The Interaction Between The State And The Local: A Study Of Chen Yuanguang’s Belief In Zhangzhou

In the early Tang Dynasty,General Chen Yuanguang,whose native place was Hedong,was the "leader of Lingnan".He led his army to Fujian to quell the rebellion,established Zhangzhou,and served as the first governor.He served as the Left Lang General of Zuo yu qian wei,the Middle Lang General of the Xun Mansion,and the Right Eagle Yang Wei General of Ying yang wei.After his death in battle,he received posthumous gifts from the Tang court and was revered by the officials and people of Zhangzhou,which led to the emergence of Chen Yuanguang’s faith.During the Song and Yuan dynasties,Chen Yuanguang’s faith entered a prosperous period,which was reflected in numerous official gifts,the peak of official and civilian sacrifices,the expansion of the scope of faith,the emergence of "spiritual" deeds,and the efforts of local elites.The two main reasons for the prosperity of Chen Yuanguang’s faith during the Song and Yuan dynasties were the perfect system of ancestral shrines and the fact that the characteristics of Chen Yuanguang’s faith were in line with the needs of national governance.During the Ming and Qing dynasties,the court rebuilt a strict ancestral temple system,which led to a decrease in Chen Yuanguang’s deity compared to the Song and Yuan dynasties.However,local officials still attached great importance to the worship of Chen Yuanguang,and folk worship also flourished,and a set of Shengwang’s patrol ceremony was also formed.The emergence of clan writing was an important feature of Chen Yuanguang’s faith during the Ming and Qing dynasties,specifically manifested in the fact that the Kaizhang family added relevant deeds of the Chen Yuanguang family and Kaizhang tribe generals to their genealogy,and elevated them to records in local chronicles,becoming officially recognized history.The vigorous development of the Fujian family system after the mid Ming Dynasty was the background for this phenomenon,and the two-way cooperation between the Kaizhang family and local officials was the specific reason for its emergence.The Kaizhang family used this to strengthen their influence in the local area,and the local government used it to strengthen local governance.The Kaizhang discourse during the Ming and Qing dynasties had a profound impact on Zhangzhou society,especially reflected in the behavior of various clans honoring Kaizhang characters as their ancestors.The development and changes of Songzhou Weihui Temple are a typical case.The Songzhou Weihui Temple was first built in the Tang Dynasty and was the main temple for local officials to worship Chen Yuanguang until the Southern Song Dynasty.It was not until the establishment of the Northern Temple that it was converted into a folk worship.Due to the influence of the Kaizhang family in the mid to late Ming Dynasty,the status of Songzhou Weihui Temple further improved,and to this day,Songzhou Weihui Temple remains one of the influential Weihui temples in Zhangzhou.In the early days of Songzhou Weihui Temple,it was operated by the Chen family in Songzhou Village.During the Wanli period,due to the invasion of the plague,the external Zhong family replaced the Chen family and took over Songzhou Village.In order to actively integrate into Zhangzhou society,the Zhong family,on the one hand,adopted Zhong Faxing,the founder of the Zhangzhou tribe,as their ancestor.On the other hand,they continued the operation of the Songzhou Weihui Temple and the Saint King’s Patrol Ceremony,ultimately successfully taking root in Zhangzhou society.