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Daoism

Daoism seems to be defined negatively: “any Chinese religious practise that is not Buddhist or Christian (etc)”. Deliverance Ceremonies presided by Quanzhen priests, worship of the local God of Earth, and seances where mediums channel the black and white guards of hell are all equally considered “Taoist” even though they are very different from one another.

Anecdote from my older Singaporean relatives: In that country during the 1960s-1970s, there was a perception that Daoism was “Low class”– associated with gaudy, and incomprehensible ceremonies.

Buddhism, by contrast, was seen as a “high class”, modern, streamlined religion. In turn, I recall reading in Fabian Graham’s Voices from the Underworld, that until relatively recently in Malaysia, “Taoism” was not an option on the census forms. As such, Chinese identity clustered around Buddhism.