Page 201 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

OV E RVIEW 161

Other features. Two other facets of recent Taoist involvement with the ancestral
cult might be briefly mentioned. The rite called Destruction of Hell (*poyu)
was one of the Song Taoist innovations alluded to above. In intent and basic
format, at least, it is clearly related to the Red-head (hongtou ~ ~ ; see *hong-
tou and wutou) ritual master's rite of Attack on the Fortress (dacheng :J1~ ;
see *Death and the afterlife). It should also be pointed out that, during the
Attack, on the altar set up for the deceased are sometimes placed ancestral
tablets belonging to the family or families sponsoring the ritual. Also occasion-
ally seen are various paraphernalia for conducting the marriages of female
relatives who died unmarried (minghun ~ ~~, or so-called "ghost marriages,"
which allow women to receive ancestral offerings as part of the agnatic groups
of their "husbands"). The ritual masters assist in straightening out lines of
descent and alliance within the traditional ancestral cult, allowing wandering
souls to take their proper places on family shrines.
Finally, representing a virtually complete fusion of Taoist death ritual and
the ancestral cult, reference might be made to a forty-nine day rite carried out
after the death of a Taoist master in Gaoxiong, Taiwan and observed by the
author of the present entry. The concluding act of the ritual occurred when
the high priest (gaogong ~ Jj) ; see *daozhang), who had been conducting the
ritual of Merit during the final days, placed the deceased Taoist master's spirit-
tablet on his family's ancestral shrine.
Peter NICKERSON

m Davis E. 2001, 171-99; von Falkenhausen 1994; Kleeman 1994b
* TAOISM AND POPULAR RELIGION