From the Geil Archive (34)–A Ghostly Take On the Three Teachings

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A year ago on Round and Square (26 October 2012)–La Pensée Cyclique–Rural Religion in China (26)
Two years ago on Round and Square (26 October 2011)–Seinfeld Ethnography (31)–George's New Friend 

[a] Ghosts on the mountain - RF 

Click here for other posts by Guest Contributor Lily Philpott:  
1-About Me                            2-The Tenacious Wall        3-A Yankee in the Land of Rhubarb

4-Immortality to Obscurity       5-A Ghostly Take...

Today's Guest Contributor on Round & Square is Lily Philpott. She hails from Weston, Connecticut and recently graduated from Beloit College with a B.A. in Creative Writing and Literary Studies. She joins Rachel, Julia, Amara, and Sarah in the Geil archive in Doylestown, Pennsylvania to help digitize the archive and enjoy the stories she finds there. 

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Please note that all items marked "DHS" are property of the Doylestown Historical Society, and used with DHS permission. If you wish to use an image you need permission of the Society. Please contact Robert LaFleur  (lafleur@beloit.edu), and he will put you in touch with the appropriate people. 

[b] Halloween's stealthy approach - RF 

In honour of Halloween’s stealthy approach, the document today's blog post is based on involves ghosts. 

It also involves a look at William Edgar Geil’s approach to Chinese religious traditions—but in the spirit of Halloween, these ideas evolved from a document dealing with ghosts. Rather than the sheet-clad revelers of All Hallow’s Eve, these ghosts are of a more dour nature—Daoist, in fact.

I'll return to ghosts in a minute, but first, some background on the idea of syncretism in Chinese religion. 

To syncretize something is to combine various, often opposing, ideas into complementary systems. In Chinese religion, syncretism deals with the melding of Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist thought. This is called sanjiao heyi, which translates to: “the three teachings merge into one”.[1] These three disciplines are unavoidably distinct, but in the practice of sanjiao heyi they merge seamlessly into separate, but equal, coexistence.

[c] Taiwan temple - RF 

The idea of syncretism in religion is one that is intrinsic to Chinese culture, and is therefore difficult to fully explain, but I hope that this quick explanation does some justice to it and will help with what I plan to discuss.

In the document itself, Geil is typing up translations from a text called the ‘Tsi-nan fu Annals’. This document was located among other notes and drafts that Geil collected in preparation for writing his Eighteen Capitals of China book. 

Tsi nan (Jinan, in pinyin Romanization) is the capital of Shandong province, located near Mount Tai, one of the five sacred mountains. While Geil did not actually translate this document, what’s important here is that he typed, read, and digested the information. Why? I’ll explain in just a minute…

[d] Tai shan is a ghost resort... - DHS

The document recounts a number of urban legends regarding Tsi nan and the surrounding area. Sandwiched between stories of virtuous widows are a couple of supernatural tales.

The first is a discussion of the aforementioned Daoist ghosts. On Mount Tai, the annals stated that there was a Daoist priest who was “able to call the spirits of the departed and also to forsee and reckon the length of human life [sic]”, constituting the source of the “GHOSTLY tradition connected with Tai shan”. The document even goes so far as to claim Mount Tai as “the Summer Resort for the GHOSTS of people of the Central Kingdom."

If we read the document with syncretism in mind, we read that the Greek idea of Hades comes from a Daoist book on exorcism, which in turn relates to Buddhist ‘yak shas’ (evil spirits) and ghosts. Confucianism is mentioned simply because Confucius did not believe in these spiralling myths of Hell.

[e] Fighting Buddhist demi-gods - DHS 

Another story related in the document is that of a legion of Buddhist priests who aided the Prince of Yen while he besieged Tsi nan. When they disappeared after the fight, it was found that they had disappeared into a cavern where a great many Buddhist demigods were carved on the walls, all of which were covered with perspiration.

While transcribing these translations, Geil maintains a firmly skeptical air. After relating the story of the fighting Buddhist demigods, he types: “THAT IS IN AN OFFICIAL HISTORY! How few foreigners realize that these LOCAL literatures exist. But these are official!!! ^^^ !!! […] These annals are to be numbered among the occult forces!! Made by the learned and owned by the learned and official classes.”

[f] Chinese temple - RF 

William Edgar Geil first began traveling the world as a missionary. His perspective is firmly Western, and it is most likely that he had never heard of, or studied the idea of the ‘three teachings merging into one’.

As a Westerner with a Christian background, Geil often expressed skepticism towards what he saw as the superstitious nature of Chinese religion. But he was also supremely interested in these non-Christian religions, and for that we should commend him.

[g] Archway to a temple - RF 

In this particular document, and in others that we have scanned, Geil is practicing his own brand of unintentional syncretism. 

Again – he is unaware that what he is doing is syncretic, but I would argue that he is participating in this tradition. The simple act of transcribing information about Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism into a single document falls into the realm of syncretism.

While at Beloit College, I took a class on Chinese Religious Tradition with Professor Natalie Gummer, and we spent a lot of time discussing what reading a text physically does to you. I would argue that in a true Daoist fashion (where you find the Dao by not searching for the Dao), the process of typing up these notes means that Geil is thinking about syncretism without thinking about syncretism. The mere act of compiling this information is the first, and nebulous step in the creation of an idea.

[h] Daoist temple - RF 

With Professor Natalie Gummer, we discussed the way that the Dao is reached by the action of non-action; a passive, rather than active search is the key to success here. 

Geil’s act of non-action—his unintentional use of syncretism—is perhaps the first step in his understanding the concept as a whole. And while we have no proof that he ever fully understood this concept, I think that it’s safe to say that the seed of the idea was planted somewhere in his mind, however subconsciously. 

[1] LaFleur, Robert Andre. "Chinese religion and syncretism." http://www.newreligion.eu/2013/03/chinese-religion-and-syncretism.html