Abstract

WANG, Zhaoyuan. The dynamic process of syncretism: Datuk Gong worship in Malaysia. Herv. teol. stud. [online]. 2022, vol.78, n.4, pp.1-6. ISSN 2072-8050.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v78i4.7269.

The Datuk Gong worship in Malaysia is a fusion of Malay keramat and Chinese Tudi Shen, hence easy to be labelled 'syncretism'. Nevertheless, the rich dynamism of syncretism as a process in Datuk Gong worship is still underexplored. Through the combination of historical documentary method and anthropological multi-sited field work, this article examines the three stages in the syncretic process of Datuk Gong worship: syncretic amity, syncretic encompassment and synthesis, as well as diverse strategies Chinese devotees adopted in each stage. Compared with other worship of non-Chinese deities in Southeast Asia, the peculiarity of Datuk Gong worship in West Malaysia is that it has reached a high level of synthesis, hence its own independence. CONTRIBUTION: Through the examination of Datuk Gong worship in Malaysia, a syncretism of Chinese Religion, local animism and Islam, the study provides a rare and excellent example to mirror the rich dynamism of syncretism as a process in Southeast Asia, a meeting point of different civilisations

Keywords : syncretism; Datuk Gong; Malaysian Chinese; keramat; Tudi Shen; Chinese Religion.

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