A Study On The Filipino-chinese Folk Beliefs

Influenced by the colonial history of modern western countries,the Philippines is a country where the majority of the people believe in a certain religion.The Filipino-Chinese also shows enthusiasm on religions,which have effects on their values,behaviors,family relations and even social networks.In addition to Catholicism,Protestantism,Buddhism and other institutional religions,some Filipino-Chinese believe in folk beliefs originating from China,the folk beliefs providean unique perspective to observe the Filipino-Chinese community,so that a study on the folk beliefs will help us not only to learn more about the current situation of the Filipino-Chinese folk beliefs but also to deepen our understandings on the Filipino-Chinese religious culture and the development of the Filipino-Chinese community,furthermore,the study will also be helpful for thoroughly cognizing the current situation of the Filipino-Chinese.Based on the first-hand data from the field work and relevant research data from other scholars,this paper makes an in-depth study on the folk beliefs of the Filipino-Chinese,taking the folk beliefs’ temples in the Chinatown of Manila as typical cases to analyze the characteristics of temples,the system of gods,the process of rituals,and the mode of preaching.Firstly,the characterstics of the temple: the temples of the Filipino-Chinese folk beliefs can be divided into public temples and private temples.The ownership and management of public temples are all belong to some associations while the management rights are decentralized.Because the public temple does not have to make profits,therefore,which could not actively attract believers.The belief inheritance of public temples is weakening because of the generational shift and faithful erosion,but the temples still operate as a social platform for associating the overseas Chinese.However,the ownership,management and management rights of private temples are all belong to the individuals.The owners of the temples run it for their livelihood,so they are active in management and provide more services.Although the motives are utilitarian,they have more effects on maintaining believers and inheriting beliefs.Secondly,the system of gods: the system of gods of the Filipino-Chinese folk beliefs is diverse and mixed.A great number of gods have been endowed with different backgrounds,mixed with the east and the west,the institutional and the non-institutional,and even originally created gods.In addition to the utilitarian considerations,the reasons for diversifying and mixing are also related to the integration of the Filipino-Chinese beliefs under the multi-religious’ background.The main purpose of diversity and mixture is to attract more believers,while whether it works or not also determined by many other factors.Besides,the function of the gods is the most important factor.In a commercial society of the Filipino-Chinese community,the gods helping "seeking money" are most popular,while the other gods whose function is weakened are neglected as time changed.Thirdly,ritual process: although the ritual activities of the Filipino-Chinese folk beliefs are diverse,which is relatively simple and flexible.The simplification and flexibility of the ceremony are not only influenced by the secularization of religious belief,but also limited by the lack of professional clergy.On the one hand,it reduces the limitation of faith and facilitates participation.On the other hand,the dilution of the sense of holiness is also fatal,which may lose its appeal to believers and lead to their alienation.Finally,ways of preaching: the inheritance methods of the Filipino-Chinese folk beliefs mostly follow traditions,and there is no active way of preaching.The inter-generational transmission of beliefs relies on habitual habits.In a special case,the I-KUAN-TAO,introduced from Taiwan,has developed rapidly in the Philippines in recent years,mainly because of its active,outgoing and organized way of preaching,as well as its expansion of taking the Filipinos as the target group and appliance of some modern contents to traditional teachings.In general,due to the influence of the development of integration,intergenerational turnover,scientific and technological progresses and the development of education,and the lack of resources of folk belief itself,the Filipino-Chinese folk beliefs is now showing an obvious decline,mainly in the form of: a severe decline of believers;a decrease in temples;a relatively low level of incense and popularity in the existing temples;and a very small number of professionals,especially the trained clergy.Generally speaking,the tendency of decline will be accelerating.