HISTORY and GOVERNMENT an Outline of History Before 1949
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CHAPTER TWO HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT An Outline of History before 1949 Commoners believe in ghosts and gods, and always in the fi ft h month, when ploughing and planting are fi nished, gather together singing and dancing to sacrifi ce to the gods. In the tenth month, when agricultural work is done, they do the same. (Biography of Ma Han, Jin shu (History of the Jin Dynasty), 266−316 ce, zhuan 97, edited between 646−648 ce). Local community religion in China not only has its own forms of organi- zation, leadership and rituals, but also has its own history, a history that in many cases goes back several hundreds years. However, the sources for understanding that history are sparse and scattered, because such activities have been considered unworthy of recording and studying. Particularly before the Ming period (1368–1644) the sources for com- munity rituals in north China do not permit the writing of a connected history; the best one can do is cite the evidence that is available to sug- gest what might have been going on in the light of later developments. Here I fi rst summarize what I have learned about community rituals before the Song period (960–1279), then note the new developments in that period that set the stage for what followed, and refer to new government policies for local communities in the early Ming that infl u- enced rituals carried out by the people. Th e second part of this section is a summary of government regulations for local rituals. Th is historical outline focuses on evidence from the north, but for the Song period almost all we know is about the south and east, during the period when the court was moved south to Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province (1127–1279) aft er the old capital of Kaifeng in the north was lost to the Jurchen. During this Southern Song period China entered a new phase of growth in population and economic and cultural vitality, with increased literacy and publication, so that most of our information about this period comes from the south. A major problem for investi- gating the history of local religion in this period is that most scholars who do discuss it mix data from diff erent places, with only scattered references to the north. Th e result is a geographical hodge-podge that is at best organized only by time, not by space. For the period following history and government 33 the seventeenth century I discuss history in the context of descriptions of local temples and rituals. A related topic is the veneration in the north of ancient deities attested to in pre-Han sources, deities such as Nüwa, Fuxi and Shennong, the legendary founder of agriculture and herbal medicine. In some instances these gods were worshiped at places believed to be where they origi- nated, with indications of grottoes, temples and festivals for them, some of which continue to exist or have been revived. Of course, these gods were worshiped elsewhere in China as well, though perhaps not with the same sense of original geographical location. Because cults of these deities are enveloped in legend, local pride of place and later revivals and reconstructions, this is a tricky topic that I enter with a sense of diffi dence but nonetheless think is worth noting, so long as I stick to the details of what I have learned. Th e earliest evidence for these cults that I have found is from Henan and Hebei, modern provinces in the areas of old states going back to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of the mid- to late Zhou dynasty (722–481 and 403–221 bce). In myths about the goddess Nüwa that appear as early as the fourth century bce, she is portrayed as the fashioner of human beings and as having propped up a pillar of heaven that had been knocked askew. Th ere is a tomb for her in Xihua County of Henan, near ‘Nüwa City’, which is now the name of villages in this area. Th ere are still festivals celebrated by Nüwa’s tomb on lunar 12/17–23 and 1/2–20; during these periods the special days are her birthday on 12/21 and the day she repaired heaven on 1/15. At this festival there are food off erings, scripture recitation, banners and the off ering of incense and prayers for such blessings as the birth of sons, marriage, good harvests and prosperity, with answered prayers repaid with songs sung to the goddess while her worshipers prostrate them- selves. Th ese activities are similar to others practiced elsewhere since at least the Qing period, but I have no evidence as to how old they are here; at least a memory of the goddess is still alive. However, there are Song records of a Nüwa City, which has recently been excavated, with the discovery of implements and vessels from the Spring and Autumn period. At Taihao Ling in Huaiyang County, another place in Henan, there is a grotto and a temple dedicated to Nüwa. At the grotto, called ‘Descendants Grotto’, women seeking sons worship and rub its gate. A festival for the goddess is carried out at the temple from 2/2 to 3/3, with people attending from the whole surrounding area. We are told that at this festival a ‘primitive dance’ is carried out for a whole day .