How to Frame Hybrid-Syncretic Religious Situations: Based on a Case Study of the Guanyin Cult in Yunnan, China

Nagatani Chiyoko

doi:10.20495/seas.12.2_269

<p>This article examines the analytical concepts frequently used to describe the complex situations caused by contact between different cultures and proposes a new framework to describe this reality. Although “syncretism” and “hybridity” have traditionally been the focus of argumentation about cultural mixtures, the majority of arguments choose one or the other term and fail to adequately define these words. Consequently, I will examine several terms and words, including these two, and arrange them into a conceptual framework to analyze the various phenomena that arise during cultural contact.</p><p>This case study was conducted in Dehong prefecture in Yunnan province, China, where Theravada Buddhism meets Mahayana Buddhism. Surveying over eighty temples, I describe the four types of religious contact and mixtures that have occurred in Dehong, including “syncretism,” “hybridity (in a narrow sense),” “bricolage,” and “separative coexistence.” The key to this classification involves a greater focus on the insider’s subjectivity and an introduction to a continuum between the dichotomy of diversity (hybridity) and unity (syncretism) seen from an observer’s perspective. The framework is set by considering the insiders’, the outsiders’, and the observer’s views. Finally, the causes of diversification will be considered with reference to different conditions, including history, topography, and the balance of political power in the place concerned.</p>

How to Frame Hybrid-Syncretic Religious Situations: Based on a Case Study of the Guanyin Cult in Yunnan, China

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