The bishoprics of
Worcester and Wells met in medieval Bristol at the Avon River. The civic jurisdiction extended into both
diocese but what went on in either bishopric's churches were matters for the bishop to
decide, not Bristol nor London. There
were, in effect, three different jurisdictions within the city, and even more
if you consider monasteries like the Augustinian one there in the city that was
not beholden to either bishopric.
Generally they kept to their own worlds, but when pressures rose, for
example in the early fifteenth century and Lollards were inciting heretical
ideas about the land, claiming things like transubstantiation was nonsense, and
the views of Rome and London diverged these distinct jurisdictions complicated
matters greatly for those who wanted order and they allowed for some interesting
possibilities.
Increasingly prosperous medieval weavers in that town could
thumb their nose at the civic officials, and hide out in a church or monastery,
knowing they wouldn’t be molested.
Someone who’d caused offense in one diocese could hop the river to the
adjoining one, depending on the view of either bishop, etc. This tension between
royal power and Roman power waxed and waned to one side or the other throughout
the Middle Ages, and from the fall of
Rome till the Reformation, this division between holy and secular authority
defined the European experience. “Give
unto Caesar . . . “
Well, it’s Sunday here in Beijing. But once again, the central authorities have
decreed that it shall operate like a Friday.
This, so the nation can enjoy a three-day holiday for New Years. I don’t worship anything on Sunday. But I do think I have a subtle worship for Sunday and I get annoyed when it is
toyed with.
Chinese dynastic history tolerates no such division between church and state. During the same period
when angry Lollards were jumping over the Avon and Frome Rivers, ducking out
here, and finding refuge there, the Ming was the Celestial Empire and it was the
one seat of power. The mighty Yongle
emperor would have been in power at that time, sending out his Muslim, eunuch Admiral Zheng
He on tribute voyages to South East Asia, East Africa and the Middle East. Buddhist and Daoist monasteries were
unquestionably subservient to Beijing.
Competing political, or religious claims to power might gather momentum,
but were always subdued by the center or if successful, like the Manchu people
were to become, they became the center.
So I’m struck by the fact that the center, the central
authorities, the Federal government in the United States, could and would never tell
the nation it must work on Sunday, so that it could enjoy a Monday off. Nor would a state or a city government. (An exception might be in war or national
emergency, I suppose). It is unthinkable
that the state would do that. Rome
certainly has no power to curb Obama from doing so. Nor does any one of the myriad of different
Christian faiths that regard the day as one of holy obligation have definitive
sway. Rather it is tradition. Church and state are separated officially, not
perhaps unlike medieval Bristol, but quite unlike England under Henry
VIII. The State, in the U.S. knows
without asking that it would get its hands burnt if it messed with Sunday.
And I think it is fair to say that U.S. government at any
level would be very unlikely to mess with a Saturday either. (we just had ours taken here, yesterday). That is not out of respect for any Christian ideal, nor do I think it has to do with deference to Orthodox Jews, but rather
it is the legacy of the labor movement who won (thank you very much) rights to
a five-day workweek one hundred years ago. The Chinese
Communist Party know a thing or two about labor movements, and guaranteeing
workers things, but Saturday itself is just another calendar day for them. Whereas it is treated with nearly the same sanctity in
America that Sunday is. I don’t think
you’re average Joe would be willing to give up a Saturday, to earn an extra
Wednesday off. Instead, U.S.
authorities, 率由旧章[1]
Here, the center has no hesitation to dole out holidays as
it sees fit. Indeed, manipulation of the
work week does, I believe, crudely reinforce the overwhelming majesty of the
center. As in the case of one time zone
for the whole country, (Yes, China's policy means that fall of the U.S. including Hawaii
would need to go to work and get off work according to Eastern Standard Time) the
center has no limits and claims the power to alter time itself.
No one of course is “making” me work today. I impose it upon myself. I am, essentially held up here in my own
Augustinian monastery, holding out for the day under my own make believe
jurisdiction, where Sunday is still Sunday.
A friend turned me on to some ambient music by a gent named Jon Hopkins,
who lives in London, in the medieval bishopric of Winchester. I’m listening to a tune called “Cold Out
There” and indeed it is. Spatial, as I told
my friend last night it sounds like a three-year old’s experience with Christmas
morning. Or perhaps just a three year
old’s random Sunday at home.
