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There is, actually, a couple more thoughts about the funeral I have been experiencing (it will last several weeks). Since I had lived in China for several years previously, it is very interesting to see these kinds of services being performed at all. It is not controversial (in my opinion) to state that traditional Chinese religious practices are much better preserved here, as Taiwan did not witness the Cultural Revolution that took place on the mainland.
In my understanding, Taiwan has also been more open to practices of other faiths, including evangelism from foreign missionaries. Though this had been active in China as well, with different levels of acceptance and rejection through the ages, the church is now supposed to be more indigenous, or at least more independent from foreign influences. There is really only one Chinese protestant church in China, which I attended while I was there. So, it is different to be here and witness the presence of different denominations. The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan is by far the most prevalent.
Yesterday, YT and I went to a Mennonite church in Taiwan that is in a nearby neighborhood. The church was started in 1975 by a couple from Lancaster (?? Sprunger), and we found the church through the internet. There were about 30 people there or so this Sunday. The hymns were in Taiwanese, though the sermon was in Mandarin and translated into Taiwanese. For the hymns, I had the choice of either trying to follow the same words as everyone else through the Taiwanese hymnal, or knowing more of the meaning through the Mandarin hymnal, or choose one and just sing 'oo' to the right notes. Most of the time I chose the latter. I'm not used to translations being given, so I found it hard to stop paying attention when it is said in Taiwanese. That means I was still trying to follow what was being said in a language I can't understand, no matter how hard I concentrate, and it got very tiring. YT was suggesting during the service that I try to go to an English-Chinese church in the city, and I was thinking that would be a good idea.
We were, naturally, introduced during the guest-introduction time, and there was a sound of general approval when I said I am a Mennonite. After the service, everyone was very welcoming, and we were invited several times to stay afterwards to have lunch with them, sort of a weekly potluck. We at first declined, since I wasn't sure whether I'd keep coming in the future, and we said we had things to do. We kept talking with people, though, and several did speak English pretty well. It also turns out that the pastor's son had studied at Carnegie Mellon, so he was familiar with Pittsburgh. A lot of others had at least one child studying in the US. Someone soon announced that lunch was ready, and we had no option but to stay : ) Everyone was very welcoming, and it really did have a similar feeling to the small Mennonite churches I've attended or been part of in the US. So, I'll likely go back, whether I can understand well enough or not.
Anyway, tomorrow is Mid-Autumn Festival, so no classes today or tomorrow. There is already a small gathering of family out on the porch getting ready to barbeque, and I fear being anti-social if I keep writing right now.
So, till later, and happy harvest time! BB
Monday, September 24, 2007
It's a Small (Mennonite) World
Posted by Brian & Yahtyng at 4:29 AM
Labels: BB in Taiwan
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2 comments:
The aboriginal church is indeed more indigenous, in the sense that most of the conversions in the 50s and 60s were carried out by the aborigines themselves. I think there are some good accounts of that in _IN Search of the Hunters and Their Tribes_ published by the Shung Ye Museum and edited by D. Faure.
It's dangerous to see religion here as "better preserved." Taiwan indigenized the Chinese practices that early settlers brought over, and so they are different than what went on in China previously.
As for missionaries, they have had little success here, thank god. In fact they are probably doing better in China, where religion is verboten and thus has a sexy cachet. Here there are powerful resources to resist colonization and elimination by outside religions. Christianity has no cachet, parents actively resist their children converting, there is no social or financial gain, and local religions already offer effective spiritual life for those who seek such things. As a result, Taiwan is wonderfully tolerant of religion, for which I, as an atheist, am grateful.
Michael
Thanks Michael, I appreciate your comments. I write this blog mainly to keep in touch with family and friends back home, and it's a nice reminder that others are reading as well.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean to say by 'dangerous' in your comment, though. I do believe what I wrote is accurate (except for the 'not controversial part', which I've since changed), as most religious practices here have their origin in China, as you say. I don't mean to offend any 'green' sensibilities, but whether they are now indigenous 'Taiwanese' or still 'Chinese' at the root is, to me, mostly a matter of politics, the kind of which I would prefer to avoid on this site.
I also value the religious tolerance here in Taiwan, but I (as you might expect) would disagree on why Christianity is growing so remarkably in China. The adults I knew there who became Christians did not do so for any simplistic 'cachet', or superficial 'social or financial gain', but because they felt a need to believe in something stronger and more spiritually fulfilling than empty political and economic ideologies that were supposed to supplant previous systems of faith. People in Taiwan did not experience a similar level of religious suppression, as far as I understand, and so the 'effective spiritual life' that local religions offer remains largely unchanged from before. So, there's not much need to look for something else.
Thanks again for your comments.
BB
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