Middle-Class Ambivalence : Religious Attitudes in the Dianshizhai huabao

Erik Zurcher : Middle-Class Ambivalence. Religious Attitudes in the Dianshizhai huabao The article contains an analysis of religious attitudes underlying the written com¬ ments that accompany the illustrations in the first twenty volumes of the first Chinese pictorial, the Dianshizhai huabao (Shanghai, 1884-1898). The more than 2,000 comments written by the editors (no doubt in conformity with the opinions and prejudices of their urban, fairly educated readership) represent a basically conservative "middle class" Confucian value system, far removed from the canonical tradition of orthodox Confucianism. An attempt is made to clarify the rather ambiguous attitudes towards non-Confucian religious beliefs, practitioners, and ceremonials. Large-scale ceremonials of a public nature are fully accepted, especially if they have a communal and protective function. On the other end of the scale, manifestations of popular religion involving magic objects and private practitioners are utterly rejected as harmful and superstitious. The institutionalized religions (Buddhism and Taoism) occupy an intermediate position : the attitudes are ambiguous, not well-defined, or even self-contradictory.