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Daoism in Local Society

Submitted to Program Units
1: Daoist Studies Unit
2: Chinese Religions Unit

Shih-shan Huang, Rice University, Presiding

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

Since the inception of Daoist Studies, scholars have examined the ways in which established Daoist lineages have interacted with local societies and their beliefs and customs. Pioneering studies have posited that aspects of canonical and institutional Daoist traditions provide an organizational framework for the formation of local pantheons and practices. While this analytical model has benefited our understanding of the transmission of texts and teachings from the top down, from the imperial to the local, questions remain as to how local society has shaped and reshaped religious practices and identities from the bottom up. This panel examines precisely these inquiries across several specific localities in both historical and modern contexts. Its participants explore a diverse range of materials, including liturgical manuals, ordination documents, esoteric talismans, temple stelae, regional maps, and ritual performances, aiming to introduce new perspectives and methodologies for understanding local expressions and adaptations of Daoist practice.

Papers

  • Aaron Reich, Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia

    Pacifying the Winter Winds: The Talismanic Towers of the Penghu Islands

    Abstract

    As a way to protect against harsh weather and to procure blessings for the community, villages throughout the Penghu archipelago have installed and consecrated small stone towers, a practice that dates from the late Qing period (1644–1911). More than forty towers in total, many of these structures reside on the coastline, high upon cliffs, overlooking the seas. This paper explores relationships between talismanic inscriptions on these stone towers and local religion in Penghu. By studying historical, epigraphical, and ethnographic data compiled by Penghu scholars, together with new fieldwork, this paper argues that these inscriptions and the rituals that empower them reflect a local expression of a Daoist cosmos. This vision positions supreme and stellar gods of the Daoist pantheon as the ultimate source of divine power and the deified dead of the local soil as the spiritual entities who make this power manifest in the lives of the people.

  • David Mozina, University of Cambridge

    What’s that “Dog” Doing in the Ritual? How Meaning Gets Made and Remade in Daoist Liturgical Literature

    Abstract

    This paper explores how meaning gets made—and remade—in Daoist liturgical manuals by focusing on the nexus of talismans and hagiography. It focuses on one puzzling graph, the character for “dog,” which is inscribed in a talisman designed to summon the thunder god Celestial General Yin Jiao. The paper examines how one lineage in Hunan interprets the character in terms of its received hagiography of Yin Jiao. The paper then compares that interpretation with those in manuals used by cousin lineages nearby and also by more remote lineages in other parts of Hunan and beyond. The wildly different interpretations show that ritual manuals are traces of Daoists’ hermeneutical work by which received meanings get lost and then creatively reworked to make new meanings. Looking at ritual manuals as living redactions by real people pushes against our scholarly tendency to interpret them as floating texts disconnected from time and place.

  • Jingyu Liu, Rollins College

    Temple, Ritual, and Pilgrimage: Local Daoism in the Ming Dynasty

    Abstract

    This study explores the integration and influence of Daoism in the local societies of Henan 河南 province during the late imperial era. It adopts a bottom-up approach, examining the Daoist temple network, the amalgamation of Daoist and Buddhist rituals, and the interaction between Daoism and local cults. Centered on stele inscriptions from Xin’an County 新安縣, Henan, this research uncovers the collaborative efforts in constructing and renovating Daoist temples, with a specific focus on the worship of Zhenwu 真武. The findings highlight the extensive local religious networks, revealing how various local leaders, clergy, and communities joined these religious projects. This collaborative spirit not only showcases the extensive reach of these networks but also the deep-rooted and evolving Daoist traditions within these communities.

  • Richard Wang, University of Florida

    Local Daofa in the Ming Daoist Ordination

    Abstract

    Daoist ordination (*shoulu* 授籙) is a mechanism in which the ordinand receives liturgical registers (*lu* 籙) listing the divine generals and soldiers and containing the titles of the scriptures transmitted. After the Song, along with the newly emerged exorcistic rites and revelations, the concept and practice of a rank of particular exorcistic methods (*fa* 法 or *daofa* 道法) in the office of the celestial bureaucracy (*fazhi* 法職) awarded to the ordinand has been added to the Daoist ordination. This paper explores how local *daofa* traditions were incorporated into the mainstream Daoist ordination in the Ming, or the interactions between the mainstream Daoist institution represented by the orthodox ordination and local Daoism. Through the analyses of the twenty ordination cases, we can see what local *daofa* traditions were more prevalent in practice in the Ming.

Responding
Elena Valussi, Loyola University, Chicago
Audiovisual Requirements

Resources

LCD Projector and Screen
Play Audio from Laptop Computer
Podium microphone

Full Papers Available

No
Program Unit Options

Session Length

90 Minutes

Schedule Preference

Sunday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Schedule Info

Sunday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Tags

Daoism

Session Identifier

A24-309