Astrolatry Societies In Nanping:the History And Rituals Of Shan Qing Temple(1897-2016)

Astrolatry societies(Doushe,??)are organizations formed by urban elites,with a goal of "worshiping the god and the stars".Their main activity involves ritual music performance.Otherwise known as Doutang(??)Douhui(??)or Doutan(??),astrolatry societies dated back to the late imperial China period.During the late Qing Dynasty and the Nationalist era,such organizations had once been prevalent in areas like Jiangsu,Fujian,Tianjin and Yunnan.However,most astrolatry societies faded out after 1949.This paper studies the astrolatry societies in Nanping,Fujian Province,which remain in function to this day.Based on the private documents and narratives collected during field trips,the author was able to reconstruct the history of the five astrolatry societies in Nanping,"Si Gong Yi She"(????),discuss the traditional rituals of Shang Qing Temple,and analyse how social advancements had impacted the formation and development of Nanping astrolatry societies.The research focus of this paper is on the status of modern-day astrolatry societies.Using the documentation of the rituals at the Nanping Gathering Celebrating the Birth of the God of Mount Tai(????????)in 2015,the author closely examined the rituals and activities at Nanping astrolatry societies and came up with a description and analysis of the Fu Hu Temple incident in the 1990s.Although the formation of astrolatry societies has close bonds with Daoism rituals and in particular the Fuji ritual(??),those societies are not technically religious organizations,but rather a type of "interest groups" among the upper class for the appreciation of religious culture and ritual music.Therefore,when the aristocracy class was dismantled in modern Chinese history,the course of the astrolatry societies was also significantly affected,leading to the disappearance of most of them.Overall,the various circumstances that faced Nanping astrolatry societies throughout history provide not only a bird view of the rise and fall of the astrolatry societies in China,but also a showcase of how local traditional culture adapts and integrates into the society under the context of modernization.