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7 - Religion and War in Traditional China
from Part I - Classical Foundations
- By Barend ter Haar
Edited by Margo Kitts, Hawai'i Pacific University, Honolulu
Book:

The Cambridge Companion to Religion and War

Published online:

04 May 2023

Print publication:

11 May 2023, pp 164-186
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Summary

All aspects of war in China were surrounded by religious activities, ranging from rituals to predict the future and guarantee success in war and the safety of its participants to rituals dealing with the bloody aftermath of war.

22 - The Demonological Framework of the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace
from Part IV - Featured Conflicts
- By Barend ter Haar
Edited by Margo Kitts, Hawai'i Pacific University, Honolulu
Book:

The Cambridge Companion to Religion and War

Published online:

04 May 2023

Print publication:

11 May 2023, pp 428-442
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Summary

The so-called Great Peace or Taiping Rebellion is one of the most destructive events of Chinese history. Indigenous beliefs in the efficacy of violence to fight demonic beings, including humans identified as such, were an essential element of this event, next to Christian and Confucian sources of inspiration.

Barend ter Haar
Published online:

11 May 2019

Print publication:

30 May 2019
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The basis of Chinese religious culture, and with that many aspects of daily life, was the threat and fear of demonic attacks. These were inherently violent and could only be counteracted by violence as well - even if this reactive violence was masked by euphemisms such as execution, expulsion, exorcisms and so on. At the same time, violence was a crucial dimension of the maintenance of norms and values, for instance in sworn agreements or in beliefs about underworld punishment. Violence was also an essential aspect of expressing respect through sacrificial gifts of meat (and in an earlier stage of Chinese culture also human flesh) and through a culture of auto-mutilation and ritual suicide. At the same time, conventional indigenous terms for violence such as bao 暴 were not used for most of these practices since they were not experienced as such, but rather justified as positive uses of physical force.

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