The Deifying And Myth Of Liu Zongyuan In Liuzhou In Tang And Song Dynasties:from A "Civilian God" To An "Official God"

In 815 A.D., Liu Zongyuan was banished again. He was sent to Liuzhou and died there as the prefectural governor 4 years later. During his 4-year term of service, he contributed to the prosperity of Liuzhou, which earned himself the homage of people in Liuzhou. To honor him, Liuzhou people built up Luochi Temple in 822, entitling him as the God of Luochi. In 823, Han Yu wrote the "Liuzhou Luochi Tablet" for Luochi Temple at the request of Liu’s former subordinates. Liu Zongyuan was made an "Official God" as "Luochi God" recorded in official worship system through three ennoblements in 1092,1104, and 1158 that approved the civilian god-worship activities. With this god-making process, the tales about Liu Zongyuan were continuously evolving. The emergence of the tales about Liu, on the one hand, augmented Liu’s supernatural power as Luochi God, making his identity as a god more convincing; on the other hand, the compromising attitude towards Liu’s transformation from a "civil god" to an "official god" provided a friendly circumstance to the increase of tales about Liu.The Tang and Song Dynasty marked a key time point during Liu’s transformation into a god, when his status climbed to a new height and the effect of which extended to the following generations, with the impact of official approval and exaggerated tales.The study of Liu Zongyuan’s transformation into a god, the evolution of the tales about him, and the reason why he was shaped as a god contributes to the understanding of his status and influence in Liuzhou and the interactive relationship between Liu Zongyuan and Liuzhou. This thesis, with the title of "The deifying and myth of Liu Zongyuan in Liuzhou in Tang and Song Dynasties:From a "Civilian God" to an "Official God", studies a cultural phenomenon of the worship of Liu Zongyuan as "Luochi God". The thesis, which covers Tang and Song Dynasty (From the death of Liu Zongyuan in 819 to the end of Song Dynasty in 1279), from the perspective of the civilian, the local, and the central court, employs the sympathy of the civilian triggered by his banishment, the impact of Lingnan supernatural culture, the pushing force of local elites, and the deliberate guidance by the ruler of Song Dynasty as points of penetration. The thesis also discusses the cultural interaction between Liuzhou and the central government in Tang and Song Dynasties, reflected by this culture phenomenon.The main body of this thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter, as the introduction, combs the existing research results center on keywords "Liu Zongyuan" and "local cults", elaborate on the definition of "local cults", the starting and end year of "Tang and Song Dynasty", and the geographical range of "Liuzhou" discussed in this thesis.The second chapter focuses on the transformation of Liu Zongyuan and the evolution of tales about him in Tang Dynasty as well as analyzes the reason why Liu became a god. The author believes the original drive that led to Liu’s transformation was the respect from Liuzhou civilians, who built the Luochi Temple and worship Liu as "Luochi God" spontaneously. The reason why Liu Zongyuan earned himself this treatment was his outstanding contribution to Liuzhou, compared to Liuzhou’s marginal status in Tang Dynasty’s politics and the indifferent attitude of his predecessors. "The Liuzhou Luochi Tablet" written by Han Yu made the establishment of Liu’s image as "Luochi God" more convincing.In addition, Liuzhou in Tang Dynasty had not completely been assimilated by the central plains culture, where supernatural culture was still prosper. Thus, under the cultural circumstance, people in Liuzhou worshiped Liu Zongyuan in memory of his contribution. Since Liu was a banished official and the restriction of the local cults policies of Tang Dynasty, Liu Zongyuan could only be worshiped by ordinary people as a "civilian god".The third chapter demonstrates the transformation of Liu Zongyuan into a god and the evolution of tales about him and analyzes the cause of this cultural phenomenon. On the one hand, because of the changing political situation and the tradition of Song Dynasty that valued literary talent above martial arts, Liu became a proper candidate for a god. The upheavals in the political arena of Song Dynasty accelerated the monarch of Song Dynasty adjusted its local cults policy, which allowed Liu Zongyuan to be included in the official worship. On the other hand, the scholars in Liuzhou had accepts central plains culture in Song Dynasty. Influenced by the Confucianism, the folk and local scholars were looking for official approval for Liu’s status as Luochi God. The common interests promoted the transformation of Liu. Moreover, this chapter also covered connection between the three ennoblements of Liu Zongyuan and the change of the politics of the Song Dynasty and the up and down of folk secret religions. The three ennoblements took place at the climax of the ennoblement of local cults in Song Dynasty, which concerned the great change of the politics or rebellions by local secret religions. It reflects the attempts by court of Song Dynasty to tighten the control of local culture by modifying policies toward local cults.The fourth chapter compares the worship of Liu Zongyuan and other prefectual governors, taking Liu Fen in Liuzhou, Liu Zongyuan in Yongzhou, and Hanyu in Chaozhou as typical examples, which shows that the power of civilians is the original drive of worship of a local official. Furthermore, the promoting force from the official side and the impact of the tales are also important. However, not all the banished officials could become a god where they made contributions, and there is no certain model for the worship.The fifth chapter works as the summary of the thesis, reviews previous chapters, and unravels the shortcomings the prospects of this research.