Jerome Yuchien's Ph.D Thesis
Chapter Six: Nominal Adoption and the Three Deities (part I)
I. Introduction:
When traditional Taiwanese think of stone and tree deities, they think of nominal adoption of unhealthy children. Indeed, the most distinctive role these deities play in traditional Taiwanese society is that they are guardians of children. As soon as a child is found "fundamentally weak", s/he will be taken to be nominally adopted either by a deity or a respectable woman. Among these deities who act as nominal parents, the Stone God and the Tree God are particular and worthy of study. According to my field research, almost half of the natural objects I studied are connected with the religious custom of nominal adoption. In this chapter, I shall first portray two religious customs relating to nominal adoption. I shall then analyse why some of the natural objects, among others, are favoured to be nominal parents. I also discuss the reasons some deities are thought unsuitable for nominal adoption. Finally, I shall argue why these deities are distinctive among other guardians of children.
II. Nominal Adoption and "Taking Water and Rice":
Chinese culture seriously asks every family to have descendants. Mencius, one of the most respectable philosophers, says: "There are three things which are unfilial, and having no progeny is the worst of these" (Mencius, IV. i. 26). However, it is not an easy task to raise a baby. Many biological and emotional difficulties can be anticipated in the period immediately following the birth of a child. The new born baby might refuse to nurse and gain little weight; it may also have a variety of disorders. J. M. Potter (1974), after doing research on Cantonese villages, reports that Cantonese:
... attribute most children's illnesses to soul loss. The souls of small children are loosely attached, and are easily frightened out of the child's body, making the child ill. Or a hungry or malicious ghost may enter a person's body and steal his soul. Usually the ghost holds the soul for ransom, releasing it in return for offerings of food and money. Sometimes the assistance of deities and spirit soldiers is needed to force a powerful and determined ghost to release a kidnapped soul. Intrusion of a ghost into a person's body is a third possible cause of illness. Because children are such easy prey for malicious spirits, sick children constitute most of the spirit medium's case-load.
Taiwanese generally believe that a child who is "kin-ki-jiok (literally, fundamentally weak)" is susceptible to getting sick and not expected to live very long, unless his/her fate is modified. (note.1)The child's souls, thus, are loosely attached, and are easily frightened out of the child's body by malicious spirits, making the child ill. It is called "phah tio kian" (being frightened). For the unhealthy (and unfortunate) child, both the medical treatment and the assistance of deities to ward off the evil spirits are needed, hence the saying: "Man ai sin, man ai lang (both person and deity are needed)".
Even though some children are fated to be fundamentally weak, pure fatalism, in the sense of passively allowing the world to work its own way, is not triumphal in Taiwan. (note.2)There is instead a keen interest in foreseeing and modifying fate, because if the course of events can be foreseen, one's life can then be aligned with the direction of fate. It is better to be prepared and go with the current in order to maximize the good of life and minimize the hardship. Consequently, there are numerous forms of divination to deal with fate, from consulting spiritual mediums to drawing lots and oracle verses. There are also various ways to change or amend one's fate through the selection of an auspicious name, by seeking the intervention of a powerful deity, or nominal adoption by a person with fortunes or a deity with spiritual protective power (cf. Cohen 1987:290).
Indeed, if a child is physically or in any way manifestly abnormal, medical treatment is required. But if it is not so obvious, the child's parent might ask the elders of the neighbourhood for advice or go to the market town to consult a fortune-teller or shaman. If told that the child is not fortunate, namely, if the child is declared to be "fundamentally weak", the senior relative, elder of neighbourhood or fortune- teller consulted will recommend the establishment of a protective nominal kinship relation with a person or deity.
An easy and popular means to amend the baby's fate is to establish a kin relationship, known to the Taiwanese as "siu kheh-kian (literally, nominally adopting a child)", with a person or deity.(note.3) Usually a respectable woman who has raised many children to maturity, known to Taiwanese as "ho-mia-po (literally, fortunate woman), and whose husband, too, is lucky and prosperous, is considered suitable for the nominal adoption. The adoption between the "fundamentally weak" child and a person with fortunes, however, is purely nominal. It is not guaranteed by an official contract and gives no right to a material inheritance. The practice is based on the notion that the luck and, thus, the protective power of the nominal parents will be extended to their nominal children. (note.4)
However, certain basic obligations are incurred; the child should visit the nominal mother on all occasions when Chinese visit paternal kin and should come armed with gifts (cf. Topley 1974:244). In Yilan County of Taiwan, the custom of nominal adoption is specifically called "Kuan-chui-bi (literally, taking water and rice). Once the nominal adoption is agreed by the child's family and the respectable woman, the child's parent/s goes to the fortunate woman's home with the child and takes some water and rice home. When the act is repeated three times, the rite of "Kuan-chui-bi" is complete. The relation of nominal adoption is also recognised from that time on.
Traditionally, the custom of "Kuan-chui-bi" is practised only when the nominal parent is a person and not a deity. However, a temple named "Te-bo Bio (Temple of the Earth Mother) In Yilan County is an exception. The Earth Mother of the temple, like many other Chinese goddesses, nominally adopts children. But the custom of nominal adoption is also "Kuan-chui-bi". I was told that any "fundamentally weak" child can come to the temple to ask goddess to grant nominal adoption. The grant is confirmed by divination of the moonblocks. If the Earth Mother agrees to adopt the weak child, the child's parent should come to the temple three consecutive times on the first day and fifteenth day of each month to take home a small amount of water and rice offered by the temple and cook them to feed the child. The water and rice are regarded as having magical power to improve the child's health. I am not sure why only this goddess's temple practises the custom of "Kuan-chui-bi", but it is probably because people consider the goddess to be more merciful than male deities who are usually regarded as bureaucrats.
III. Nominal Adoption and "Wearing the Amulet"
The same rationale applies when the nominal parent, either male or female, is a deity. In Taiwan, a child who is "fundamentally weak" may be nominally adopted to almost any deity with great protective power. But the following deities are popular for the nominal adoption: the Stone God, the Tree God, the Bed Goddess, the Seven Star Goddesses, Guanyin (Koan-im-man ,Female Buddhisava), the Granny, or the Earth Mother (Te-bo) and some others. (note.5)Among the 61 stone deities I studied, 26 deities nominally adopt children.(note.6) Among the 39 tree deities, 19 deities adopt children.(note.7)
Traditionally, once a baby has reached its "muan-gue(i.e. a full month old)" but is regarded as "fundamentally weak", its parents will take it to a temple to worship the Stone God, the Tree God or other deities, if they prefer their baby to be adopted by a deity instead of a person, in order to engage her/his divine protection. During worship, an ancient coin, silver medallion, or medallion is hung on red silk thread, passed over the incense burner, and is worn on the neck of the child as an amulet. The rite is called "Kuan-kuin (Wearing the Amulet)". Yuan Chang-rue reports us a formal rite from a temple of a tree god of Sai-kang Rural-town (#T30; see figure 96):
Starting from October 12 each year, people would bring their child suffering bad health here to worship the big tree and ask it to adopt their child. The tree is referred to as Shu Wang Kung (The Master King of Big Tree). The tree is warded with brick walls, and under it is an altar for incense burning. The adoption ceremony includes the signing of an adoption agreement. And people have to pay NT$200 as deed tax. The deed itself is a paper card of 26.5 x 19.5 cm with four of its corners printed with Chinese character "Ho Chia Ping An", meaning that "May all the members of the family live in peace and Harmony". ... Each deed is given with a serial number, and when completed by the clerk of the temple, is then placed upon a table. When the evening comes, a red capped priest would read them one by one before they are burnt, a final touch indicating that the adoption is formally constituted. In the process of the ceremony, parents are required to have the "Kuan Tai", a coin threaded with a red string, given free by the temple, to wear on the chest of the kid to symbolise that Shu Wang Kung from now on will be with the child all the time. Once adopted, the child is required to come back during the four-day birthday of Shu Wang Kung and shall have the Kuan Tai replaced by a new one. The replaced ones shall be hung on the fence encircling the tree. The practice goes on year by year until the child grows up an adult. Over the years, the countless Kuan Tai have been placed all over the place around the tree. It is indeed an amazing scene (Yuan Chang-rue 1993:5).(note.8)
