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Ming Qing Yanjiu 20 (2017) 3–20 brill.com/mqyj Reconsidering the Role of Mazu under the Early Hongwu Reign The Case of Guangzhou in 1368 Roderich Ptak and Cai Jiehua Abstract The worship of Mazu, the Chinese Goddess of Sailors, began in Fujian, under the early Song. Migrants from that province gradually spread this cult to other coastal regions and among the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. The present article investigates one particular episode in the history of the Mazu cult. Its stage is Guangzhou and the period dealt with is the beginning of the Hongwu reign. In 1368, Liao Yongzhong’s troops moved to that city, putting it under control of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Ming emperor. Local chronicles pertaining to Guangdong and certain other sources briefly refer to this event. They report that Liao promoted the worship of Mazu in that region and they indicate that Mazu received an official title in 1368, by imperial order. The Tianfei xiansheng lu, one of the key texts for the Mazu cult, provides different details: It associates the title granted by the imperial court with the year 1372, and not with the context of Central Guangdong. Furthermore, the attributes which form part of the title vary from one text to the next. The paper discusses these and other points, arguing there could be two different narrative traditions surrounding Mazu’s role in 1368/72: the Guangdong version and the “conventional” view, similar to the one found in Tianfei xiansheng lu. Although there is no definite solution for this dilemma, the article tries to expose the general background into which one may embed these observations. Keywords Mazu – Hongwu – Ming dynasty – Guangzhou * Institut für Sinologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München [email protected]; [email protected]. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/24684791-12340001Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 09:20:51AM via free access 4 Ptak and Cai 1 Introduction Mazu 媽祖, also called Tianfei 天妃, Tianhou (Tinhau) 天后, etc., is the Chinese Goddess of Sailors. There are different views on the origins of this cult, but fol- lowing conventional assumptions her worship began on the small island of Meizhou 湄洲, which belongs to Fujian province. From there the cult spread to continental Fujian and along the coast towards the North and South, a process already visible under the Song and usually linked to the activities of Fujianese fishermen and merchants, whose vessels plied the seas in growing numbers. These chapters in the early history of Mazu form the topic of many scholarly studies and have also entered various surveys.1 The rapidly growing body of academic works on religious texts, key events, the rise of individual temples, ceremonial issues, comparative and other aspects, naturally, is mostly in Chinese. By contrast, there are very few books and articles in European languages, especially on individual regions—with the exception perhaps of Fujian and modern Taiwan, where Mazu is the leading deity. The focus of the present study is mainly on Guangzhou, on one particu- lar period and on one event: the beginning of the Ming dynasty, when Mazu received a new title. It is chiefly based on official sources, including local chronicles, which contain hundreds of small entries on and references to that deity. Relevant information of that kind has become accessible through mod- ern collections, and it is these works which proved of great help for drafting this paper.2 Furthermore, the present article raises questions and draws attention to a number of open issues, but it does not build on a specific theory. Models are more easily applied to larger contexts. For instance, one could think of a general framework to explain the Mazu cult’s gradual spread across individual counties and/or macro-regions inside Guangdong, or around Guangzhou.3 Did that process follow a specific rhythm, which were the forces behind it, was it different from the northbound expansion of the cult towards the Zhoushan Islands 舟山群島, Shandong, and other locations? The problem with such 1 Some surveys on the Mazu cult: Li Xianzhang 1995; Qiu Fuhai 1998; Li Lulu 1999; Cai Xianghui 2006; Xu Xiaowang 2007. For the general reader: Ptak 2012. 2 See especially Mazu wenxian shiliao huibian 媽祖文獻史料彙編 (now MZWX), which is divided into several series (see bibliography). 3 Studies on Mazu and Guangdong include the following items: Jiang Shan and Shen Si 1989; Chen Zhonglie 1994; Chen Yande 1996; Li Qingxin/Luo Yiying 2013; several articles in Putian xueyuan xuebao 莆田學院學報. See further Li Xianzhang 1995: 167–176, and studies listed in Mazu yanjiu ziliao, II: 353–355. Ming QingDownloaded Yanjiu from Brill.com10/02/202120 (2017) 3–20 09:20:51AM via free access Reconsidering the Role of Mazu under the Early Hongwu Reign 5 questions partly stems from the nature of the written material. Texts and inscriptions mostly present simple facts, usually without providing the kind of information necessary to draw detailed panorama images. Furthermore, when officials compiled local chronicles they often copied earlier material uncriti- cally or adopted regional perspectives not in line with what we can gather from works discussing China in its totality. This short note does not solve these complicated issues. Being less ambi- tious, it only wishes to reconsider a set of widely known aspects and general features surrounding a very limited theme. That brings to light a number of truly or seemingly contradictory points some of which are not easily recon- ciled and indeed will remain unanswered. By and large this will be the main concern of parts four and five, while the next two segments will prepare the stage. 2 Song and Yuan Migrants: Taking Mazu to Guangdong and Beyond In all likelihood it were Minnan 閩南 sailors who first took the belief in Mazu from Fujian to Lingnan 嶺南. Early accounts refer to Fujianese in that region. One source is the Yudi jisheng 輿地紀勝 (c. 1221); it reports, for example, that nine out of ten pawnbrokers in Huazhou 化州, a place in the western section of Guangdong, near the Guangxi border, had their roots in Min.4 Other Song texts tell us of Fujianese living on Hainan or trading to that island.5 Evidently some of these migrants had moved south already under the late Tang or during the Wudai period, when much of southern China had repeatedly experienced political and economy instability. From the twelfth century onward we also encounter Quanzhou 泉州 mer- chants and small groups of Chinese settlers in different parts of Southeast Asia. The Daoyi zhilüe 島夷誌略 (earliest preface 1349) mentions a Fujian trader in the context of Timor, at the outer rim of modern Indonesia. We read of Chinese staying in other locations as well, for example in Zhenla 眞臘. There are also vague references to religious ceremonies conducted by these early migrants, as for instance in Lingshan 靈山, on the coast of modern Vietnam. It is possible that such observations had to do with Mazu and/or other Chinese cults.6 4 Yudi jisheng, j. 106: 4a (p. 3417). Different names were used for Huazhou in different periods. For some years, the areas also belonged to Guangxi. 5 See, for example, Netolitzky 1977: 32; Hirth/Rockhill 1970: 177, 183, 185. 6 Daoyi zhilüe jiaoshi 島夷誌略校釋: 69–70 (Zhenla), 209 (Timor), 223 (ceremonies). For the latter also Liao Dake 2013: 197. Note: Liao thinks this is a reference to a different deity, not Mazu. Ming Qing Yanjiu 20 (2017) 3–20 Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 09:20:51AM via free access 6 Ptak and Cai Under the Yuan, influential merchants supported the Mongol elite in many ways, for example by organising supply shipments from the fertile production areas in Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu to the imperial capital in Dadu 大都, via the coastal corridor around Shandong and into the Bohai 渤海. These con- voys, so it seems, involved vessels and manpower from Fujian—and the belief in Mazu. Towards the end of Yuan rule, when the Mongol-Chinese state began to decline, Fujian itself was hit by unrest and internal warfare. This led to a series of violent confrontations between Chinese and local Non-Han groups, many of which were Muslims belonging to the so-called semu 色目 category. Eventually the latter disappeared, leaving Fujian for destinations in Southeast Asia, presumably Brunei and/or some towns on northern Java.7 The details remain unknown, but we cannot rule out the possibility that this fresh “wave” of migrants included some followers of Mazu. 3 Fujian, How to Deal with Mazu, and the Guangzhou Option Although the Yuan general Chen Youding 陳友定 (?–1368) succeeded in paci- fying Fujian during the mid-1360s, the Mongol empire had by now entered its final phase. Several warlords contested over power in different regions and it gradually became clear that Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋 (1328–1398) would emerge as the final winner. To cement his position, Zhu Yuanzhang knew that, besides controlling the lower Yangzi region and parts of the interior, he also had to conquer the coastal provinces, subdue semi-autonomous groups with mari- time connections, and eventually increase vigilance over the ports and inlets of the East and South. Early in 1368, his troops marched into Fujian, forcing Chen Youding to surrender. Shortly thereafter they rushed to Guangdong. At that time Guangzhou was under control of the Yuan general He Zhen 何眞 (1321–1388), who hailed from Dongguan 東莞. Earlier He had been fight- ing over this city with rebel forces. Now Guangzhou became part of the Ming domain, because He Zhen changed sides. Both campaigns, the one leading to the annexation of Fujian and the one against Guangzhou, involved land forces and huge fleets.8 7 For these events, also called Ispah rebellion, etc.: Maejima 1974; Chen Dasheng 1982.