the content of literati culture. The traditional ritualism and particularistic
deities whose worship the Confucians supported as forms but not as beliefs
had fallen into low repute among the Sung gentry (Gernet, 1962). Ch’an
Buddhism, which once had considerable prestige in this social class, was
declining institutionally. The elite monasteries had suffered from confiscation
and government regulation; the Buddhism that survived was primarily a popu-
lar religion supported by the lower classes.
Reverting to the policy of weakness, some of the last Buddhists of any
intellectual note developed syncretisms with Taoism and Confucianism (see, in
Figure 6.4, 295 and notably 310, the last representative of a failing Ch’an
lineage). On their side Taoism moved closer to Buddhism. No longer were they
instigating persecution and confiscation against Buddhist rivals. During the
Sung, popular Taoism underwent several reform movements; one sect claimed
to be a synthesis of “the three doctrines,” although it was most similar to
Buddhism in its stress on ascetic control over desires and especially sexuality,
to ensure rebirth in heaven among the Immortals (Gernet, 1962: 214–215;
Welch, 1965: 145–148). Another Taoist reform sect allowed priests to marry
and to live without monasteries. Taoist priesthood became a hereditary status,
carried along by practitioners of ordinary petty occupations, supplemented by
making and selling talismans and performing magic.
After Neo-Confucianism emerged, Taoism was abandoned by the upper
class. Its popular divinities overlapped increasingly with those of the Buddhists;
eventually Taoist monks were welcomed in Buddhist monasteries and vice versa
(Welch, 1965: 146, 156–157). This was a syncretism of weakness at a time
when the political fortunes of both religions had sunk. By the Ming, the once
contentious Buddhist sects had amalgamated into a common set of doctrines
and practices, combining a version of Ch’an meditation with the nembutsu
invocations of the Amidaists (Dumoulin, 1988: 286). As sophisticated intellec-
tuals comparable to the educated gentry disappeared among the Buddhists and
Taoists, the dominant Neo-Confucians were scornful of popular religion.
The collapse of elite Buddhism and Taoism left their intellectual capital up
for grabs. Those conservative Confucians who moved into this open space
became the “Neo-Confucian” movement. Their successful tactic was to borrow
elements of occultism and spiritual cultivation from Taoists and Buddhists
while tying it to the core gentry concern for official careers. The official was
redefined as the sage, and sagehood as the Confucian equivalent of Buddhist
enlightenment.
The Struggle for a Neo-Confucian Religion
Sung Neo-Confucianism was created by men who connected personally with
Taoist and Buddhist philosophers while criticizing and modifying their doc-306 • (^) Intellectual Communities: Asian Paths