The Peopling of New York City

Chinatown’s religious life is a landscape indeed: made up of many intertwined elements coming together to make a beautiful, expansive scene. I found it particularly striking that although we may compartmentalize religions in the U.S., it is not always so in China culturally; Grant is trying to prove that strict religious distinctions in Chinatown are in fact nonexistent and blurred. One prime example of this is the He Xian Ju temple, which i centered around a Daoist deity from a province in north Fuzhou by the name of Fuqi yet is considered a Buddhist temple, while also integrating different religious practices from traditional China. For the first time, I have been able to think of religious as a way of expressing oneself, inclusive of “funerals, weddings, veneration of ancestors, and festival related to the Chinese lunar calendar” (124) and everyday traditions practiced by families such as shrines devoted to the kitchen god.

In addition to the way that Chinese in New York cannot quite categorize themselves so neatly, it is apparent that each of the religious communities discussed has served as a haven for new immigrants looking for a way to identify themselves in a vast, new world. Master Lu, the center and medium of He Xian Jun in the temple located on Eldridge street in New York City, himself was an illegal immigrant looking for a means to establish himself in the United States. Continuing his work of serving as a messenger for He Xian Jun has proved to be successful and so it is now in his good nature that he helps other Chinese immigrants who are struggling to “make it” with large fees owed to snake heads just as he did. Master Lu’s story is quite interesting, as he told Grant that He Xian actually instructed him to build a temple, even if he was still in debt to many people helping him pay off his loaned money for the voyage over. As a result, Master Lu then built a sprawling, beautiful temple honoring He Xian Jun in Fuqi, where the ties are currently still very strong; this is transnationalism at it’s best. Still very well known in his region of Fuzhou, Master Lu is mostly in New York City answering the various questions posed by Fuquian devotees about anything including “business ventures…children’s names…potential success of petitions for political asylum…thanks for safe passage across the ocean” (129).

However helpful and inclusive religious communities are for newly arriving Fuzhounese immigrants, there are still (more importantly) issues within the communities. It is a struggle to establish an identity in a place where belief systems are seen from a very rigid point of view (ie: surveys here ask Chinese to check one: Buddhist, Daoist, Catholic, etc.), and communities are constantly shifting to economically and emotionally serve the needs of a rapidly growing immigrant population.

While reading this chapter of God in Chinatown, I saw just how much research Kenneth Guest put into this book. Obviously it is impossible to write a informative book without extensive research, but the statistics and other information of the Chinese immigrant population were quite detailed.

The one thing that surprised me the most was the fact that there are several religious institution that exist in Chinatown and many Chinese immigrants (both first and second generation) are part of these religious communities. Growing up in Hong Kong, religion was never really made to be a big deal. I learned most of what I know about Christianity and other religions (aside from Buddhism and Taoism, but I still only knew very little about those) here in New York. So it was very surprising to me to see that many who are Chinese are religious and not only in Buddhism or Taoism.

Another thing that I find hard to believe is Master Lu and his so called “relationship” with the deity He Xian Jun (who I have never heard of). It seems like he’s manipulating other people’s faith for selfish gains. A lot of people claim to be great or connected to some sort of greatness but few ever are. While some people may completely believe his story about how this god is watching out for him and gives him a way to make money for all these years, I find it a bit on the fiction side. As much as I don’t believe his story, I do think that his temple is able to give a sense of security to immigrants who recently arrived in the country, just as Lady of Guadalupe were able to provide that sense of security for her followers. This temple may also restrict the immigrants from reaching out to other communities to learn English or meet new people. It seems like it creates an invisible bubble around them and cause just as much harm as good.

Overall this chapter was very interesting and informative, I learned quite a few things about Chinatown that I did not know previously. Also I would like to point out that I despise Chinese translated into English with a passion. It makes it incredibly hard to understand and very hard to pronounce.

This week’s chapter was about the primarily Fuzhounese religious congregations in Chinatown.  To gather data for this section, Guest had to do a lot of research.  He checked open to the public resources like Yellow Pages, but he had to do a lot more fieldwork on foot than by already existing catalogs.

I thought it was very interesting that because of the changes that have occurred in the laws regarding amnesty and citizenship granted to Chinese immigrants over the last few decades, the Chinese congregations of Chinatown were visibly stratified accordingly.  Something else I thought was interesting in the chapter was the difference one person can make in the success or failure of a congregation.  The author’s interview with Master Lu (Pg.129-131) demonstrated Master Lu’s close communication with He Xian Jun.  It would seem that Master Lu’s congregants very much revered him and respected his connection to He Xian Jun not only in Fuqi, but also in New York City.  There was a large contingent of congregants who attended the New York temple annually, and their donations enabled Master Lu to build a grand temple back in Fuqi.

On the other hand, while the Temple of Heavenly Thanksgiving was part of and maintained a large religious network across countries like He Xian Jun Temple, Guest’s chapter did not seem to indicate that there was one priest or master in charge of the Temple of Heavenly Thanksgiving.  He wrote that there were several temple leaders.  However, I think it is apparent from a comparison of the two temples that the difference that could lead to a lasting, thriving congregation as opposed to a lasting, wavering congregation could be as small as one great man (or woman, to be p.c.).

One more thing:  Guest mentioned that St. Joseph’s church was getting its members to sign a petition urging the Chinese government to stop persecuting Catholics.  This reminded me a little bit of the Mexican Antorcha, which was supposed to raise awareness for the trials of the undocumented and maybe even get the Mexican government to pressure the American government to give them amnesty.  Instead of the Mexicans leaving Mexico, coming to America, and sending messages back to Mexico for help, the Chinese left China, came to America, and was tried to send a message back to the Chinese government.  I thought the semi-parallel was interesting.

I know that New York, known to be a ‘melting pot’ of immigrants, has an incredibly diverse ethnic history.  Waves of immigration have swept ashore in New York and each wave has brought members of diverse ethnic groups to the city.  I also understand that the religions of these ethnic groups vary greatly.  However, I was completely unaware of the diverse religious backgrounds of Chinese immigrants in general, and the Fuzhounese community more specifically.  I did not realize that immigrants from Fuzhou province were as religiously diverse as they are.  Guest studies numerous religions and their communal organizations that are important to Fuzhounese immigrants in Chinatown.  Buddhist, Daoist, Catholic and Protestant.

Kenneth Guest conducted an extensive ethnographic study and determined that, in 2002, there were a total of 84 religious institutions in Chinatown, of which 59 had Chinese only congregations and three congregations served two ethnic groups, one of which was Chinese.  She further broke down the statistics and noted that 14 religious institutions “specifically serve the Fuzhounese population in Chinatown.”  All but two of these religious institutions are relatively new, founded after 1990. These religious institutions serve a diverse population  – five temples honor deities from villages in Fuzhou province, while four are Buddhist, one is Daoist, two are Catholic and two are Protestant.  Though he delineated these five categories, within each category there is overlap of one kind or another.  The Buddhist temples practice certain elements of Daoism; the Daoist temple includes worship of certain Buddhist deities; the Catholic churches serve not only Fuzhounese parishioners, but also older Italians and Chinese from Canton province.  In addition to these 14 established institutions there are numerous homegrown ‘house-church’ groups that meet “intentionally outside the larger institutions.”

Regardless of religious denomination, Guest clearly concludes that the religious organizations play a very significant role in the absorption process as well as in the development of transnational ties between Chinatown and China.  He also notes that while the institutions are diverse and serve a diverse population, often particular groups tend to remain within their own circles and religious institutions.  Cantonese immigrants, who are more settled in New York, tend to belong to one set of churches and temples.  In some cases their children, second-generation immigrants, have their own congregations within their parents’ congregations, where they worship differently than their parents.  Fuzhounese immigrants, many of whom are undocumented, build their own religious institutions.

The complexity of religious observance and religious institutions of the Chinese immigrant community of Chinatown is intriguing.  Guest’s extensive research helps the uninitiated begin to understand this subject.

Although chapter 5 of God in Chinatown was full of information about religious institutions in Chinatown, I found myself particularly interested in one of them. Guest’s description of the He Xian Jun Buddhist Temple and its founder, Master Lu, made me feel like something was a little off. Maybe I’m too much of a jaded New Yorker, but I find it hard to believe that Master Lu is being completely honest with his followers. He claims that he can talk to the deity He Xian Jun and that through this deity he is told to build a temple to help Chinese immigrants. Lu also claims that he can’t work in the back of a restaurant, a typical job for illegal immigrants, because He Xian Jun told him, “It’s too dirty. I can’t get close to your body… [because] of the meat smells” (Guest 131). Because he can’t work anywhere too dirty, Lu opens a temple, where he is able to live comfortably on the donations of his followers, and even has a “spacious new five-story home” in Fuqi. The most troubling thing about this scenario is how readily the Chinese immigrants described in this chapter accept Lu as a leader.

It’s not fair to say that Master Lu has not helped Chinese immigrants at all, because he has, or at least the temple he founded has anyway. Lu says that he doesn’t have money to loan to his followers, “but if the temple has some money we loan it to them. They pay it back as they are able” (132). The actual Temple itself also provides a place where Chinese immigrants, who are thrown into a completely new environment with different customs when they move to NYC, can meet with other immigrants and have a sense of community. But these two services seem like services that could have been provided to these immigrants at another temple, without the help of Master Lu. I can imagine that there is a language barrier that prevents Chinese immigrants from learning about other religious institutions that can help them. And for illegal immigrants especially, there aren’t a lot of places they can turn to, which makes Master Lu one of the only people to turn to for help. While reading this section, I got the feeling that these immigrants, trying to make a better life for themselves are so often overlooked or treated as business transactions, by the smugglers, people like Master Lu, and others who agree to let illegal immigrants work in horrid conditions for less than minimum wage. As we have learned from other readings, religion usually plays a big role in immigrants’ transition and adjustment to living in New York City, and religious institutions sometimes provide a platform for immigrants to voice their concerns and complaints (Galvez). In this case, however, Master Lu seems to be using illegal immigrants for his own benefit.

No music on intro page, popping up once the site starts

Drop down menus of the different religious groups (on top)

taps on the left (common points with the groups) Should be in order:
• Class wide content, every single group’s work.
• Includes:
o Flushing overview
• Embed Flushing walking tour picture
o What is this? section (about the project)
o About us section
o Helpful Links
• Which includes websites of the places
o Case studies of the books we’ve read
• Relevant cases to our groups and research

Front page interactive map of Flushing, that is linked to the different religious groups
• One or two sentences that introduces the project to the reader
• Title should explain what project was about

Rotating header (slide show)

Our theme from eportfolio: 2010 weaver

url: QCPony11

About us section:
• On the left tap
• Broken down into each group
• A little picture and what we liked the best about the project
• Alyssa will write the about us
• One thing per group that’s unique to that particular group

What is this? section
• A general description of the nature of the research project

Themes in our project:
• Transnationalism
• Conflicts within the community
• Immigration

Case studies:
• JFK book, transnationalism
• Madonna book, history of the Italian immigrant, disregarded as lesser Catholics
• Crown Heights book
• Internal cross-referencing
• Religion servicing immigrants who arrive to the country
• Prejudice to immigrants especially Islam (Muslim day Parade)

We haven’t decided on a title yet

The layout got a little messed up, sorry if it’s confusing. 🙁

Chapter 4 examines the history of Christianity in the Fuzhou region post 1949. We soon learned that it led to much conflict between the religious sects and the government as decisions were forced due to the Cultural Revolution. The combination of Church and state led to the struggle and eventual demise of the religious leaders who didn’t form. However, during the Cultural Revolution, the people who did adapt and supported the Nationalist Party were later targeted as counterrevolutionaries, ending their religious influence and right.

There was also the Eastern versus Western conflict, mainly regarding the Catholicism practiced. The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association struggled to balalnce state policies with religious doctrines and received much criticism. Any Western involvement led to punishment by the government and many years in prison. The Vatican attempted to enforce its authority unto the Fuzhou region with threats of excommunication, but the CCPA overcame them in the end.

The Christian suppression in the Fuzhou region is a defining factor in the significant growth of religious involvement in Chinatown. Because America believes in the freedom of religion, the immigrants could freely and openly carry out their beliefs. Unfortunately, those still in China are not able to do so because of the nation’s communist nature. Right now, there might not be a God in China, but there is definitely a God in Chinatown.