Country,immigration,and Local Order: A Study Of The Belief In Guandi In Yulin Since The Ming And Qing Dynasties

The belief in Guandi is one of the most important traditional beliefs in Chinese civil society,originating from the Wei and Jin dynasties and flourishing in the Ming and Qing dynasties.Since the Ming and Qing dynasties,as the ruling center of the dynasty’s national power shifted towards the northwest border,the belief in Guandi gradually spread to the Yulin region.Examining the historical trajectory of its inheritance and dissemination,it showed a clear composite nature.On the one hand,it sank into local society as a power tool and symbolic symbol to express the ruling will.The implementation of the belief in Guan Di more reflected the strategic practical logic of the country: the deteriorating Ming Mongol War in the mid Ming Dynasty,the Jin Shaanxi War in the early Qing Dynasty,and the Shaanxi Gansu War in the late Qing Dynasty severely threatened the border rule of the dynasty,and promoting the belief in Guan Di that reflected the national will became a necessary act to demonstrate the presence of the country.Local officials representing national interests utilized their discourse privileges to create a series of myths and legends of Emperor Guan in the national context,achieving the intervention of national power in the "folk belief memory",successfully integrating their own authority into the local belief system,and achieving the "alternative" presence of the country.If the instrumental attribute of the belief in Guandi is achieved through the continuous "carving of symbols" mentioned by Du Zanqi,the expression of national discourse related to the belief in Guandi determines how its symbols will be "carved".The generation of national discourse is not static,it is always guided by the transfer of ruling class intentions and changes in social and cultural context,and always serves the legitimacy construction of royal rule.On the other hand,the belief in Guandi was also a ritual system and conceptual behavior related to deity worship,temple construction,and other aspects that local people,especially immigrant groups,chose and believed in.The influx of a large number of military and reclamation immigrants in the Ming and Qing dynasties promoted the further spread of the belief in Guandi.At the same time,the belief group composed of immigrants from different sources also presented diverse features in the functional cognition of the belief in Guandi in Yulin region,And profoundly affect the shaping of regional society and its cultural ecology.Secondly,although folk beliefs are mainly influenced by the will of the state,marginalized groups also integrate the central power system into the local belief system through individual models,serving as an effective logic for coordinating different interest groups.Entering modern times,identity crisis,spatial deconstruction,and inheritance fragmentation constitute the current dilemma that the belief in Guandi is difficult to avoid.However,this does not necessarily mean that the decline of the belief in Guandi,which has been passed down as a traditional experience for thousands of years,has become inevitable.The creative transformation of the cultural function of Guandi belief from belief practice to resource governance is an effective attempt to adapt to modernization through transformation.After the transformation from tradition to modernity,the belief in Guandi,which remains as a traditional experience,has not declined due to the changes of the times,and its value orientation and significance will continue to be involved in the reconstruction of local order in the local society,in order to strengthen social cohesion,economic exchanges,and cultural identity within the region,help local governments make good use of traditional resources,promote local governance,and enhance understanding and tolerance among ethnic groups,Strengthening the awareness of the Chinese national community has had an important impact.