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In the First Chapter, the issue of how the Anglican/Episcopal Church in Taiwan（ps. Christian Sheng Kung Hui.） exceptionally accepts the Chinese ancestry worship is introduced. The acceptance is beyond the Christian’s viewpoint on ancestry worship. By integrating the ancestry worship, the Anglican/Episcopal Church in Taiwan combines the philosophical views of God in the East and the West. In this way, what Anglican/Episcopal Church in Taiwan has done not only highlights the uniqueness of God but also accords with the Chinese filial affection. In this study, by discussing how the Anglican/Episcopal Church in Taiwan accept ancestry worship, we try to present the agenda about ancestry worship in Taiwan nowadays.
In the Second Chapter, the importance of ancestry worship in Chinese culture is discussed, which can be traced back before Ch’in Dynasty. The Chinese, including all the emperors believed in “the god’s will” and the association with planetary movements, which contributed to the worship of god and ancestry and influenced the viewpoints of universal concept in Chinese culture. As the concept developed, it became the foundation in Chinese religion and conflicted against the Christian belief﹘where God is unique. In other words, the differences between the philosophical views of God were rooted before Ch’in Dynasty.
In the Third Chapter, the meaning and function of Taiwanese ancestry worship is presented. For one thing, the ancestry worship comes from the Chinese spirit of filial affection. For another, it develops from the Chinese customs and the awe of nature. The supernatural power from “the God and the Ghost”, the life cycle in “Nature” and the social order of “Mankind”﹘all of the three﹘have integrated in the Chinese culture. In this way, from the observation of Chinese belief in “Nature & Mankind” and “Mankind and God/Ghost”, we find the ancestry worship (or family ghost worship) results from the multi-god belief, in which awe of dead spirit was turned into the worshiping of the ancestors. Furthermore, the progress of transformation has been studied to demonstrate how the Taiwanese attempt to keep the harmony between human beings and the dead spirits through religious routines. As the custom has been maintained and develops, the worship of ancestors and gods is integrated in the routines. In holidays, weddings or funerals, not only gods but ancestors are worshiped﹘in which ancestry worship is the most typical method representing the communication between spirits and human beings.
In the Fourth Chapter, we try to analyze how the Christian view Chinese ancestry worship, finding it’s hard for the Christian to realize the essence of ancestry worship fully. There seems little understanding between the Eastern culture and Christianity, which results from the lack of religious clarification and the ignorance of cultural backgrounds. In other words, the Christianity replaces the “humanism” with “deism”, leading to the conflicts between the two. “Humanism” and “deism” should be compatible in terms of human experiences and spiritual belief. However, the overemphasis on deity overlooks the importance of humanism. We believe the differences between the Christianity and Chinese ancestry worship lie in their distinct perceptions﹘the Christianity perceives ancestry worship from the angle of deity whereas the Chinese views it on the basis of humanism. Even so, their respect for the dead spirits is the same.
In the Fifth Chapter, we discuss the way how the Anglican/Episcopal Church in Taiwan attempts to combine Christianity and ancestry worship. From the perspective of the Christian, they believe all the ethics comes form God and God is almighty. Besides, they also believe “love” is the core of life, the principle of social order. From the perspective of the Anglican/Episcopal Church, caring for the whole society has been the calling of the Christian. Based on the interviews with the priest and the followers, we found the Anglican/Episcopal Church in Taiwan accepts the Chinese ancestry worship, which integrate Chinese culture, routines and religious belief. To our surprise, there are similarities between the two cultures. The way how filial piety is perceived in Chinese culture and God in Christianity is similar to how people perceive god worship in Chinese culture and Ten Commandments in Christianity. By accepting ancestry worship, the Anglican/Episcopal Church in Taiwan have satisfied Taiwanese in terms of respecting ancestors and sprits. Although they are questioned by others about their faith in Christianity, what they have done helps Chinese Christians have the right to show their affection to their family.
In the last two chapters, we present the reason the Anglican/Episcopal Church in Taiwan attempts to solve the problem﹘which is similar to Catholicism. Thus, we compare the reasons why Catholic church, Anglican/Episcopal Church and reformers accept Chinese ancestry worship. Finally, we conclude it by summarize the mutual relations among belief, culture and routines.
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