Are young intellectuals ‘possessed’?

Confucianism is an existentialistic and activist religion, albeit many prefer to call it a philosophy or a way of life, with most monotheist Western scholars convinced that it isn’t a religion. Chinese literati were activist when they were young. As they grew older, they almost invariably turned to Taoism — usually not religious Taoism — for they came to know that their desire to put society in good order wasn’t easily fulfilled, or they gave it up altogether to let everything taking its natural course. When they were nearing death, they took to Buddhism, hoping to reach enlightenment (or achieve “satori,” in Japanese Zen Buddhist thought). Incidentally, neo-Confucianism after the Sung period (960-1278) had Buddhism superimposed on it. But one thing was certain: Literati never got depressed.

That’s why I was shocked to learn that in Taiwan at least one out of every four university students, or young intellectuals who should belong to the class of literati in imperial China, is “depressed enough to benefit from assistance” of one kind or the other. That information was found, among other things, by a John Tung Foundation survey conducted between last May and June. An even more shocking finding was that the kinds of assistance these depressed young intellectuals are seeking include “divination” and “exorcism.”

The survey shows at least 1.8 percent and a slightly lower 1.7 percent of the 6,960 respondents rely on divination and exorcism, respectively, for help in dealing with depression. Those who wish to seek counseling from school counselors account for a mere 2.3 percent, much fewer than another 3.3 percent of the students chanting sutras and/or praying for divine help. Still another 2.8 percent believe their folklore religion — animism, or more often than not, outright superstition — can cure their depression. Altogether, 11.9 percent of Taiwan’s young intellectuals want supernatural powers to get rid of their psychiatric disorder.

These statistics indicate more than one tenth of young intellectuals in Taiwan are sick, not of depression but of superstitious fantasy. For divination, one has to see a Taoist priest, a geomancer, or even a fortune teller or palm reader. Divination, however, can’t cure disease or maladies.

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