Study Of Taoism In Hexi Areas From Ming Dynasty To Qing Dynasty

As China’s ancient land silk road gold district,Hexi region of Gansu province is a transport hub for communication between the Central Plains and Serindia,is also a frontier area where various ethnic groups,religions and cultures collide,integrate and symbiose.Hexi Taoism is also an important part of the history and culture of Hexi,and its existence in special regions has special value.Regarding the study of Taoism in this region,academic circles paid less attention to the period after the Mongol Yuan dynasty,especially the Ming and Qing dynasties.This paper selects Ming and Qing Dynasties in terms of time and focuses on the special region of Hexi,and uses the local chronicles of Ming and Qing Dynasty and Republic of China,as well as the materials obtained from long-term field investigations,such as inscriptions on steles,temples,and Taoist caves,rural chronicle,and archives of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China,to investigate the development and evolution of Hexi Taoism during this period,as well as its survival appearance,role in Hexi society,and impact on the belief pattern in Hexi.The text of this paper is divided into six chapters.The first chapter discusses the of Taoism belief traditions and the phased development trend under the rule of different regimes from the Han,Wei,and Mongol Yuan dynasties in Hexi,and specifically analyzes and discusses the social and historical background related to Taoism during the Ming and Qing dynasties.It is explained that the spread and development of Taoism grow and decline with the different attitudes of the ruling regime,especially the national regime towards Buddhism and Taoism,and the advancement and retreat of Han culture in the region.The second chapter synthesizes Hexi local chronicles,inscriptions and other materials,discusses the spread and development process of Taoism in Hexi under official intervention in the Ming Dynasty,Through statistics and sorting out the 118 Taoist palaces and temples,and their geographical distribution in Hexi during the Ming Dynasty,as well as the inheritance and main activities of Taoists centered around the Ganzhou region during this period.It presents the gradual recovery process of Hexi Taoism in the Ming Dynasty,and the survival status and politicization appearance of Taoism actively cooperating with and officials in the northwest border town area.The third chapter uses relevant materials obtained from field surveys such as local records,inscriptions,and archives to summarize the inheritance and activities of Quanzhen(全真)and Zhengyi(正一)sects in Hexi during the Qing Dynasty,count and explain the 350 Taoist activity sites and their distribution in Hexi during the Qing Dynasty,and focuses on the creation and repair of Taoist caves and the Taoist renovation of Buddhist grottoes temple in this period,showing the active development trend of Hexi Taoism in the Qing Dynasty after losing official support,went deep into the civil society and actively interacted with Buddhism and folk belief.The fourth chapter focuses on the historic evolution and related issues of many important palaces and temples in the Hexi region during the Ming and Qing dynasties,such as the Leitai Temple(雷台观)in Wuwei(武威),the Yinshan Temple(荫善庵)in Wuwei,the Youshan Temple(佑善观)in Zhangye(张掖),the Wudang Mountain in Zhangye(张掖武当山),the Xiyun Temple(西云观)in Dunhuang(敦煌),and the Laojun Temple in Sanwei Mountain(三危山老君庙)in Dunhuang,revealing their important role in promoting the development of local Taoism and disseminating Taoist culture,and presenting more concretely the politicization,religiosization and folk tendencies of Hexi Taoism under the leadership of three different social forces:official gentry,Taoist priests and the people.The fifth chapter combines the social and historical background of Hexi,comprehensively analyzing and considering the overall and phased characteristics of Hexi Taoist deity beliefs.Through the investigation of the phenomenon of the combination of the Hexi Taoist temples and the defense system of the border town walls,as well as the changes of the gods’beliefs such as Zhenwu(真武),Guandi(关帝),and Erlang(二郎)during the Ming and Qing dynasties in the Hexi region,it reveals the utilization and guiding role of imperial politics in the"establishment of Taoism"in the northwest border town area,as well as the localization adjustment made by Taoism to actively respond to the secular beliefs of the people in Hexi society.This also includes the participation of Taoism in the process of shaping and revising the local belief in gods in the Hexi region,such as the Zhongwuwang Sheep Head God(忠武王羊首神),and the Pingtian Female Immortal(平天仙姑).Taoism provided the identity of Taoist deities for the orthodoxy of the two local gods,absorbed them into the sequence of Taoist belief in gods,and also expanded the influence of local Taoism through the power of the local god belief.The sixth chapter focuses on the relationship between Confucianism and Taoism,Buddhism and Taoism in Hexi during the Ming and Qing dynasties.By exploring analyzing the preferences and tendencies of Confucian scholars in writing about Taoism in local chronicles such as Construction Chronicle(建置志)and Custom Chronicle(风俗志),are differed from those issued by the imperial court,as well as the activities of the Zhenfan(镇番)imperial examination family in writing Taoist inscriptions and constructing Taoist temples,this chapter reveals the religious attitude of the Confucian group in Hexi in the Qing Dynasty,which selectively supported local Taoism in order to assist the kingcraft.Through a comparison of the rise and fall of Buddhist and Taoist temples in Hexi,as well as an investigation of the religious belief transformation of Mongolian Lu chieftains in Hexi,this chapter reveals the changes in the pattern of the three religions in Hexi during the Ming and Qing dynasties,that is,from the sole prosperity of Buddhism to the combined worship of the three religions dominated by Confucianism.In the entire process of change,Taoism has played a powerful role in promoting and catalyzing.