Study On The Temple To The Local Society Of Guan-zhong Region In The Ming And Qing Dynasty

As the three greatest trunks of the Chinese traditional culture, Buddhism andTaoism had made great influence to Chinese people’s social organization, way of life,and mental outlook. Guan-Zhong （关中）is one of the most important area,wherehad kept strong culture of Buddhism and Taoism, and preserved many kinds oftemples in the process of Buddhism and Taoism’s development in the Ming and QingDynasty, although the whole country’s centre of culture and economic had moved tothe eastern and southern area.For the reason that the authorities’ philosophy which Moralize people throughghosts and gods, is not anastomotic to basement layer people’s life, so the civilsociety of Guan-Zhong paid more attention to temples than official indoctrinationsystem. In order to safeguard the authority of the Confucianism, Guan-Xue （关学）scholars condemned temples spared no effort. But their moralization was notsuccessful, because it was not accept by the mass people, except a few the Confucianintellectuals. The Confucianism hadn’t gained the upper hand in the game with thetemples. Form the Medium term of Ming Dynasty, the government led the civilpower into the official memorial ceremony system, which made the official Godsecularization, and the blurred the boundaries between official worship and illegalworship.The temples have unique position and function in local society. On the one hand,as the public space, temples were often used for some other things by governmentand folk. Especially those temples where had beautiful environment became poetsand literary men’s meeting place, which made temples had the chance to establishtheir legitimacy and to promote culture taste through collecting localofficials\community leaders and culture celebrities’ writings; On the other hand, asthe most important parts of people’s spiritual home, temples received much supportfrom folk society. The feminist groups were the most important support power, andwere the big driving force in bringing their families into strong religious atmosphere, although they were roundly criticized with the standards of women’s virtue byConfucianism scholars. The merchants’ donation was not only a way for theirevangelical virtue, but also a process trying to gain fame by wealth in their supporttemples. Some people came from the Confucianism knowledge group also weretemples’ positive donors. For example, many Confucianism students who hadawkward situation and hopeless career prospects in Village society ascended theirsocial prestige through supporting the temples’ development by their knowledge andactive participation in temples’ management, in the Ming and Qing Dynasty. Manyfamilies of literati and officialdom were also temples’ enthusiasts, and they didn’thave paradox between the Confucianism and Buddhism-Taoism. Enthusiastic ruralelites played an important role in temple’s construction and management, becausetheir economic power and social appeal made more and more people take part intemples maintenance, which become an authority of culture to them in return in theAcquaintance Society. In the intimate Acquaintance Society for the sameGod-Worship, people’s donation for temples is not only a behavior of obsequiouspraying for blessing, but also for their reputation.Temples was essential to the rural governance of Guan-Zhong, which was notembodied directly as secular power, but cultural and mental power, because templeswere people’s spiritual home and village community’s public opinion maker. Manylay Buddhists, chiggers’, and books of exhortation’s occurrences in the name oftemples, played an positive role in village’s order maintenance and moral cultivation,because the village rules and the clan system’s insufficiency lived so much blank thatvillage rules contained factors of temples, and many illegal action’s correction andresolving of disputes were in the name of deities.Temples had also promoted the culture and population’s communicationthrough going on a pilgrimage to offer incense at the mountain, temple fair, andTemple acting for thanksgiving. That going on a pilgrimage to offer incense at themountain temples, was a movement of population because the resource place ofdeities had a strong attractive power to their believers in a large area. That the templeacting thanksgiving derived from “praying in spring and offering thanks in fall” inremote ages, was one of the very important social activities in the Ming and Qing Dynasty in Guan-Zhong, which was not only a collective revelry to Grass-roots’public plain life, but also promote the goods and culture’s exchange in the areacoverage through the temple fair it breed. The going on a pilgrimage to offer incenseat the temple and the Temple acting for thanksgiving, was opposed by localgovernments, because they felt anxious that the consequences of movement ofpopulation might hampered the public order.In a word, all kinds of temples in the Ming and Qing Dynasty in Guan-Zhongregion provided a special perspective to our comprehension of people’s social lifeand spiritual outlook in Guan-Zhong region in that time.