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least up to the time when the Ming Taoist Canon was compiled- would be
represented in the Canon by a full variety of scriptures, not only liturgical
texts, but also historical accounts and records of mediums' pronouncements
(Dean 1993, esp. 18, 30- 32). Today, for instance in southern Taiwan, one may
witness *jiao conducted by Taoist priests-even those of some standing- at
popular temples established and controlled by charismatic spirit-mediums.
Peter NICKERSON

W Cedzich 1993; Cheu Hock Tong 1988; Nickerson 1994; Schipper 1985e;
Stein R. A. 1979; Strickmann 1977
* fuji; tang-ki; TAOISM AND POPULAR RELIGION ; TAOISM AND POP U LAR
SECTS

Taoism and ancestor worship

Ancestor worship in China has generally been considered the province either
of "diffuse" Chinese religion or, more specifically, Confucianism. Indeed,
the archaic ancestral cult as practiced until the Eastern Zhou was codified in
Confucian classics such as the Yili f~:fI (Ceremonials) and, in modified form,
continues to be practiced among Chinese families and extended kin-groups
today. However, by the mid-Eastern Zhou the ancestral temple had lost its
role as the center of the ancestral cult (in favor the tomb) and new modes of
dealing with and caring for the dead became central concerns (von Falken-
hausen 1994). Thus it is not inappropriate to speak of Taoism and the cult of
ancestors-in terms of the rites developed within Taoism to ensure the welfare
of the deceased, as well as relations between Taoist mortuary rites/ rituals of
salvation and ancient, Confucianized forms of ancestor "worship."
The early period. The attitude of the early Taoist religion toward the traditional
ancestral cult was ambiguous at best. The *Xiang'er commentary to the Daode
jing claims that the Dao created sexual intercourse because of the importance
of "the continuation of ancestral sacrifice and the survival of the species"; but
"heaven and earth lack ancestral shrines" (like transcendent immortals, they
do not reproduce). Elsewhere the same text claims that making food offer-
ings to the dead and praying at ancestral shrines is prohibited by the Dao and
that violators will be penalized (Bokenkamp 1997, 84 and 119). Other scholars
have taken the early Taoist admonition-"the spirits do not drink or eat" (see,
e.g., *Daomen keliie, Ib)-to include even offerings to ancestors. Therefore
early Taoist adherents may have felt negligent and even guilty toward their
deceased forebears.