The dynamic diversity of Taiwan’s Indigenous religions: Animism, analogism, and totemism

The traditional religions of Taiwan’s Indigenous people (Austronesian speaking) are very diverse. The 16 officially recognized ethnic groups differ markedly in notions of deities, spirits, ancestors, classes of beings, and ritual groupings. This article attempts to use Philippe Descola’s concept of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social compass 2024-06, Vol.71 (2), p.289-307
Main Author: LIU, Pi-Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animism
Deities
Diversification
Ethnic groups
Indigenous peoples
Intention
Intentionality
Ontology
Religion
Rituals
Totemism
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Summary:The traditional religions of Taiwan’s Indigenous people (Austronesian speaking) are very diverse. The 16 officially recognized ethnic groups differ markedly in notions of deities, spirits, ancestors, classes of beings, and ritual groupings. This article attempts to use Philippe Descola’s concept of ontology to understand their differences. I investigate how Indigenous people perceive their world through the two basic mechanisms of body and intentionality to infer similarities and differences between themselves and nonhuman beings. Three modes of identification result: animism, analogism, and totemism. Their traditional religions are often regarded as animism, rather than typical of societies identified with analogism or totemism. However, I will explore these groups’ distinguishing ontological characteristics. By demonstrating the process of diversification through the religious changes since the 1950s, a new understanding of their impacts on different combinations of ontology will be obtained. This can avoid the critique that structuralist and ontological approaches ignore contemporary changes.
ISSN:0037-7686
1461-7404
DOI:10.1177/00377686241261281