An Unbreakable Thread? Preliminary Observations on the Interaction between Chinese and Taiwanese Religious Traditions under Japanese Colonial Rule=切不斷的繩索？－日治時期兩岸宗教互動初探
This paper examines the synergy between religious traditions in China and Taiwan during the Japanese colonial (1895-1945). In contrast to much conventional wisdom, which assumes that cultural ties between China and Taiwan were severely disrupted after 1895, I attempt to show that extensive contacts took place between specialists and worshippers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Based on a broad-based approach designed to stimulate new research (as opposed to the in-depth investigation of a single case study), this paper covers a wide range of religious phenomena. Apart from the ways in which Cross-Strait links shaped the development of organized religious movements such as Buddhism and Daoism, I also consider their impact on communal religious traditions as seen in pilgrimage networks for popular deities like Mazu媽祖, the Great Emperor who Protects Life (Baosheng dadi保生大帝), and the Royal Lords (wangye王爺). Other topics include the interaction between Chinese and Taiwanese vegetarian groups and other sectarian traditions, both in terms of religious leaders (including those who launched the Ta-pa-ni噍吧哖 (Xilai An西來庵) Incident of 1915) and the texts that formed the core of their scriptural traditions (especially morality books or shanshu善書). Taiwan's place in the transnational religious networks of that era, and especially those involving publishing enterprises, will also be considered.
Ｉ. Introductory Remarks 41 II. Buddhism 44 III. Daoism 48 IV. Pilgrimage networks 52 V. Sectarian religions groups 56 VI. Religious publishing 60 VII. Concluding Remarks 63
