Folk Religion and the Marxist View of Religion

Since reform and opening up, folk beliefs in China have recovered rapidly. With the unimpeded flow of cross-strait exchanges, the widespread influence of beliefs in deities such as Mazu in Fujian and Taiwan has become increasingly known to people; in recent years, with the promotion of local culture, issues concerning folk beliefs and folk religion have increasingly surfaced. Classical Marxist writers rarely discussed the issue of folk religion, but folk religion should also have its place within the Marxist view of religion.

改革开放以来，我国的民间信仰恢复很快。随着两岸交往的畅通，闽台妈祖等诸多神明信仰的广泛影响力，日益为人们所知；近年来，随着地方文化的弘扬，民间信仰、民间宗教的问题日益浮出水面。马克思主义经典作家很少论及民间宗教的问题，但民间宗教在马克思主义宗教观中也应有其地位。

Folk Religion as Non-Orthodox Religion

作为非正统宗教的民间宗教

“The Master did not speak of strange forces, disorder, or spirits.” [1]1 A saying from the *Analects of Confucius* (Book VII, “Shu Er”), indicating Confucius’s avoidance of discussing the supernatural or anomalous phenomena. Research on folk beliefs and folk religion in China started relatively late. After the founding of New China, it was mainly touched upon in the study of peasant uprisings. After reform and opening up, Ma Xisha and Han Bingfang’s *History of Chinese Folk Religion* was a pioneering work. Ma Xisha argues: “Although folk religion and orthodox religion differ in essence, the difference is more manifested in the political category than in religion itself. The former is not recognized by the political order, is denounced as heresy or banditry, and is repeatedly banned and suppressed, often having to operate covertly among the lower classes; the latter, as a whole, belongs to the ideology of the ruling class and is respected, believed in, and protected. In terms of religious significance, there is no insurmountable chasm between folk religion and orthodox religion. The world’s famous religions all began by spreading among the lower classes as folk sects. By gradually adapting to the general needs of society and through continuous struggle, they used their own strength to move toward orthodox or even ruling status…”

“子不语怪力乱神”，我国民间信仰、民间宗教的研究起步较晚，新中国成立后，主要是在研究农民起义问题时会涉及到该问题。改革开放后，马西沙、韩秉方的《中国民间宗教史》是一部拓荒性的著作，马西沙认为：“民间宗教与正统宗教虽然存在质的不同，但差异更多地表现在政治范畴，而不是宗教本身。前者不为政治秩序所承认，被诬为邪教、匪类，屡遭取缔镇压，往往只能在下层潜行默运；后者从整体上属于统治阶级的意识形态，受到尊崇、信仰和保护。就宗教意义而言，民间宗教与正统宗教之间没有隔着不可逾越的壕沟。世界上著名的宗教在起初时无一不在底层社会流传，属于民间教派。由于逐渐适应社会的普遍需求，并在不断地抗争中，以自己的实力走向正统地位甚至统治地位……”

Although classical Marxist writers did not directly discuss the idea that “there is no insurmountable chasm between folk religion and orthodox religion,” Marx and Engels, in their many discussions on the Protestant Reformation, the Peasant Wars, and the early rise of Christianity, largely demonstrated the conclusion that “the world’s famous religions all began by spreading among the lower classes as folk sects. By gradually adapting to the general needs of society and through continuous struggle, they used their own strength to move toward orthodox or even ruling status.”

马克思主义经典作家虽然没有直接关于“民间宗教与正统宗教之间没有隔着不可逾越的壕沟”的论述，但马克思、恩格斯在关于新教改革、农民战争和基督教早期的兴起等方面的诸多论述，也都大体论证了“世界上著名的宗教在起初时无一不在底层社会流传，属于民间教派。由于逐渐适应社会的普遍需求，并在不断地抗争中，以自己的实力走向正统地位甚至统治地位”这一结论。

Classical Marxist writers also affirmed the judgment that “although folk religion and orthodox religion differ in essence, the difference is more manifested in the political category than in religion itself.” In his early work *Comments on the Latest Prussian Censorship Instruction*, Marx said: “Every religion believes that its distinction from all other (particular and fictitious) religions lies in its particular essence, and it is precisely because of this certainty that it is the true religion.” [2]2 Karl Marx, “Comments on the Latest Prussian Censorship Instruction,” *Marx-Engels Collected Works*, Vol. 1, p. 114. That is, every religion will boast of its unique possession of truth and emphasize that it alone is the true religion; but such boasting was not decisive in Prussia at that time. For a religion to gain recognition from the ruling class, the key was “to declare the particular content of religious dogma as the determining factor of the state, that is, to make the particular essence of religion the criterion of the state.” [3]3 Ibid. In other words, in a class society, whether a religion is orthodox or not is actually judged by state power; to a large extent, orthodoxy is indeed a political category.

马克思主义经典作家还肯定了“民间宗教与正统宗教虽然存在质的不同，但差异更多地表现在政治范畴，而不是宗教本身”这一判断。马克思早年在《评普鲁士最近的书报检查令》中说：“每一种宗教都认为，它同其他一切（特殊的和虚构的）宗教的区别，正在于它的特殊本质，正是由于它有这种确定性，它才是真正的宗教。”也就是说，每种宗教都会标榜自己对真理的独特占有，都会强调自己才是真正的宗教；但是这种标榜在当时的普鲁士，是不具有决定性意义的，宗教要获得统治阶级的认可，关键是“要宣布宗教信条的独特内容是国家的决定因素，也就是说，要使宗教的特殊本质成为国家的准则”。即在阶级社会中，宗教的正统与否，实际上是由国家政权来判断的，很大程度上说，正统与否确实是一种政治范畴。

The traditional Marxist view of religion mainly targets “orthodox religion.” So, are folk beliefs and folk religion, considered “non-orthodox” within the political category, also included in the Marxist definition of “religion”? If so, do folk religion and orthodox religion share the same characteristics? Lenin believed that “religion is the opium of the people.” [4]4 A paraphrase of Lenin’s statement in “Socialism and Religion” (1905): “Religion is the opium of the people.” Is folk religion also this? That is, as an object despised or suppressed by the ruling class, is folk religion also the opium of the people?

传统的马克思主义宗教观，主要针对的是“正统宗教”而言，那么在政治范畴内被认为是“非正统”的民间信仰、民间宗教是否也被纳入马克思主义关于“宗教”的界定之中？如果是，民间宗教是否与正统宗教具有相同的特性？列宁认为的“宗教是麻醉人民的鸦片”，民间宗教是否也是如此？也就是说，作为统治阶级鄙视或镇压的对象，民间宗教是否也是麻醉人民的鸦片？

In a letter to Friedrich Adolph Sorge on November 29, 1886, Engels wrote: “The Americans, for all sorts of obvious historical reasons, are far behind in all theoretical matters. Although they did not receive medieval institutions from Europe, they did receive a great deal of medieval tradition, religion, English common (feudal) law, superstition, spiritualism—in short, all kinds of nonsense that is very useful for stupefying the masses.” [5]5 Engels to Sorge, November 29, 1886, *Marx-Engels Collected Works*, Vol. 47, p. 534. Here, “superstition, spiritualism” are listed alongside “religion”; clearly, they are not subordinate to one another. And it is especially noteworthy that, in Engels’ view, “superstition, spiritualism” can be used by the ruling class as a tool to “stupefy the masses.” However, “stupefying the masses” is only one aspect of their manifestation. As Engels pointed out in *Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy*: “The Middle Ages had annexed all the other forms of ideology—philosophy, politics, jurisprudence—to theology and made them subdivisions of theology. Every social and political movement was therefore compelled to take on a theological form. For the masses, whose feelings were entirely nourished by religion, to raise a great storm, their own immediate interests had to be presented in a religious guise. From the very beginning the burghers had created for themselves an appendage of propertyless urban plebeians, day laborers, and various menial servants, who did not belong to any recognized estate—the forerunners of the later proletariat. Likewise, religious heresy had long since split into two factions: the burgher moderate faction and the plebeian revolutionary faction, which was also detested by the burgher heretics.” [6]6 Engels, *Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy*, *Marx-Engels Collected Works*, Vol. 26, p. 395. Religion, religious heresy, and superstition can be tools of stupefaction, the “moderate faction,” but they can also “present the immediate interests of the masses in a religious guise,” becoming the “revolutionary faction.”

恩格斯在1886年11月29日给弗•阿•左尔格的信中写到：“美国人由于各种显而易见的历史原因在所有理论问题上都远远落后，它们虽然没有从欧洲接受中世纪的制度，但是接受了大量中世纪的传统、宗教、英国的习惯（封建）法、迷信、降神术，总之，接受了……对愚化群众则非常有用的各种荒唐的东西。”在这里，“迷信、降神术”等是与“宗教”并列的，显然它们之间是不互相统属的，而且尤其值得注意的是，在恩格斯看来，“迷信、降神术”可以被统治阶级利用，成为“愚化群众”的工具。但是，“愚化群众”只是其中一方面的表现。正如恩格斯在《路德维希•费尔巴哈和德国古典哲学的终结》中指出的：“中世纪把意识形态的其他一切形式——哲学、政治、法学，都合并到神学中，使它们成为神学中的科目。因此，当时任何社会运动和政治运动都不得不采取神学的形式；对于完全由宗教培育起来的群众感情来说，要掀起巨大的风暴，就必须让群众的切身利益披上宗教的外衣出现。市民阶级从最初起就给自己制造了一种由无财产的、不属于任何公认的等级的城市平民、短工和各种仆役所组成的附属品，即后来的无产阶级的前身，同样，宗教异端也早就分成了两派：市民温和派和甚至也为市民异教徒所憎恶的平民革命派。”宗教、宗教的异端和迷信，可以成为愚化的工具，是“温和派”，但也可以“让群众的切身利益披上宗教的外衣出现”，成为“革命派”。

Folk Religion in China and Its Functions

我国民间宗教及其功能

Marx once pointed out in *The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte*: “The small peasants form a vast mass, the members of which live in similar conditions but without entering into manifold relations with one another. Their mode of production isolates them instead of bringing them into mutual intercourse. … The small peasants are consequently connected only by local ties.” [7]7 Marx, *The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte*, *Marx-Engels Collected Works*, Vol. 11, p. 187. This exposition by Marx is of great significance for guiding our study of folk religion.

马克思在《路易•波拿巴的雾月十八日》中曾经指出：“小农人数众多，他们的生活条件相同，但是彼此间并没有发生多种多样的关系。他们的生产方式不是使他们互相交往，而是使他们互相隔离。……而各个小农彼此间只存在地域的联系。”马克思的这一论述，对于指导我们研究民间宗教，具有十分重要的意义。

Geographical ties and blood ties are the two most important social relations for traditional peasants. In China, both have, to varying degrees, been draped in the “guise” of folk religion.

地缘关系和血缘关系，对传统农民来说是最重要的两种社会关系，在我国，它们都不同程度地披上了民间宗教的“外衣”。

In traditional society, the countryside was the main body of society, and land was the core issue of concern for peasants. However, in ancient times, due to factors such as soil erosion or river alluviation, land was not immutable. How to assert one’s sovereignty over land was a major problem. Although the advent of writing made this relatively easier, because the writing and preservation of land deeds served as the basis for government taxation, and every landlord undoubtedly wanted to underreport land, the actual ownership of land was fiercely contested down to every inch. The emergence of local deities helped solve this problem. When people came to a place to reclaim wasteland, they would first seize advantageous positions such as mountain passes or river mouths, build a small temple or shrine (altar); this land then fell under the jurisdiction of this deity, and the person(s) who worshipped this deity were undoubtedly the owners of the land under the deity’s jurisdiction. When this land changed hands, a new deity would often appear, accompanied by a myth about a contest of magical powers between the two deities, with one side defeated and fleeing, or a similar, more friendly and deferential legend. This worship of local deities and the construction of myths was in fact also establishing an “ideology” used to safeguard the rights of the villagers themselves.

在传统社会中，乡村是社会的主体，而土地则是农民关注的最核心问题。但在古代，由于水土流失或河流冲积等原因，土地并非是一成不变的，如何宣示自己对土地的主权，便是一个大问题。虽然文字出现后，这件事情变得相对容易，但因为地契的书写和保存是官府税收的凭据，而每个地主无疑都想少报土地，实际的土地归属却又是寸土必争。地方神明的出现，帮助解决了这个难题。人们来到一地开荒，首先把持住山口、水口等有利位置，建立一个小庙或小社子（坛）；这块土地便属于这个神明管辖，而祭拜这个神明的人（们），无疑就是神明所管辖的这块地的主人。当这块地易主的时候，往往会出现一个新的神明，同时伴随着一个关于两个神明斗法、一方败走的神话，或者类似的较为友好谦让的传说故事。这种对地方神明的崇拜、神话的构建，实际上也是在建立一种“意识形态”，用来维护乡民自身的权利。

Several villages that worship the same deity undoubtedly have a closer relationship and can easily form alliances. This was a relatively common means of forming alliances in areas such as Jiangnan, where armed feuds were historically prevalent. The unifying effect of local deity beliefs on villagers is often most prominently displayed in extreme events such as tax-resistance riots. Before a tax-resistance riot, villagers would often gather at the temple of a local deity to perform divination. The temple served as the command headquarters; if captives were taken, they would also be held in the temple. When government troops suppressed a village riot, they would frequently raze the temple where the rioters had gathered, or “escort” the statue of the local deity from the temple to an official temple such as the City God Temple, where it would be held for several years, and only “released” back once the situation had stabilized. From this perspective, local deity beliefs were often no longer a tool for the indoctrination of the upper rulers, but rather a protective deity for common people defending their own rights and interests.

崇拜同一个神明的几个乡村，无疑具有更加密切的关系，容易结成联盟，这在历史上械斗流行的江南等地，是比较常见的结盟手段。地方神明信仰对乡民的团结作用，在抗粮暴动等极端事件中，往往表现得最为突出。在抗粮暴动前，乡民往往聚集在地方神明的寺庙前进行占卜。寺庙就是指挥部，如果抓住俘虏也会关押在寺庙中；官军平定乡民暴乱，常常会同时铲平暴民聚众的寺庙，或者将寺庙中的地方神明的神像，“押解”到城隍庙之类的官方寺庙中看押数年，等事态稳定才将神像“放回”。由此来看，地方神明信仰，很多时候已经不是上层统治者教化的工具，而是小民维护自身权益的保护神。

In the countryside, blood relations, like geographical relations, are also often expressed through the form of folk religion. “Ancestor worship” is the most common way to deify blood relations, but this “ancestor worship” is not necessarily patriarchal and Confucian in nature. For example, in the Hakka regions of China, there is “Great-Grandmother worship,” where the ancestor worshipped is female rather than male. Of course, they often use a tradition to explain this phenomenon: the husband was away from home for many years, and a widow and her orphaned child traveled a thousand li to seek him. Although they ultimately failed to find the husband, the mother and son relied on each other, reclaimed wasteland, and opened up a new home. Finally, the place where the mother was buried became the ancestral grave of the local area, receiving sacrifices from filial descendants for generations. In the northeastern region of China, the object of ancestor worship is not even human, but animals, such as foxes and weasels, known as “household-protecting immortals.” Of course, there are similarly traditions to “explain” this: the ancestors migrated to the Northeast through the Shanhai Pass, enduring countless hardships, and received help from a fox immortal along the way. Without the fox immortal’s help, the ancestors could not have saved themselves, so later generations are even more grateful and worship the household-protecting immortal of their own family, thereby maintaining family unity.

在乡村，血缘关系跟地缘关系一样，也常常采取民间宗教的形式来表达。“祖先崇拜”是最常见的神化血缘关系的方式，但这种“祖先崇拜”并不一定是父权儒家式的，如我国客家地区的“太婆崇拜”，崇拜的祖先是女性而非男性，当然他们往往会用一个传统对这种现象加以说明。即丈夫外出多年，孤儿寡母千里寻夫，虽然最终未能找到丈夫，但母子相依，垦殖拓荒，开辟了新的家园，最后母亲去世安葬之地，成为当地一代祖坟，得到孝子贤孙的世代祭祀。在我国东北地区，祖先崇拜的对象甚至不是人，而是动物，即狐狸、黄鼠狼等“保家仙”，当然同样也有类似的传统加以“解释”：祖先闯关东移民，千辛万苦，历经磨难，其中得到一只狐仙儿的帮助，若没有狐仙儿的帮助，祖先也是自身难保，所以后代更加感激祭拜的是本家族的保家仙，以此来维护家族的团结。

In the countryside, folk religion has the function of connecting and organizing the people, but it also has great insularity and exclusivity. Take the folk beliefs in Sun Yat-sen’s hometown as an example. Sun Yat-sen was born in Cuiheng (Keng) Village, Dazi Du, Dongzhen, Xiangshan County, Guangdong Province. This was a multi-surname village, where the Yang and Lu surnames had the largest populations, the most land, and the greatest power. They built an ancestral temple in Cuiheng Village called the “North Pole Temple,” worshipping the Supreme Lord of the Dark Heaven (the Northern Emperor), with the Heavenly Empress and the Lady of Golden Flowers as accompanying deities. Every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, they organized a “parade of the gods” activity and set off bamboo and gunpowder firecrackers, called a “firecracker festival.” This temple owned over 100 mu of land and held great authority in the village. Only by joining the village temple could one be considered a “Cuiheng native.” Although the Sun surname had lived in Cuiheng for several generations, they were still not qualified to join the village temple and could not receive a share of the roasted pork during the temple sacrifices. Families qualified to enter the temple who had a male child had to pay a “household male tax” (two yuan) to register the male child before they could be considered part of the temple. Of course, outsiders could also apply to join the temple, but the fee was very large. Although the Sun family was not qualified to join the village temple, as residents of Cuiheng Village, even without the qualifications to join the village’s ancestral temple, they still had some connection with it. Sun Yat-sen’s grandmother gave him the childhood name “Dixiang” because the villagers believed in the gods and often had their children worship the Northern Emperor as a godfather (“qianye”), so a “Di” character was often placed before their names. This was also a reflection of the Sun family’s attempt to integrate into the village. However, when the young Sun Yat-sen returned to his hometown after studying in Hawaii, USA, with his elder brother, he was dissatisfied with the villagers’ belief in the Northern Emperor. Together with Lu Haodong, he broke off the fingers of the Northern Emperor statue in the Northern Emperor Temple and scratched the face of the Lady of Golden Flowers. This greatly angered the local villagers who devoutly believed in the Northern Emperor. Sun Yat-sen’s father agreed to pay for the repair of the Northern Emperor statue. At that time, the villagers of Cuiheng may not have understood Sun Yat-sen’s act of destroying the statues from the perspective of modernity and anti-superstition, but rather saw it as a provocation by a small surname family against the power of the large surname clans in the village.

在乡村，民间宗教有联系、组织民众的功能，但也有很大的封闭性和排他性。以孙中山家乡的民间信仰为例，孙中山出生在广东香山县东镇大字都翠亨（坑）村。该村是杂姓村，以杨、陆两姓人丁、土地最多，势力最大。他们在翠亨村建有祖庙“北极殿”，拜玄天上帝（北帝），配祀天后与金花夫人。每年正月十五组织“游神”活动，并燃放竹制火药鞭炮，称为“炮会”。这座庙拥有100多亩土地，在村中很有权威，只有加入村庙，才能算是“翠亨人”。虽然孙姓在翠亨已经居住数代，但仍无资格加入村庙，村庙祭祀时不能分得烧猪肉。有资格入庙的人家若生男孩，需交“户丁银”（二元）报丁，才算入庙；当然外人也不是不可以申请入庙，但缴纳费用很大。虽然孙姓人没有资格加入村庙，但作为居住在翠亨村的人，即便没有资格加入村中祖庙，也多少同村庙发生一些联系。孙中山的祖母给他起名“帝象”，是因为村中信神，多让儿女拜北帝为干爹（“契爷”），所以称呼前多有一个“帝”字，这也是孙家力图融入村中的一个反映。然而，当青年孙中山随兄到美国夏威夷求学后回乡，他对乡亲们信奉北帝感到不满，于是与陆皓东一起，将北帝庙里的北帝像的手指折断，还把金花娘娘的脸划花。这让当地崇信北帝的村民非常震怒，孙中山的父亲答应出钱修复北帝像。当初翠亨村民可能还没有从现代性反迷信等角度理解孙中山的毁像行为，而是将其看做是小姓人家对村中大族势力的挑衅。

In the countryside, the relationship between blood and geography is very complex. Reflected in folk religion, there is a widespread phenomenon of mutual integration between deities and ancestors, temples and ancestral halls, and some can even transform into each other. These phenomena of folk religion are very worthy of study. As Marx said in *On the Jewish Question*: “We do not turn secular questions into theological ones. We turn theological questions into secular ones. History has long been explained by superstition, but we now explain superstition by history.”

在乡村，血缘和地缘的关系十分复杂，反映到民间宗教中，神明与祖先，庙宇与宗祠，大量存在相互融合的现象，有的甚至可以相互转化。民间宗教的这些现象，非常值得研究，正如马克思在《论犹太人问题》中所说：“我们不把世俗问题化为神学问题。我们要把神学问题化为世俗问题。相当长的时期以来，人们一直用迷信来说明历史，而我们现在是用历史来说明迷信。”

Folk Religion Should Have Its Place in the Marxist View of Religion

民间宗教在马克思主义宗教观中应有其地位

The classical Marxist writers, who dealt extensively with issues such as “heresies of the Reformation” and the “cloak of peasant uprisings,” have in fact touched upon what we today commonly call folk religion. However, these discussions mainly concern one category of folk religion, namely the secret sects that were actively suppressed by the rulers. The more common form of folk religion is actually basically legal and normal. It is only because folk religion is the religious belief of the “ignorant men and women” that, unless a disturbance caused by folk religion breaks out, officials and literati rarely record it. This has created an impression in written records that folk religion is secretive and bizarre. In reality, folk religious belief is more often expressed in its normal, folk-custom aspect.

马克思主义经典作家，较多涉及的“新教异端”、“农民起义外衣”等问题，实际上已经触及我们今天常说的民间宗教。但这些论述主要涉及的是民间宗教中的一类，即被统治者积极打压的秘密教派。民间宗教更常见的形式，其实是基本合法的、常态的。只是由于民间宗教是“愚夫愚妇”的宗教信仰，除非爆发由民间宗教引起的骚乱，官方和文人很少对此进行记录，所以在文字记录上造成了民间宗教秘密诡谲的印象。其实民间宗教信仰，更多地是表现在民俗常态的一面。

Many scholars today have begun to use the term “local religion” to distinguish it from folk religion, which specifically refers to secret sects, thereby highlighting that locality is an important characteristic of normal folk religion. Because the classical Marxist writers have relatively little to say about “folk religion,” especially about the normal type of “folk religion” that is not a cloak for peasant uprisings, this has led to a long-term lack of understanding of folk religion among researchers of the Marxist view of religion in China, even to the point of regarding it as a theoretical taboo. But things are not so simple. “Folk religion” should have its place in the Marxist view of religion.

现在很多学者就开始使用“地方宗教”一词，来区别特指秘密教派的民间宗教，以突出地方性是常态的民间宗教的重要性质。由于马克思主义经典作家对于“民间宗教”较少论述，特别是对作为常态的、非农民起义外衣类型的“民间宗教”论述很少，造成了我国马克思主义宗教观研究者长期对民间宗教认识不足，甚至将其视为理论的禁止。但事情并没有这么简单，“民间宗教”在马克思主义宗教观中应有其地位。