Imperial Metaphor And Local Society

As an interpretation of socio-cultural history based on field work and historical records,this dissertation investigates the development and vicissitude of the City God cult in Pinghe County from Ming dynasty to modern era.By approaching the City God temple,City God and City Goddess cult and rituals,as well as their changing roles,it tries to illuminate the influence exerted by the imperial metaphor on the local society,the role of literati and peasants,as well as the cultural diversity and continuity of local society.After the rebellion druing the Zhengde reign of Ming dynasty,Wang Yangming established Pinghe County,located in South-eastern Fujian with its county seat in Jiufeng.During this process,Zeng lineage controlled various local resources by virtue of imperial authority.And since then the lineage enthusiastically participated in the construction of the City God temple as an imperial metaphor and finally manipulated the articulation of legends of the City God for the management and dominance of the local resources.Since the modern age,the City God statue in the anti-superstition discourse underwent exile but still survived as a symbol of orthodoxy.Until 1980s and 1990s,the development of local politics,especially the struggle of interests between lineages,led to the competitive claims for the shrine of City God and the emergence of two City God temples.Through the rituals of City God and Goddess,this dissertation argues that the local society had formed an intrinsic cultural system during the process of social integration.It reveals the diversity of local culture:Confucian intellectual culture represented by Lisheng coexisted with other traditions like Taoism and Shamanism; different social groups maintained different cultural traditions,which illuminated the relativity of cultural orthodoxy.During the development of local society,"Lijiao Xiaxiang"(the penetration of Confucianism into the countryside) did not interrupt and substitut the original cultural traditions;and the local culture preserved its continuity by virtue of religions and rituals.