From “emperor pays for the temple” to “needn’t official money”: Transformation of the construction mode of Cishan temple in Guangde since the Tang and Song dynasties
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    Abstract:

    The Cishan god in Guangde county experienced a process from the elder brother Zhang to the great Emperor Zhang, and finally returned to the territorial worship in the Jiangnan area without official title during the Five Dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties. According to the 44 times of construction of the Zhangwang toot temple recorded in the literature, the way of building the temple has changed due to the change of the status of the Cishan god and the different management and control methods of local sacrificial rites. At the end of the Tang dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the six times of temple building were basically spontaneous acts of local people, with only one official repair. In the Song dynasty, the construction of the Zhangwang root temple was basically led by the government, and it was very frequent, with a total of 24 times. Local believers also participated in the temple building activities in various forms, sometimes by themselves, or in response to the call of local officials to donate money and goods, more often the usual incense and donations for god’s birthday party. Believers in Song and Yuan dynasties emphasized that the root temple was "paid by the emperor" and "built with the strength of the state". In the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, Guangde was thousands of miles away from the political center, and the status of Cishan god in the national ritual system declined. The number of construction activities of the Zhangwang root temple in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties recorded in the literature decreased greatly, only 14 times. The general trend of temple building in this period was the retreat of officials and the advancement of the people. Local people in Guangde, including managers of root temple (mainly monks in the early days, and Taoists after the Ming dynasty), local scholars (including those who returned to their hometown after resigning), businessmen, and elders, are increasingly actively involved in the construction of root temple by using their ability in local social mobilization. Although local officials will also support the temple building and participate in donations, it was more a symbolic act. Local officials, scholar-gentlemen and people in Ming and Qing dynasties believed that root temple repair should be "free of public money", and local scholar-gentlemen became the main power of temple repair. This change in the psychology of Guangde people reflects the change of construction mode of Zhangwang root temple since the Tang and Song dynasties—the retreat of officials and the advancement of the people, which also reflects the government’s policy of local worship and the change of local financial system in specific popular religious activities.

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皮庆生.从天子出钱到不费公帑——唐宋以来广德祠山庙修建模式之演变[J].重庆大学学报社会科学版,2023,(1):165~176

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  • Online: February 28,2023
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