I.Secularization,and Hospital's Secularization
Originally,secularization was a concept widely used in western sociology.It generally referred to the process when western society gradually broke away from the bondage of Christianity,and moved towards the earthy social life.In academic researches,the use of term‘secularization’,with deeper and broader research of the questions related to it in religion,history and philosophy,goes much further beyond the sociological category,the connotations associated with this concept have become richer and richer,and have led to different understandings of it which leading to many arguments and disputes in the understandings and definitions of‘secularization’.
On 21-22th April,2006,in the‘modernization and secularization’ academic symposium in Zhejiang Normal University,scholars discussed this concept,with Professor LU Peidong and WANG Jiafeng summarizing the arguments.[2]In defining the concept of secularization,two scholars'points were very representative.Professor ZHANG Weiliang argued that secularization only referred to the religion's secularization of itself,whereas Professors DONG Zhenghua and SHEN Jian argued that‘secularization’ should be understood from two aspects:first,the separation between politics and religion;and second,the religion's secularization of itself.Obviously,ZHANG's points were drawn from the original meaning and essence of secularization,by his opinion,secularization has a direct connection with religion since it takes place in the interior of the religion itself.But this understanding of secularization is very narrow.According to the facts of academic research,the connotation of secularization is much broader than this.Professor DONG's definition is widely accepted,and he considers secularization as something taking place not only in the interior of religion,but also in all elements of society apart from religion.In my opinion,since there is an exterior secularization,the concept should include not only the separation between politics and religion,but also the all-around separation between religion and many social factors,including politics.
In the‘Forum of World History,2008’,I communicated with GAO Chunchang about secularization,who also agreed that this concept should include all aspects of society.Therefore,in my opinion,secularization should include two aspects:one is the‘interior secularization’,that is to say,the elements of religion go to the earthy world;the other is‘exterior secularization’,which refers to the process in which the elements outside religion gradually break away from the bondage of religion and finally separate from it.From this understanding,I think,secularization is a process of a‘zero-sum’game,which exists from the inception of the religion.Of course,for a historical problem,secularization should be analyzed and appraised in the historical context.Since society is an organism,and its elements are cross-probing,inner secularization and outer secularization thus often entangles with each other.
The secularization of hospitals is a historical phenomenon which has received little attention in the historiography.For a long time,hospitals have been considered,in essence,a religious institution whose aims,organization and administration etc.had direct connections with religion.Researchers in the west have studied the secularization of society from many aspects,but the research on the secularization of hospitals is sparse.So when we want to clarify the hospital's transformation from a religious institution to a medical institution,the image is often abrupt and obscure.I hold the opinion that this image is just the period of hospital's secularization.In this chapter,I will discuss the hospital's secularization from two points:firstly,as a religious institution,I will examine the secularization of the hospital from its interior;and secondly,the new secular hospital had consciously gone beyond religious influence and control.Of course,secularization has different grades,so the secularization of hospitals in late medieval and early modern England refers to the tendency of non-Christianization,and does not indicate all aspects of the hospital that are secular.
Owing to the special historical conditions,especially in the religious sphere,the Reformation in England was much deeper than other western countries.Under these historical conditions,hospitals in England have been characterized by closer relations with politics and deeper secularization.