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Ritualising Names; The Construction of Order in Daoist Religious Rituals

Luo, Xuan (2016) Ritualising Names; The Construction of Order in Daoist Religious Rituals. Master thesis, Master Research Master Theologie en Religiewetenschappen.

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Abstract

This study addresses the paradoxical problem of the advocacy for ‘namelessness’ in Daoist philosophy and the myriad of name-empowered phenomena in Daoist religion. Its particular focus is on the functions of names in three rituals from the early Way of Celestial Masters (142–fourth century ce): the exorcism of demons, the ordination of priests, and the summoning of divinities in healing rituals. The study takes an analytical approach upon the above cases. It has been found that the application of names in these rituals has an ordering effect upon the Daoist community in three respects: religiously, name-empowered rituals invoke effective channels of communication with the bureaucratic institutions which govern the realms of the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Netherworld; socially, they provide concrete means for Daoists to deal with real life problems that are beyond the control of common people; and politically, they contribute to the organisation of a hierarchical monastic system, which maintains the Daoist values, beliefs, traditions, morality, and taboos. The efficacy of those rituals is achieved by a trade-off between the commitment to Daoist belief and the divine powers that provide ready solutions to human sufferings, such as disease or demon possession. Thus, they serve as divine interventions in times of disrupted order. This connotation of names provides a solution to the paradox which lies at the heart of this thesis: the philosophical state of the namelessness can be considered both the initial as well as the final stage of the religious ritual process, while the need to reconstruct cosmological order facilitates the varied rituals with the uses of names. Keywords: Daoism, ritual, name, order

Type: Thesis (Master)
Supervisors (RUG):
SupervisorE-mailTutor organizationTutor email
Travagnin, S.S.Travagnin@rug.nl
Berger, P.P.Berger@rug.nl
Degree programme: Master Research Master Theologie en Religiewetenschappen
Academic year: 2014- 2015
Date of delivery: 02 Dec 2016
Last modified: 02 Dec 2016 09:24
URI: https://ggw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/100
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