Communication with invisible beings and the pursuit of universality - Spirit writing in a modern Chinese new religion -

Spirit writing, which was discussed in this paper, was an important means of communication with sacred beings as well as communication within religious groups in Chinese society. Unlike other types of revelation that are delivered unilaterally by an invisible divine being, the revelation and the religious texts through the spirit wring have the characteristic of a strong human leading role. The meaning of revelation could vary depending on the question asked of the divine being and how the revelation was interpreted. Therefore, the spirit writing ritual was essentially a political action. Daoyuan, a powerful new folk religion in the early 20th century, was able to expand its religious affiliation through intensive spirit writing practice. However, there was skepticism about whether the revelation made through the spirit writing could be universally accepted by the public, because of the arbitrary nature of the sprit writing itself. Since the 1930s, the conflict within the Daoyuan church has intensified due to the suppression of the religious nature of this emerging private religious group by secular state power and the differences in believers’ positions on dereligionization. However, the role of spirit writing in communication within denomination did not fade, and even amidst political conflict within the denomination, spirit writing was used as a means to justify the positions of each faction.