to the society. Through practicing austerities and self cultivation, doing good works, giving morality books, observe fast and avoid killing animals, chanting sutras and with the help of supernatural forces, such as spiritual writing, offer memorials, dipper worship, Jupiter offering solution, amulet, spiritual writing prescription and other control-evil-spirits, in order to alleviate physiological and psychological disorders. There is about the healing cases treated at the Flying Phoenix Halls in the fifth part, such as abstain from opium smoking, prescription divination, recall the frightened soul, offer religious rituals, and spiritual healing with planchette wooden pen, the use of healing medicines are charm rituals, incense ashes, instructive discourse and admonition. Finally in terms of psychology and culture a comprehensive discussion is done about the religious therapies at the flying phoenix hall.In this thesis, under the premise of cultural studies, is the first systematic study on Flying Phoenix Hall religious medical culture showing that the Buddhism karma etiology of the Hall is its main cause of cultural etiology. It is because the religious medicine is orginially from the folk cultural etiology itself, to cope with this aspect should use the cultural connotation conditions from the folk culture, not the natural factor. The culture healing is a goal in this paper, for not only the natural factor causes the illness, but the psychological and cultural factor are the one. For this reason, factors of illness due from culture, should solve from the cultural factors. It is worthy to study on Flying Phoenix Hall religious medicine.