Jerome Yuchien's Ph.D Thesis

THREE TYPES OF CHINESE NATURE DEITIES--STONE, TREE, AND LAND

2008-02-17T01:10:00.001-08:00

INDEX
Abstract and Acknowledgements
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Textual References to Divine Stones and Trees
Chapter Three: The Land God in Chinese Popular Religion
Chapter Four: Festival Dates of the Three Deities
Chapter Five: The Deification of Stones and Trees
Chapter Six: Nominal Adoption and the Three Deities
Chapter Seven: Lottery Gambling and the Three Deities
Chapter Eight: The Links among the Stone, Tree, and Land Deities
Chapter Nine: Conclusion
Bibliography

Lancaster University

THREE TYPES OF CHINESE NATURE DEITIES--STONE, TREE, AND LAND
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Jerome YuChien
LANCASTER, U.K.
JANUARY 1997
Supervised by: Prof. S. McFarlane
Examiners
Prof. Stephan Feuchtwang
Prof. David Smith

Abstract and Acknowledgements

2008-02-16T01:59:00.000-08:00

THREE TYPES OF CHINESE DEITIES--STONE,TREE,AND LAND

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES,LANCASTER UNIVERSITY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Jerome YuChien

LANCASTER,U.K.

JANUARY 1997

This thesis deals with certain aspects of the Chinese popular religion of Taiwan; specifically , the cult of the Land God represented by stone(Chio Tho-ti-kong) and/or tree (Chhiu Tho-ti-kong) and the enormously complex relationships between this deity and both the Stone God (Chio-thau-kong) and the Tree God (Tua-chhiu-kong). The results of the study indicate that scared trees and stones worshipped as gods can be distinguished from the Land God which is represented by trees or stones. The distinction between the Land God and stone/tree gods can also be applied to the study of legends, traits, functions, images, deification stories, the dates for annual festivals etc.

This thesis also demonstrate that common people only partly accept the authority of the standardised written accounts fostered by elites and/or local leaders, and take it as only one of their authorities. besides it, they have their own mechanism to sustain their religious culture and have their own authorities to follow. The investigation of this mechanism and/or authorities can be easily overlooked if we limit our studies to the religious cultures dominated by the elites. Furthermore, the mechanism fostered by the state and elites seemed to serve as a carrier of messages such as civilization, order, and loyalty to the state, that is, "keepers" of social values. On the contrary, the authorities preferred by common people can serve as "challengers" to those who are privileged and who set social values.

This thesis consists of two parts: text and illustrations. The text, including notes, bibliography and character list, comprises 300 pages. All the 112 illustrations attached are colour photos I took in my field sites. The study will serve readers in the fields of Taiwanese culture, Chinese popular religion, history of religion, and anthropology.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to many people for help in carrying this thesis to completion. First, Iwant to express my sincere gratitude to those whom I interviewed druing my fieldwork. I also want to thank my supervisor Dr. Stewart McFarlane, especially for his patience and advice. In addition, I hereby acknowledge the generous financial support of the National Youth Commission of the Executive Yuan in 1992-3, and that of the Academia Sinicaa in 1993-4. Special thanks are also due to both Dr. L. S. Davis and J. A. Laidlaw for their reading of draught chapters and for providing invaluable criticism. Next, Mr. Andrew.T. Clarke also deserves thanks for correcting many mistakes in my use of English.

Many academics and staff in the Institute of Ethnology ( e.g. Prof. Zhuang Yingzhang, Prof. Xu Jiaming, Prof. Lin Meirong, and Prof. Pan Yinghai) of Academia Sinica, Taiwan and Department of Religious Studies ( e.g. Ms. Janice Parkes, Dr. Roderick Main, and Prof. John Clayton), Lancaster University, England have helped me in mumerous ways -- to all of whom I am thankful.

I am indebted to Ms. Susan Lucas for her kindness when I studied in England. Finally, for both financial help and general support, I am deeply grateful to my family.

Chapter One: Introduction

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Field Methodology:

This study is based primarily on field research conducted in Taiwan. In the summer of 1991, I returned to Taiwan from England to visit my parents, and did the preliminary fieldwork in northern Taiwan where my family lived. Even though the work lasted only two months, I took many pictures, wrote a field report and took all of these materials to Britain to show my supervisor. He found it was worthy of study and advised me to devote a year's library work to this subject to prepare the intensive fieldwork.

The intensive fieldwork was carried out between 1992 and 1994 in the widest range of villages and towns on the island -- chosen at random -- that I was able to visit, given the time and resources at my disposal. Usually, when I first arrived at a site, I would talk informally with people to get them to "open up" and to encourage them to express themselves in their own terms, and at their own pace. If possible, I would start a semi- structured interview in which I used a written list of questions and topics that I had arranged in a particular order. I used neither structured questionnaires nor tape-recorders in order not to exercise excessive control over people or even get them nervous.

I conducted interviews with the shrine staffs and with many of the believers in the neighbourhoods; and got to know them more as I established friendly relations with them. Since I did not assume that I had an automatic right to carry out the investigations, the research was a reciprocal one. Every time I went to a shrine, I prepared to offer something (e.g. the photos I took and the results of my research) to thank the people I interviewed. (note.1)Because I am a native Taiwanese, I did not find it difficult to explain my presence or the nature of my investigations to the people concerned.

In the first half of 1996 I visited the field sites again to do supplementary fieldwork, that is, to ask the questions that I missed in intensive fieldwork, and to make sure of those things I was uncertain of when writing the thesis draught. (note.2)

The first scholar who did research of the worship of stone and tree in Taiwan and its relation with the "She" Cult is Ling Shun-sheng. (note.3)He started his study on Chinese classics and Occidental works of this subject in 1955. In total, he produced five monographs (1958; 1959a; 1959b; 1964; 1967) on this subject and received many compliments from scholars concerned with the subject (cf. Mabuchi 1970:349; Pearson 1970:317).(note.4) In November 1963, Ling Shun-sheng received a letter from his daughter Ling Manli from Oregon, USA, in which were enclosed two colour photos of a dolmen. He was surprised and sent her a letter immediately, inquiring about the origin of these two pictures. In her reply, she said: "The two pictures were given to me by a missionary by the name of Rev. Robert P. McKinnen. He said the two pictures were among the photos of local scenes taken by a photo studio at Taizhong (Tai-chung) County of Taiwan for one of his friends, but he does not know himself the exact location of the dolmen." Later, the dolmen in these two pictures was found located in Taizhong City through some field search by Ling Shun- sheng and his colleagues (Ling Shun-sheng 1967:136). He claimed that over 80 dolmens were discovered by him and, in his estimation, there should be approximately several thousand dolmens existing on this 30,000 sq-kilometre island of Taiwan (Ling Shun-sheng 1967:134). Since he was well versed in Chinese classics, his study on them is trustworthy and thus I will apply them in my investigation in the following chapters.

Unfortunately, his interpretation of the divine stones and trees has left much to be desired. He found a number of divine stones and trees in both east and west Taiwan. He claimed that these natural objects worshipped by aboriginal tribes (both Plain and Mountain Aboriginals) were dolmen and menhir-like and signified the genital organ of both sexes. He then maintained that these traits revealed that they were not only merely similar but also virtually identical with Chinese "She" Cult (esp. Ling Shun-sheng 1958:56f; 1959a:178; 1964:41).

There are at least two objections which can be raised against Ling Shun-sheng's interpretation of these natural objects. First of all, the worship of genital, menhir, and dolmen-like stones is a universal phenomenon (Hartland 1917b; Graesser 1972; Edsman 1987; Mohen 1989), many peoples in the world, including Taiwan Aboriginals and Han-Chinese, practice such worship, the evidence he presents does not prove that they are virtually the same as the Chinese "She" Cult.(note.5) Second and most vitally, as I will explain in the following sections, neither Plain nor Mountain Aboriginals had any contact with China until the coming of Chinese in the seventeenth century. This contact remained very limited (certainly not sufficient to account for major cultural phenomena); and even until the beginning of the twentieth century, within the overall frame of East Asia culture history, Taiwan Aboriginals had relatively little contact with the Han-Chinese population. In fact, Taiwan Aboriginals were outside the cultural and religious orbit of China (Herz 1986:19; Copper 1990:17). Therefore, a different interpretation from that of Ling Shun-sheng is needed.(note.6)

Affected by these considerations, I decided to do a fresh round of field research and find the sites of divine stones and trees by myself. Since I was born in Yilan County (located in the northeast Taiwan) and is currently a consultant of religious policy of the County Government, I am sure that I have visited all the stone and tree deities in this county. Moreover, the study of Lin Mei-rong (1987:53-81) on the worship of the Land God of her hometown (Chhau-tun Town of Nantou County, central Taiwan) includes a preliminary report on all divine stones and trees of the town. Therefore, I am sure that I have included all divine trees and stones of these two areas in this thesis. Additionally, both the gazetteer of Lam-tau County written by Liu Zhiwan (1961) and an article on the tree worship of Taiwan written by Yuan Chang-rue (1993) were helpful for my field work.

I limited myself and did field research only on the stones which were not hewn or inscribed with any characters such as Shi Gandang or stone lions and others, although they were also regarded as divine. I believe that the divine stones and trees I researched belong to a single category. Moreover, I exclude the stones and trees which are not worshipped by the public. (note.7)In total, I researched 61 stone and 39 tree shrines in Taiwan (see also Appendix). I would not affirm that I have visited all the divine stones and trees of the single category, but I am certain that those I have researched are typical for the purpose of my study.

Objectives:

In preparing the thesis, I have had two objectives. Most obviously, the thesis is a description of a feature of Chinese religion, that is, the worship of three natural objects -- land, stone, and tree. Although scholarly works dealing with community religious organisations, calendrical festivals, and family rites have become a great concern over the past thirty years, the discussion of the worship of natural objects has been almost neglected in the anthropological and sociological literature (cf. Yang 1961:353; Feng 1970:21; Allan 1979:5). However, I believe that the study of the three deities is also important in a number of ways that are easily missed if we limit our consideration to colourful festivals and household rites which are easier to field research (cf. Jordan & Overmyer 1986:8; Lin Mei-rong 1991.).

The second objective in studying these three deities arises from the fact that believers in them are relatively low on the social scale and have little political power. For this reason their beliefs are often misunderstood. Once, I had lunch with a friend in the Academia Sinica. He asked what subject I was studying for my Ph.D. thesis. I answered: "The worship of stones and trees." He immediately replied: "People even worship stones and trees! Do they worship chamber pots?" Moreover, it is often heard in Taiwan within intellectual circles that many religions in Taiwan are superstitious: "The veneration of cultural heroes seems reasonable because of their virtues. However, the worship of stones and trees is extremely superstitious since they cannot even speak!"

The religious beliefs of common people does not have official spokespersons or theologians to explain and defend their beliefs and practices. One of my reasons for writing this thesis is to demonstrate the seriousness of these religious beliefs and practices and to correct the misunderstanding of the religious beliefs that is common, even in Taiwan itself.

In order to achieve these two objectives, in the rest of this chapter, I give a geographical and historical introduction and a general view of Chinese popular religion of Taiwan, the island where I did my fieldwork. In Chapter Two, I review the textual data relating to Chinese worship of natural objects, especially divine stones and trees. Chapter Three portrays the images, functions, and traits of the Land God in order to offer a setting for the following chapters. In Chapter Four, by using the data collected from my fieldwork, I examine how the divine stones and trees are identified with the dates for annual birthday festivals and why some of them do not have any birthdays attached. Chapter Five discusses the religious custom of nominal adoption, the most traditional and distinctive role that the deities play in popular religion. In Chapter Six, I illustrate that some natural objects are themselves regarded as deities or as possessed by certain supernatural beings while others are not. Chapter Seven analyzes why in some places the divine stones and trees get involved in the "Everybody Happy Lottery" while in some places they do not. It is also argued that the prevalence of the Lottery, together with the transformation of roles of these deities, can be read, to a certain degree, as a resistance against or even a subversion of the contemporary social order in Taiwan. In Chapter Eight, by applying the theories of paleographic and historical studies, I demonstrate that aspects of modern stone and tree worship are closely connected with the "She" Cult but are not inevitably surviving examples of it. In the final chapter, I conclude that sacred trees and stones worshipped as the Stone and Tree Gods can be distinguished from the Land God that is represented by a tree or stone. The distinction between the Land God and the Stone and Tree Gods can also be applied to the study of legends, traits, functions, images, deification stories, the dates for birthday festivals etc. Moreover, I reiterate that common people have their own mechanism to sustain their religious culture and have their own authorities to follow.

Geography and Ethnicity:

Taiwan is an offshore island in the western Pacific and 100 miles southeast of the Chinese mainland. The island, which is approximately 245 miles long and 85 miles across at its widest point, has one of the highest population densities in the world - - about 1285 persons per square mile in a 14,000 square mile area. Over half the island is mountainous with few inhabitants; the other half, to the west, is fertile with more than 3,000 people per square mile (cf. Wu Lien-chin 1987:111; Copper 1990:1).

Some geologists say Taiwan was originally part of the Asia mainland. Others argue that its volcanic soil and the fact that it is part of the long chain of islands extending from the Alaskan Aleutans indicate that the island's origins are similar to those of Japan, the Philippines, and other islands off the eastern Asia coast. This evidence suggests either a more distant time connection - or none at all - to the Asia mainland. Recent geological studies reinforce the latter view, suggesting that Taiwan rose from the sea rather recently - a million years ago (Copper 1990:2).

Taiwan has abundant rainfall year-round; the mean annual precipitation is 102 inches. Generally the east coast receives more rain than the west, and the mountains more than the lowlands. One odd feature about Taiwan's rain patterns is that the dry season at one end of the island coincides with the rainy season at the other. In the north the heaviest rainfall is between October and March; in the south the rainy season occurs between April and September (Copper 1990:4). The plentiful rain supplies water for irrigation of agriculture in rainy seasons and for streams lakes and reservoirs when needed in dry times. Besides, much of Taiwan's soil is either volcanic or partly volcanic and thus is fairly fertile despite centuries of farming.

Although the Daoyi (Island Savages) in the Shangshu (the Book of History), the Dongdi of the Han Dynasty, the Yizhou of the Three Kingdoms, and the Liuqiu of the Sui Dynasty, are generally believed by historians to refer to Taiwan, it is now known that there were no Han Chinese people settled on the island (Chen Chi-lu 1972:119). But knowledge of the island probably existed already a long time before at such early times. Fishermen or merchants, driven from the China coastal waters by storms, told tales of a beautiful island far off in the ocean (Proksch 1984:13). Until the collapse of the Ming Dynasty in 1662, rulers of mainland China had by and large ignored Taiwan. The island was seen by Chinese as part of the Ryukyu chain, and, in the dynastic records of the sixth century Sui dynasty, was referred to as "Tai Liuqiu" or "Great Ryukyu" (although, later it was also known as "lesser Ryukyu") (Long 1991:4). In 605 one official was dispatched by the Emperor Yangdi of Sui Dynasty to investigate reports that in clear weather a smoky haze could be seen across the Taiwan strait (Long 1991:4f).

Copper, a historian of Taiwan, states that "in 1517 Portuguese vessels en route to Japan sighted Taiwan and named it "Ilha Formosa" (1990:18). But Proksch, another historian, maintains that the Portuguese sailors named the island "Ilha Formosa" in 1590 and the name "Formosa" was since introduced to the Western world (1984:13). However, the exact date is not vital, because the Portuguese did not lay claim to the island, nor did they try to colonise it. Besides, the name "Ilha Formosa" only means "beautiful island" in Portuguese language and the sailors could have dubbed many islands "Ilha Formosa", when they saw beautiful islands on their voyages.

Ironically, even though the island was only 100 miles away from the Chinese world, it was not until the Ming Dynasty (1368- 1644) that its exact location was known by them and the name Taiwan used by Han Chinese (Baity 1975:16; Copper 1990:18). Like Copper (1990:1), many historians do not know the origin of the name "Taiwan" which literally means "terraced bay". However, benefiting from his long-term field study in Taiwan, Schipper (1977:771) considered that:

The name Taiwan is derived from Tayuan, an early name of a little island not far from the coast of Formosa on which the Dutch built their first and most important stronghold. Named An-p'ing after the victory of Koxinga in 1662, the former island is now a suburb of Tainan City, as the water strip separating the two has long since silted up.

Taiwan is densely populated by approximately 22 million people and is occupied by two main ethnic groups, namely, about 2 percent of the indigenous group and 98 percent of Han-Chinese group (cf. Lamley 1977; Gates 1981; Herz 1986; Chiu 1987; Chuang Ying-chang 1988; Pan Ing-hai 1989; Copper 1990; Long 1991). According to some records, before the Dutch arrived in Taiwan in 1624, a few Han-Chinese had already lived in various aborigine villages in the area around present-day Tainan and traded in rice and salt. Some of them married indigenous women but were not stable residents (i.e. none of them were farmers) of the aboriginal community (Chen Chi-lu 1972:121; Allan 1979:2; Chuang Ying-chang 1987:181).

The Han-Chinese are not themselves homogeneous in any sense. In the past few millennia, the Han-Chinese have assimilated different heterogeneous elements to become the greater Han- Chinese people. Further developing after the Han Dynasty, the Han-Chinese have extended their sphere to cover almost the whole area of China (Chen Chi-lu 1972:119).

In Taiwan today, the Han-Chinese can be divided into three groups (Mandarin speaking Chinese, Hollo speaking Chinese, and Hakka speaking Chinese) according to the difference of language each group speaks (cf. Lamley 1981:283).(note.8) The Mandarin speaking Chinese are those who migrated into Taiwan after World War II and their Taiwan-born offspring. This group comprises 13% of the population in Taiwan. Because most of them are people in public service and soldiers who were forced to leave China by Chinese Communists and who took refuge on the island in 1949, many still identify themselves as Chinese and not Taiwanese. (note.9)

Hakka (literally, "Guests") speaking people include 13% of the whole of the population in Taiwan. Some scholars point out that the Hakka people originated in the area called "Zhongyuan" (the area south of the Yellow River, north of the Yangtze River, west of the Huai River and east of the Han River) and migrated in a southerly direction (Copper 1990; Long 1991:14). A total of five major southward migrations were interspersed with numerous smaller moves. The fifth-century invasion of China by northern tribes instigated the first major migration. During the reigns of Kangxi (1662-1722), Qianlong (1736-1795) and Jiaqing (1796-1820) in the Qing Dynasty the fourth major Hakka movement, from Guangdong to Taiwan, occurred. One reason for this last migratory move was population pressure in Guangdong Province. A second reason was the Manchu invasion of China. The Hakka People resisted the Manchu Government but were defeated. As a result, only with the reign of the second Qing Emperor Kangxi were they allowed to hold jobs in the civil service. They could not own land. These tough conditions left many Hakka people with no choice but to migrate to the Pescadores, then on to southern Taiwan (Long 1991:14). The reasons for migration to Taiwan changed after the Qing Government brought Taiwan under Chinese rule, when many migrated to Taiwan because of better economic opportunities (cf. Chuang Ying-chang 1988:169f).

The culture and customs of the Hakka People, who are probably the earliest Han-Chinese to emigrate to Taiwan (Long 1991:14), were unique. Because the Hakka were long persecuted and isolated in China, they developed a strong self-identity, a quality they have retained in Taiwan. Although they are all classified as Han-Chinese, the social customs and mores of the Hakka still differ from those of either Hollo speaking people or the Mandarin speaking Chinese. In Chapter Seven, I attribute one of the reasons that most of the Hakka people do not get involved in the "Everybody Happy Lottery", the most prevalent illicit gambling, to their cultural difference. However, they consider themselves Taiwanese because they, like their forebears, were born in Taiwan (cf. Copper 1990:37).

The principal ethnic group in Taiwan is Hollo speaking Chinese who include approximately 72% of the population.(note.10) During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), they came from Fujian Province, directly across the Taiwan Strait, and migrated to Taiwan. The fall of the Ming Dynasty in 1644 brought a major wave of migration from Fujian Province to Taiwan, pushing some of the Hakkas inland while inhabiting most of the western plain (Copper 1990:8). Nowadays, though still officially less powerful than the Mandarin speaking Chinese, Hollo speaking Chinese dominate many sectors of the business community. They also control the farming sectors of the economy, as well as the local politics in most of the country (Copper 1990:9). Consequently, they also call themselves Taiwanese.

Therefore, in the thesis the term "Taiwanese" is used to designate persons of Han Chinese ethnicity whose forebears settled the land prior to the end of World War II and who identified themselves as "Taiwanese".

Historical Development of Taiwan:

Because Mandarin has been the only official language in Taiwan since Mandarin speaking Chinese took refuge on the island after World War II, most people have been raised and educated speaking more than one language, Taiwan's population may be said to be bilingual or trilingual. Owing to ethnic differences and historical changes, the religions of Taiwan can best be described in terms of their historical development, which can be divided into seven major periods: (1) the pre Dutch period, before 1622, (2) the period of Dutch and Spanish rule, 1622-1661, (3) the period of Koxinga, (4) Manchu rule, 1661-1895, (5) the period of Japanese rule, 1895-1945, (6) the post-war period (cf. Chiu 1987:252).

Although the island is only 100 miles away from China, Han- Chinese were not original inhabitants. Prior to the seventeenth century, Taiwan was sparsely occupied by a few tribes of aborigines who are considered to be of Indonesian or Malayan origin and who migrated from Indochina and the Philippines in prehistoric times, even though we still cannot be sure whether they were the first settlers or not (cf. Diamond 1969:2; Proksch 1984:13; Chuang Ying-chang 1987:183; Wu Lien-chin 1987:111; Copper 1990:7-12). It has been hypothesised that during Neolithic times (c. 3000-2000 BCE.), Oceanic Negroids brought in horticulture from Southeast Asia, followed by Mongoloids with millet from northern China, and Indochinese with Bronze age culture. About 300 BCE a Megalithic and Iron Age culture was introduced by peoples from the Philippines to this nearby island (Chiu 1987:252). However, pottery excavated in northern Taiwan shows a marked resemblance to that of mainland China, leading others to maintain that the first settlers came from China as early as one thousand years before the Christian era (Proksch 1984:13).(note.11)

The descendants of these ethnic groups are now restricted mainly to the infertile regions and are known collectively as the indigenous peoples. They are traditionally divided into two groups, the Mountainous Tribes and the Plain Tribes. The Mountainous Tribes are Taiyal, Saisiat, Banun, Tsou, Rukai, Paiwan, Puyuma, Ami, and Yami. The Plain Tribes are Siraya, Bazay, Gavalan, and Kitagalan etc. Certain distinguished Western ethnologists have argued that some indigenous tribes were "Lonkius", the descendants of a people who had fled the cold north and settled in the Kurile archipelago to the north of Japan, through Japan and the Ryukyu chain, and south as far as Formosa (cf. Long 1991:3).

For some Chinese ethnologists, however, the "Lonkius" are a mainland Chinese people. They are said to have reached Taiwan as early as 1700 BCE, as a shortage of agricultural land under the Shang Dynasty led primitive tribesmen eastward from present-day Guizhou Province, in south-western central China, and finally sent them across the straits in the search of new land to farm. In support of this theory, historians have pointed to a Taiyal tribal myth that the tribe is the result of a union between a princess and a dog. In southern China, the Miao people, an aboriginal group in Guizhou were said also to worship the image of a dog as the founder of their tribe (Long 1991:3). Even if this tenuous link is taken as evidence for a historical connection, I must say, this does not alter the view that Taiwan's early historical ties to China were not close: The Miao people are not Chinese, nor did they speak a Chinese language at the time of a possible migration to Taiwan. However, a possible Miao connection does link Taiwan to China more closely geographically (Copper 1990:17).

The other tribes of early inhabitants are of less controversial ancestry. Their languages and customs have much in common with those of early Malay and Filipino peoples, and they are of Malayo-Polynesian ethnic stock and reached Taiwan by way of the Philippines. It seems that for some centuries, the Malays and the Lonkius coexisted at different extremities of the island in mutual ignorance of the other's presence (Long 1991:3f). Then in the seventh century after Christ, the Malays moved northwards, gradually extending their settlements over much of the island, and forcing the Taiyals into the foothills of the northern end of the central highlands.

In spite of this, little is known about the indigenous tribes prior to a few centuries ago because they did not keep written records. Nevertheless, it has been established that the aboriginal population was evenly distributed throughout the island and that they made their livelihood by fishing, hunting, and some shifting agriculture. Land was owned in common; the political and social systems were tribal (Copper 1990:17).

The indigenous tribes have a very rich collection of myths, legends, and genealogies. Myths of creation, the origin of man, celestial phenomena, gods and spirits, culture heroes, and sacred animals are popular among all the tribes. Many myths have etiological motifs identifying the sacred origins of cultural events and ritual actions (Chiu 1987:252).

Besides these myths, fairly extensive legends and genealogies of tribal history and geography have been preserved. Rites of passage are common to all tribes and are normally observed by all members of the society. Communal rites of opening up the land, sowing and planting, weeding and purification, picking the first crop, harvest, and thanksgiving are observed by all the tribes. Rites of animal hunting and head-hunting are conducted on special occasions. During the rituals, myths are recited and mythic events are reenacted to strengthen the people's sense of identity and harmony with their environment (Baity 1975:27; Chiu 1987:252). Some archaeological results prove that they worshipped stones which symbolised genitalia. All in all these peoples were very much outside the cultural and religious orbit of central China (Herz 1986:19). They were able to maintain their own traditional culture and religion intact until the arrival of the Dutch, Spaniards, and Chinese in the seventeenth century.

Dutch Colony:

In 1622, led by Kornelis Peyersoon, the Dutch came to the Pescadores (small islands situated between Taiwan and China) but were driven away in 1624. However, the Chinese Ming Government allowed them to stay in Taiwan. Thus the Dutch built Fort Orange, later called Fort Zeelandia, at Tayouan (now Anping District) and Fort Providentia at Saccam (now Tainan) on the southwestern coast of Taiwan and became the temporary rulers of the island (Chen Chi-lu 1972:120). The mercantilistic Dutch traders ruled by the Dutch East India Company encouraged Chinese immigration into Taiwan to work as labourers and to produce sugar for export and rice for local consumption (Wu Lien-chin 1987:111). As it was recorded in the Batavia Diary (April 2, 1631), the Dutch East India Company even sent her own ships to transport Chinese labourers to Taiwan (Chen Chi-lu 1972:121). Due to this type of encouragement, the Chinese population in Taiwan increased constantly. They had already exceeded several tens of thousands by the middle of the seventeenth century (Chen Chi-lu 1972:122).(note.12)

As the Chinese population increased, they began to form their own communities and practise the traditional Chinese religions of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism as well as the Chinese popular religion (Chiu 1987:253). In the meantime, the Plain Tribes, who lived on the western coastal plains, were conciliatory to the Dutch and to their Christian missions. Many of them accepted Christianity (i.e. the Dutch Reformed Church), and others were influenced by Chinese religions. The chief Plain Tribes nearby were the Siraya (Sydeyan), although it seems that as many as five distinct linguistic groups were ministered to as a few fragments of the devotional works prepared by the Dutch missionaries in the languages still remain today (Herz 1986:19).

On April 31, 1661, a Ming Dynasty loyalist resisting the Qing Dynasty, Admiral Zheng Chenggong - known as Koxinga in Western languages - led the main body of his forces from Jinmen (Quemoy) to Taiwan. On Feb. 1, 1662, Fort Zeelandia was surrendered to him. This brought the Dutch colony and its missionary work to an end (Herz 1986:27). Thus, as no native ministers had been trained, the Siraya Christian Church was left without pastoral oversight for more than two centuries. Indeed, it all but ceased to exist, though a romanised catechism in the Siraya language remains (Herz 1986:27). Eventually, most Plain peoples came to adopt Chinese habits of speech, dress, religion, and social custom following Koxinga's conquest of the island (Herz 1986:20). (note.13)

The most distinctive survival of Sirayan religious practice is the worship known generically as the Worship of A-lip. This is a cult of sacred jars, today usually of Chinese manufacture, among the Siraya, a cult related to certain others in Borneo and the Philippines (Herz 1986:19f). Among the highly sinicised descendants of the Siraya, the jar cult is still followed by non- Christians today. An account tells us that in preparation for the imposing and the lifting of the "Xiang" (i.e. a spirit), a human head was to be taken to please the gods. Under pressure from the Qing Government to cease head-hunting, the Siraya substituted the skulls of wild boar and deer.

Moreover, some scholars argue that the jars are of genital symbolism. Their argument is based on the unique altar of the A- lip temple at Beitouyany. No skulls are hung at this altar; rather the vases are joined on the raised altar by cylindrically shaped stones which they readily interpret as phallic in contrast to the pregnant jars (Shepherd 1984:39).

To the east and south, respectively, of the Siraya are the Paiwan and Rukai Mountain Aborigines. Among these groups jars have a great deal of religious significance (Shepherd 1984:38). The jars played a similarly prominent role among the traditional Siraya which our sources fail to describe (Shepherd 1984:39).

Koxinga Dynasty:

Koxinga, son of a Japanese mother and a Chinese pirate father (Proksch 1984:14), made a last-ditch stand in south China against the invading Manchu armies. He retreated to the Pescadores and Taiwan where he laid siege to the Dutch forts. He expelled the Dutch and changed the name of the island to Taiwan and made Tainan the capital. Soon massive Chinese migrations to Taiwan from the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong began, although the Chinese emigration to Taiwan had started before that time.

Koxinga laid the foundations for the establishment of Chinese society in Taiwan. After his arrival in Taiwan, the Chinese population increased very rapidly. His soldier-farmer policy along with the adequate system designed by the Dutch, on which all subsequent Chinese administration was based, established the principal foundations of Chinese success in opening up new territory, and the immigrants gradually spread out over the flat area which was most suitable for intensive farming. As their towns and cities grew in number, they also built many shrines, temples, and monasteries to house the gods they brought with them from mainland China. Often the temples became the centres of Chinese communities (cf. Chuang Ying-chang 1987:182). Besides, the pioneering farmers built shrines of the Land God to protect their agriculture and against demons and aborigines.

But the Koxinga family controlled Taiwan for only 22 years (1661-1683). Just one short year after Koxinga drove the Dutch from Taiwan he fell ill and died. The Qing Government made repeated attempts to crush the rebels, and the Dynasty which he had established ended when his grandson surrendered the island to the Qing Government in 1683. From that time on China obtained dominion over Taiwan (Proksch 1984:14f).

Qing Dynasty:

As part of China, Taiwan began to attract not only peasants and fishermen, but all classes of Chinese including scholars who came seeking a less restrictive intellectual atmosphere (Proksch 1984:15). Little by little, they displaced indigenous tribes from the lowlands, and pushed them further into the mountains. Steady emigration from China raised the population of Taiwan from a few thousand in 1600 to more than two million by 1895 (Wu Lien-chin 1987:112) and Chinese popular religion, which will be our main concern in the following chapters, for the first time became the dominant religion in the island.

Taiwan was still a marginal part of China, so the development of the island was not a high priority for the government. The new government's control of Taiwan produced few improvements (Copper 1990:75). For example, though in 1884 Peking reorganised its political administration in Taiwan, appointing Liu Mingchuan, a very capable official, as governor, and two years later made Taiwan a province, as late as 1871, when some Japanese castaways were killed by tribesmen in Taiwan, China's government felt justified in disclaiming authority over all but Taiwan's western seaboard (Long 1991:14). After China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War in 1894, China ceded Taiwan and the Pescadores to Japan in perpetuity as a prize under the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki.

Japanese Colony:

Taiwan's modern economic development began in the early part of this century, soon after it became a Japanese colony. The Japanese colonial government, intending to make Taiwan a stepping stone in its advance toward Southeast Asia, promoted Japanese education and industries in Taiwan. Besides this, the Japanese introduced Shinto religion and Japanese Buddhism into Taiwan, and the indigenous tribes and Taiwanese natives were forced to take part in Shinto worship. 63 grand shrines and 116 local shrines were built by the government all over the island (cf. Chiu 1987:254). Meanwhile, the leaders of traditional Chinese religions suffered oppression, and many temples were closed by the government.

Japanese control over the island came to an abrupt end at the conclusion of the Second World War. The Japanese colonial government surrendered Taiwan, and with American support China again took possession in 1945. Thus Shinto Religion also ended on the island. However, the influences of Japanese Buddhism are still visible in Taiwan.

Nationalist Government and its Religious Attitudes:

In 1949, when the Chinese Communists defeated the Nationalist armies on the mainland and assumed control of China, the Nationalist Government soon established its capital in Taipei and a new wave of nearly two million immigrants arrived in Taiwan with the Government. Because they hailed from various parts of China, they were generally known as mainlanders, or "Waishengren" ("outside province people").(note.14) Although being immigrants and a minority, they hold the majority of positions in the top ranks of the national government, in the education and academic systems, and in the military (Copper 1990:9).

In the meantime, because of the Chinese Communist Government's hostility to religion, many religious leaders were among those who took refuge in Taiwan. These included Kong Decheng, a descendant of Confucius; Ven. Yinshun, an eminent Buddhist abbot; the Thirty-seventh Heavenly Master of Taoism; Lama Kangyurwa Hutukhtu, the nineteenth reincarnation of the Living Buddha of Kangyur monastery; and Archbishop Joseph Kuo and Cardinal Tian of the Roman Catholic Church. Altogether about twenty thousand Muslims and innumerable Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, Taoists, and Confucians came to Taiwan, turning this island into a rich showcase of world religions (Chiu 1987:254).

A statistical report of Taiwan (Grichting 1971; qtd. in Wu Lien-chin 1987:105f) shows that between 40.8 and 46.2 % of the total population identifies itself as Buddhist. Between 35.9 and 41.3 % identifies itself as belonging to Chinese popular religion. Between 8.3 and 11.5 % claims no religious affiliation. 2.5 and 4.1 % identifies itself as Protestant, and 1.9 and 3.3 % as Catholic. Around 1 % of the total population identifies itself as Taoist,(note.15) and around 1 % as Confucian.

The religious attitudes of the Nationalist Government can be seen in textbooks used during the nine-year national compulsory education. These textbooks are standardised for the whole country by the Ministry of Education and must be used by all schools in Taiwan, even private ones, such as Catholic and Buddhist schools. The contents of the textbooks obviously represent the official viewpoint and also play the most powerful role in the education system. The nine-year textbooks have been properly analyzed in an article by Jeffrey Meyer (1987:45-50). In the following I only summarise this paper to show what the religious attitudes have been taught in/by them.

To the viewpoint of the textbooks, the "true" religions are those that support the social order, public opinion, morality and law, and there are therefore viewed as valuable (Meyer 1987:46). "The teachings of religion all stress avoiding evil and doing good, cherishing universal love. Pious believers generally speaking rarely offend against social order" says one of the textbooks (Meyer 1987:47).

In the textbooks, the Confucian tradition, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity are presented as positive religious traditions. The Taoist and Buddhist contributions to Neo-Confucianism are acknowledged, as is the latter's interest in the method of cultivating the inner mind of the individual.

The textbooks suggest that some religions do preserve important values, especially in upholding morality and public order (Meyer 1987:50). However, many religious practices such as Taoism alchemy and elaborate Baibai (i.e. traditional Chinese popular religious festival) are wasteful and superstitious, and ought to be discarded. Yet the teachings of true religions all stress avoiding evil, doing good, and cherishing universal love. One who follows the principle of these teachings will thus find they are good for one's personal interior life. On the contrary, with its institutional structure and vast canon, the religious Taoism would seem to qualify as a true religion, but because of some of its practices and since it does not have a clear-cut moral code, the textbooks consider it "superstitious" (Meyer 1987:47-8).

There is obviously no sense of the human being as homo religiosus in the textbooks. There is no sense of the transcendent element in the various expressions of religion presented, so it can be said that the understanding of religion conveyed by the textbooks is certainly rationalised and secularised. The textbooks do not think this infringes on the religious rights of Buddhists, Christians, etc., nor that it conflicts with the principle of separation of religion and state (Meyer 1987:47).

In brief, the overall impression of religion which the textbooks give would be something like this: religion is a part of the history of China and other great world cultures. The real religion is clearly one of the great traditions institutionalised, possessing a corpus of sacred writings and a clear moral code. Thus it is the foundation for all moral training in the school system, and on occasion they allude to a basic unity of these great religions, although this point is not made definitely clear (Meyer 1987:46).

As a result, most of the educated and even some researchers on religions have considered the popular religious traditions (or even religious practice in general) as a "social problem" and "superstition" in need of "improvement" or even "abandonment", echoing official concerns about the rationalization and institutionalization of religious practice (cf. Cohen 1987:293; Jordan 1994:137).

Popular Religion in Taiwan:

As far as Chinese popular religion in Taiwan is concerned, most believers often have little notion of what religion they practise. They merely say that they are "worshipping (baibai)" or "worshipping the deities (baishen)". If asked the name of their religion, people sometimes give an easy (and high-status) answer and identify the religion as "Buddhism" or "Taoism", even though the temple where they worship may not have any Buddhist statue in it and they may not know any Taoist deities (cf. Harrell 1977:56; Proksch 1984:19).

Actually, one of the characteristics of Chinese popular religion is its de-emphasis of the religious boundaries between various faiths, that is "syncretism". Popular deities come from a wide variety of sources. Some deities are found in Taoism or Buddhism, some are historical personalities, while still others are even the heroes of classical pseudo-historical fiction (Tsai Wen-hui 1979:26; Cohen 1987:289). Thus, the religion comprises elements from ancestor worship and the cult of the dead, from nature worship, local cults, popular Taoism, popular Buddhism, and Confucianism.

There is no single sacred text or set of documents that contains all the basic beliefs, doctrines, and values. These basic ideas must be sought instead in many different places and forms: in sacred books, votive art, rites, temple murals, family worship, myths, exemplar tales, popular theatre, puppet shows, fiction (Feuchtwang 1974b:124; Cohen 1987:289), comic books, and television series in Taiwan today (cf. Sangren 1993:8).(note.16)

When scholars describe the religion in English, it is named "popular religion" (e.g. Smith (1899) 1969; DeGlopper 1974; Feuchtwang 1977; Cohen 1987:289), "peasant religion" (e.g. Granet (1922) 1975), "diffused religion" (e.g. Yang 1961), "folk religion" (e.g. Berkowits et al. 1969; Grichting 1971; Jordan 1972; Harrell 1977), "Chinese religion" (e.g. Freedman 1974), "local religion" (e.g. Sangren 1988) or even "local cults" (e.g. Katz 1992). In brief, there is no consensus for the naming of the religion among scholars (cf. Wu Lien-chin 1987:104).

In fact, since Robert Redfield (1956; qtd. in Sangren 1984:1) introduced the terms "great tradition and little tradition", debate over their formulation and utility has constituted an important arena for competing conceptualizations of society and culture, especially in South and Southeast Asia (Bell 1989). Today, many scholars would probably agree that dichotomies such as great tradition/little tradition(s), urban/rural, and elite/folk greatly oversimplify complex historical spatial patterns of cultural interaction (Bell 1989).

In order to avoid these dichotomies, Katz (1992) uses the term "local cults" to represent the religion he researches, which excludes organised religions like Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity and Islam. This also excludes systematicised religions such as sectarianism and Confucianism. Similarly, Sangren (1988) uses the term "local religion" to mean the institutions of local territorial-cult ritual. In short, the terminological choices directly reflect the various viewpoints on this religion (cf. Bell 1989:41).

However, I try not to use the term "local cults" or "local religion" because even though the specifics of ritual and particular spirits chosen as objects of worship or propitiation may vary widely from locality to locality within the Chinese world, people share, at least, some general religious ideas. For example, A.P. Wolf's description of the tripartite division of the supernatural into gods, ghosts, and ancestors seems nearly universally applicable (cf. Sangren 1984:6). Generally speaking, people believe that three types of beings inhabit the supernatural world. Deities are those in a supernatural bureaucracy headed by the Jade Emperor. Ancestors are the spirits of each household's own agnatic forbears and their wives. Ghosts are those who died by violence or without descendants and without virtuous deeds to their credit (Wolf 1974). Human beings burn incense and present offerings and spirit money: to beseech deities for help and protection, sustain their ancestors in the next existence, and propitiate potentially malicious ghosts (Harrell 1977:56).

In this thesis, I shall use the term "popular religion" to indicate the religion on which I did my field research.(note.17) It is a religion in which both local leaders and common people participate, no matter whether they believe the deities or not. Local leaders (difang touren) are traditional upper middle class such as politicians, entrepreneurs, and others. They usually act as temple building initiators, organisers, or founders. In this thesis, they play important roles in soliciting to sponsor deities' festivals, in narrating temple history, and in promulgating the Almanac etc.

Local leaders are usually well educated by Chinese ruling ideologies associated with Confucianism. Therefore, they are more rationalised and secularised, if not agnostical and sceptical (Creel 1935; Watson 1985; Meyer 1987:49).(note.18) However, common people need local leaders to sponsor and manage temple affairs such as birthday festival, temple construction, or pilgrimage. These leaders are zealous to spend money and time on these affairs as a way of gaining status. Therefore, they serve as channels to let the ruling ideologies reach downward and let common people's culture penetrate upward (cf. Bell 1989:49-50).

Common people are those who often have a limited notion about whom they are worshipping (cf. Jordan 1985:103). However, they come to offer incense and clean the environment of the temple regularly. They also donate money to the temple, even though in small amount. Common people partly accept the authority of local leaders, but have their own authorities to follow. We will see these authorities in the following chapters.(note.19)

The Constitution of the People's Republic of China permits the practice of "religions" such as Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity, while the Chinese popular religion is regarded as "feudal" and as "superstition." Therefore, until the 1980s, when there was some limited relaxation of government suppression, it was not practised publicly, and most of the local temples were converted into public buildings such as government offices, museums, or schools. Thus, the present-tense descriptions of the popular religion in this thesis refer to China Mainland before 1949 and also to some extent since the 1980s, and to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the overseas areas up to present times and, thus, I will use the field data collected from other Chinese areas by other scholars for reference of the studies of the divine stones and trees in Taiwan.

Popular Temples:

In Taiwan, a deity may be housed and worshipped at a family altar. However, there is often an impetus for the construction of a temple to house the deity both for the convenience of the public and as an indication that the deity truly belongs to the community and not to some private family (Baity 1975:284f). A temple is a deity's "home" and "office" and therefore is often called a "palace" ("gong" or "miao"); it can range in size from a tiny roadside shrine to an enormous complex of buildings covering several acres. When the temple develops, several deities will be housed together and these are freely accessible to the general public for worship, prayer, festival, and requesting favours of the gods (Wu Lien-chin 1987:122).

In almost every part of Taiwan, local temples stand out from their drab surroundings in bursts of polychromatic splendour. In villages, the largest and most impressive buildings are often temples (Wu Lien-chin 1987:121). If a community has no public temple, outsiders might think it is because the community is too poor or there was no person of sufficient intelligence in the village to take the initial steps (cf. Smith (1899) 1969:137). But a temple is more than a home for a deity. It is often the centre of community affairs both sacred and secular where people meet and rest while their children play in the courtyard. The courtyard, flat and spacious, is used to dry rice during the harvest season. The temple is also a repository of the community's values: the elaborate decor in the temple is used to teach proper moral and social values to the young. Consequently, a temple is a symbol of its community. It is the centre of community activity and its symbol of unity (Cohen 1987:292); and it is a demonstration of common beliefs and common interests (Yang 1961:96; Diamond 1969:84; Wu Lien-chin 1987:132).

However, most of the temples for the divine stones and trees are too humble to be community centres. Some of them are even difficult for people to find. No matter how humble the physical structure of the shrine is, it nevertheless serves as a place where common people talking and doing something religious will not be explained as superstitious. For this reason, all the divine stones and trees that I selected for field research are those that are located in shrines or temples.(note.20)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(note.1)

I am grateful to my supervisor Dr. Stewart McFarlane for advising me to do so.

(note.2)

For much of the Mandarin Chinese terminology, the author has chosen to use the Pinyin romanization system, because it is clearest and most convenient for me and is becoming more and more widely used by scholars. However, I have kept the Yale or Wade- Giles systems in the quotations cited from other scholars' works.

For romanizing Hollo words and names I follow the system outlined in Nicholas C. Bodman, Spoken Amoy Hokkien (Kuala Lumpur: 1955).

(note.3)

Ling Shun-sheng is the founder of the Institute of Ethnology of Academia Sinica and a late professor of National Taiwan University. In August, 1955, when Academia Sinica set up a preparatory office for the initiation of the Institute of Ethnology, he was appointed as its head to oversee advancement of research. In April, 1965, the Institute of Ethnology was formally founded, with Ling Shun-sheng as its first director. In the same year, he was appointed by the National Council on Science Development as National Research Professor. In July, 1978, Ling passed away. In August, 1985, when the Institute relocated to its new building on the campus of Academia Sinica, it was named "The Ling Shun-sheng Hall" in memory of the founder who was a pioneer Chinese ethnologist.

(note.4)

The five monographs were written in Chinese with English abridgement. Therefore, most quotations cited in the following chapters are translated by me.

(note.5)

I shall develop the argument in the following chapters.

(note.6)

There is a stone, according to my field interview, which is currently worshipped by Han-Chinese as the Stone God (e.g. #S50, see Chapter Five for details) is originally venerated by Taiwan Aboriginals. However, it was not worshipped as "She".

(note.7)

For example, an upright stone of about 50 cm in height (see figure 107) is worshipped on a family altar beside the Tree God of Lam- huin Ward (#T37) and regarded as the Stone God. Since the worship is not open to the public, I exclude the stone from the current field research.

(note.8)

Different languages as used here means that they are mutually unintelligible.

(note.9)

However, although Mandarin speaking Chinese have accents from their provincial dialects, many of their Taiwan-born offspring have been localised and speak Hollo Language.

(note.10)

Hollo is a language spoken in Southern Fujian Province, China.

(note.11)

Here, we should note that at the moment Taiwan's early history has become a political issue. Both R.O.C. (Republic of China) and P.R.C. (People's Republic of China) governments claiming to represent China today maintain that the first settlers came from China and therefore see the island as an inalienable part of Chinese sovereign territory (Long 1991:2f), and disagree with Taiwan independence from China.

(note.12)

In the early seventeenth century the Spanish also settled in Tamsui at the extreme northern tip of the island. While the Europeans appeared to get along peacefully enough with the Chinese settlers, they did not get on well with each other. In 1642 the Dutch succeeded in driving the Spanish from their northern stronghold and began to strengthen their grip on the entire island through the Dutch East India Company (Proksch 1984:15).

(note.13)

In contrast, the tribes that inhabited Taiwan's mountain fastnesses remained beyond central government control until pacified by the Japanese in the early twentieth century (Shepherd 1984:2).

(note.14)

Because most of them still think they will go back to Mainland China and are unwilling to put down new roots in Taiwan, in this thesis I shall call them Mainlanders.

(note.15)

Taoism, owing to its esoteric nature, is identified only with its priests (Wu Lien-chin 1987:107).

(note.16)

This is to say, to a great extent the basic ideas coincide with beliefs and values that pervade Chinese culture as a whole (Cohen 1987:289).

(note.17)

I am aware that my using of the term "popular religion", in this thesis seems to divide Chinese culture neatly into great/little or elite/popular traditions (cf. Sangren 1988:674). However, there is less consensus on what new term ought to replace it. Besides, as we shall see in the following chapters, the religious concern and interpretation of the worshippers of the stone and tree deities can be distinguished from officials and elites. Therefore, I shall apply the term to emphasise this difference.

(note.18)

The report of Stephan Feuchtwang (1992:85) from his field site gives us a good example of local learders' religious attitude. Feuchtwang describes that one of pharmacists on Mountainstreet (i.e. the pseudonym of his field site in Taiwan) told Feuchtwang that he did not make offerings on the day of the greatest of all procession festivals in Mountainstreet, the one which is organised every five years for the visit of a figure of Mazu from one of the Mazu pilgrimage. The festival was a commemoration of the first visit when an image of her was brought to a nearby hamlet to rid its crops off pestilence. The pharmacist said that it was nonsense to believe the goddess could keep the land clear of pestilence. But he organised a feast on the festival, as did every other household because otherwise people would think he was strange or miserly (Feuchtwang 1992:85).

(note.19)

The term "popular religion" is also to distinguish the religion from the "official religion" which was the system of officially sanctioned sacrifices administered by the imperial government. This "official religion" relates complexly to Confucian philosophy, sharing some underlying premises and values with it, but is more theistic in content and practice than "popular religion" (cf. Sangren 1988:674).

(note.20)

The Grandfather of the Ancient Temple of An-lam District (#S40; see figure 42) is an exception. It is located in a family altar instead of a shrine or temple. However, because the worship is open to the public, I did not rule it out from my field research.

Chapter Two: Textual References to Divine Stones and Trees

2008-02-14T02:19:00.000-08:00

Chapter Two: Textual References to Divine Stones and Trees

I. Introduction:

In the earliest written records, Chinese people, like many other peoples in the world, are represented as already practising the worship of natural objects (cf. Hartland 1917b; Bonsall 1934:22; Edsman 1987:49). Early Chinese writers tell us that Fuxi, a mytho-historical ruler, was the first emperor to organise sacrifices to, and worship of certain natural features. In this he was followed by the Yellow Emperor, also a mytho-historical emperor, who first established the worship of the sun, the moon, and the five planets (Giles 1905:8). The Shijing (the Book of Odes) refers this sacrifice as far back as the period of the mytho-historical emperor Shun, and there is ample evidence that in the days of Confucius it was offered in all the feudal states into which the kingdom was then divided, not only on regular occasions, but also in times of flood, drought, pestilence, or illness of the ruler.

The worship of natural objects was, so far as we can learn from records, at first purely local, such as the hills, streams and so on as the most conspicuous natural features of the land in which Chinese lived (e.g. Berkovits and others 1969:76; Burkhardt 1958c:56f; Allan 1979:3). There is an ancient rite called the "Wang" ("to Look Forwards"), and the very name of this sacrifice suggests that it was offered in the neighbourhood of the particular hill or stream which was the object of worship (Bonsall 1934:22; Granet 1975:73). For example, the river Fen was an object of worship in the Wang sacrifice (Bonsall 1934:27). An essential element of this worship was the belief in an intimate connection between human conduct and natural phenomena. The Shijing insists that when bad government prevails, not only is man thrown into confusion, but the elements themselves are disturbed, and the beasts and vegetation depart from their proper course (Bonsall 1934:24).

Later on, some of these natural features were objectified in the ancient altar, which in time came to be thought of as the guardian deity of the place (Day 1974:61-62), while some worships of natural features became the occasion for big festivals, for instance the worship of the moon. By the beginning of the Qin Dynasty, in 219 BCE, the festival had developed into one of many colourful activities, and took a strong hold in the religious activities of a majority of the population in Chinese society (Wei & Coutanceau 1976:95-7). From the Tang Dynasty (713-905 CE.) onwards, it has been a universal custom for the Chinese family to gather all its members from far and wide once each year, and worship the moon together.

In the present chapter, I am not able to give a complete account of Chinese worship of natural objects. Instead, I shall employ some textual data to give a general portrait of divine stones and trees - which are directly relevant to this thesis.

II. Textual References to Divine Stones:

There are some textual references relating to divine stones.(note.1) One of the most frequently mentioned is the anecdote about the spiritual bond between the eccentric artist Mifu (1051-1107) and his Shixiong, "the Elder Brother Stone" (cf. Hay 1985:33-5; Wang Jing 1992:178). When this eccentric artist encountered a big stone, he regarded it as divine, bowed down with respect and called it "the Elder Brother Stone". In addition to the anecdote, rain-making stones, evil-warding stones, fertility stones, and Geomancy stones are well-recorded in texts.

1, Rain-making Stones:

Before the invention of modern irrigation systems, China was plagued with unpredictable rains and frequent droughts, and consequently the Chinese people have always felt a great concern for the provision of the most important natural source of water - rain in due season. However, this concern for timely rains has not been passive. On the contrary, it has manifested itself in numerous rainmaking "methods" intended to insure a sufficiency of water. These methods covered a full range of procedures from benign prayers through violent coercion of the rain deities (Cohen 1978:244).(note.2) For instance, there are legends about stones with rain-making capability. The first example of this comes from a text Jingzhouji written by Sheng Hongzhi during the fifth century. In Hengshan (County) of Hebei Province,

... there is a solitary mountain standing high and precipitous. On its north-east side there is a stone cave. If one takes a candle and goes in about one hundred paces there will be two big stones standing about ten feet apart. The common name for one is the Yang Stone, and for the other the Yin Stone. When there is calamity from drought or flood, one whips the Yang stone and then it rains, or one whips the Yin Stone and the sky clears (Cohen 1978:250).

In this instance, the underlying conception seems to be that one whips the stone that is overactive in its function. In other words, since Yang produces heat and dryness, when it produces too much it must forcibly be caused to reduce its energy and allow the Yin, which produces cold and wetness, to function, and vice versa (Cohen 1978:250).

A similar method texted also in Jingzhouji produced mixed results. The text says that if one takes a torch into a stone cave and goes in about one hundred paces, there will be two big stones, both standing erect in the cave about ten feet apart. They are commonly called the Yin and Yang Stones. The Yin Stone is always moist and Yang Stone is always parched. Whenever floods or drought are beyond control, the local people dress in fine costumes and ornaments, and go into the cave. If there is drought they whip the Yin Stone, and in due time it rains. If there is excessive rain then they whip the Yang Stone, and immediately the sky clears. According to the tradition that has been handed down, this is always efficacious (Cohen 1978:250-51). However, in this procedure, there were sometimes unpleasant consequences for the supplicant, because the one who wields the whip does not live long afterwards. Consequently, people loathe this custom and do not perform it (Cohen 1978:250-51).

In this second report one whips the stone to activate its energy, whereas in the first report the overactive stone was scourged. The associations of the Yinyang Stones with rain and drought, respectively, are conventional and were also emphasised in Dong Zhongshu's essays on making and stopping rain (Cohen 1978:251).

So far, it is clear that the notion of "whipping the rain- making stones to produce rain", similar to that of medical treatment and geomancy, is based on the principle of the Yinyang balance.(note.3) At least since the late Zhou Period (fourth century BCE.), Chinese have believed that there are two opposing but interrelated active energies in the world (cf. Paper 1990:27).

Chinese characters for Yin and Yang signify the shadowy and sunny sides respectively of the same mountain, which indicates the idea of two sides of the same existence, very similar to the Western saying: "two sides of the same coin." Yang represents sunshine, light, warm, positivity, masculinity, and associated with odd numbers (I shall translate the word "Yang" "positive energy" hereinafter). The Yin state is cloudy, dark, cold, negative, feminine, the earthy, and associated with even numbers (I shall translate the word "Yin" "negative energy" hereinafter) (cf. De Groot 1976:929). This conception implies that all things must have two sides, two aspects, two genders, or two energies. If the two interrelated active energies are balanced, the weather will be good.

2, Evil-warding Stones:

The custom of using stones to ward off evil spirits has existed for more than a thousand years. Among them, the most frequently found are "Shi Gandang", so called by modern people because these words are inscribed upon them. According to Werner (1977:427), the use of these stones is mentioned as occurring in the Tang Dynasty, about 770 BCE, in the reign of the Emperor Taizong (763-80 CE.), and also in the reign-period 1041-9 CE. of the Emperor Renzong (1023-64 CE.) of the Song Dynasty. Nowadays, we can find these stones even in Japan, Korea and many other Asian countries. Usually, they are placed in front of the main gate of a house or at the entrance of a street, or else at places subject to evil influences (cf. Wang Jing 1992:71).

In present-day Taiwan, I discovered many stones of this type bearing the inscription "Shi Gandang" or "Taishan Shi Gandang". I also found that the top of some of these stones are carved with a character "Fo" ("Buddha") or an image of a tiger's head whose forehead bears the character "Wang" (i.e. King). The term "Taishan" means Mt. Tai, the Sacred Mountain of the East which is located in Shandong Province. According to historical records, those who were named after "Shi" ("Stone") were numerous in Shandong. In later dynasties, people also adopted the character for surnames. The term "Gandang" literally means "daring to undertake formidable tasks" or "invincible in the face of enemies". Thus, "Shi Gandang" means "Stone that dares to undertake formidable tasks in the face of enemies" (cf. Werner 1977:427; Wang Jing 1992:71).

Chinese people believe that Mt. Tai is itself a deity or "Buddha", a powerful deity as well. Therefore, the inscription on these stones of "Shi Gandang", "Taishan", "Fo" ("Buddha") and/or an image of a tiger's head on these stones is a reinforcement of their power.(note.4)

3, Fertility Stones:

Chinese divine stones are commonly connected with fertilizing capability. The most typical of them is the story of the Stone Monkey in the well-known book entitled "The Travel to the West (Xiyouji)". The story says that a giant stone had existed since the creation of the world. It had been magically impregnated by the pure essences of Heaven and the fine scents of Earth, the vigor of sunshine and the grace of moonlight. One day the stone split open, gave birth to a stone egg, and developed into a stone monkey, complete with every organ and limb (Wu Ch'eng-en, trans. by Waley 1965:11).

In addition to the Stone Monkey, we know that the ancient Chinese hero "Houji", as well as "Qi", was said to be born of a stone (Granet 1975:92). Moreover, it is said that in the southeastern bank of the Horse Lake, a stone in the east gave birth to a little pebble; the stone in the west was pregnant with a pebble. People asked for their offspring and got their wishes fulfilled. They were thus named the birth-giving stones (cf. Wang Jing 1992:77).

Wang Jing (1992:77) also quotes two more legends relating to the birth-giving stones. The first is that Gaolin's mother once made an ablution in a river.

... She came across a stone of shiny colours and smooth texture, and brought it back with her. That night she dreamed of a man dressed as an immortal addressing her, "The stone is the sperm of the floating stone chime. If you treasure it dearly you will surely give birth to a son." Awakened from the dream in a shock, she sweated all over her body. In a short while, she became pregnant and gave birth to a son ...

The second legend states that in Sichuan Province there are two stones, separated by a river.

[They] faced each other like man and wife. According to ancient legends, the stone in the east prayed for a child from the stone in the west, and returned with one. Therefore people who did not have offspring used to go there to pray. Their prayers were answered efficaciously (Wang Jing 1992:77-78)

Besides, in the famous book "Dongmingji", we find a noteworthy record that a country named Tiaoji offered a Horse- liver Stone as a tribute to the Court of China. It could be mixed up with the nine-winding cinnabar. Those who brushed their grey hair with this stone could change it black again (qtd. in Wang Jing 1992:75). This stone, though not a birth-giving stone, is able to change grey hair, a sign of aging and decline, to black hair, the symbol of youth and energy, and can therefore be counted as a life-giving stone.

In his masterpiece (1958a; 1958b; 1958c), Burkhardt also notes that some divine stone in Hong Kong Island and the New Territories are fertility stones. These stones receive their tribute from engaged couples whose duty it is to ensure the perpetuation of the clan.

4, Geomancy Stones:

One of Graham's contributions (1961:114-15) to this subject is his finding regarding "Fengshui Shi" or "Geomancy Stones" near the Yangtze River, Southwest China. He reports that the stones regarded as the Geomancy Stone were numerous in this area and they are very often stones that are prominent in the landscape and strange and striking in appearance. Such stones are believed to affect for good "fengshui or "geomancy" of the family, city, or region concerned, they must not be cut or injured, for that would spoil the "geomancy" and bring calamities instead of good fortune to those involved.

For example, somewhere on the north shore of the Yangtze River (Graham 1961:114f), there is a strange-looking rock that for decades has been the Geomancy Stone of an important family. A large, round, pointed rock that resembles the upright piece of wood to which boatmen attach their oars is the Geomancy Stone of the nearby village. Across the Yangtze River from Anbian City, is a large rock on which many boats have been wrecked every year, with much loss of life and property. It could easily be broken to pieces and removed at the time of low water, but the people are afraid to do so. It is the Geomancy Stone of Anbian, and if it should be injured or destroyed, much harm would ensue to the people of Anbian. (note.5)

III. Textual References to Divine Trees:

The belief in sacred trees is also wide-spread in the Chinese world. There are many stories in Chinese texts regarding trees that have performed miracles or cured people's illness. There are records even relating that trees cried aloud with pain when they were cut down (Morgan 1942:110). There is a textual record that certain trees in Zhejiang got official recognition as deities (Eberhard 1970:23, 256). In the historical book Taiping Guangji (XXV, 315. 41a; tenth century), it is said that there existed a tree in Jiangxi Province which received girls, sheep, and pigs as sacrifices (Eberhard 1970:23, 256).

Moreover, according to the records of certain field researchers, divine trees are still venerated in various sequestered corners of Chinese society such as Hong Kong (Burkhardt 1958a:122; 1958b:151), Zhejiang Province, the south of Guangdong Province, Guangxi Province (Eberhard 1970:21-3), Sichuan Province (Graham 1936:61).(note.6) In the following paragraphs, I shall introduce four types of divine trees: geomancy trees, miracle trees, the tree Land God, and temple trees of the Land God. (note.7)

1, Geomancy Trees:

There are a great many geomancy trees in West China as described by Graham (1961:113-14). The geomancy tree may be a banyan, a cypress, a pine, or some other kind of a tree, but it is always a large and/or old tree. He reports that near the sacred cave called "Jinsha Dong" ("the Golden-sand Cave"), there is the geomancy tree of a powerful local family. Near a monastery on Mt. Emei is another great pine tree that is the geomancy tree of a city. In the rear of another monastery on Mt. Emei, inside the temple and growing up through the roof is a great pine tree that is the geomancy tree of Emei County and is also worshipped as a god (cf. Frese & Gray 1987:27).

Chinese people love Nature. The natural objects such as mountain, water, tree, and stone are synonymous with Nature. They are main foci of Chinese poetry and painting. A place consisting of these natural objects is generally regarded as a good geomancy place. Mountains shelter and protect the geomancy place. In places where mountains do not exist, big stones and trees may serve the same function of mountains. Geomancy trees in their places (e.g. family, city, or region, etc.), together with the geomancy stones described above, must not be cut or injured, for that would spoil the "geomancy". I think the reason is explainable according to Chinese cosmological ideas, especially of "the Five Elements (Wuxing)", that is, a stone or tree should be located at a certain point of a place which is regarded as a micro-cosmos, in order to induce a harmonious environment (cf. Feuchtwang 1974a; Wright 1977).

2, Miracle Trees:

Trees that are venerated are usually large and/or elderly. However, ordinary trees can also be regarded as gods if they perform miracles. For example, in the 1920's in Ding County of Hebei Province, there was the tale of a sick man who was told in a dream that he should make a drink from the bark of a certain old tree at the edge of a village. He did this and got well. The story spread; others strickened with sickness did the same, and many got well. Soon the tree became a busy shrine, bedecked with many banners presented by grateful worshippers to exalt the magical power of the tree god (Gamble 1954:412; cf. Yang 1961:353).

There is a legend that once during a war the enemy wanted to slaughter the people of a city, but would be willing to spare whoever was three feet above the ground. So people all climbed the trees and thus were saved. They regarded it as a miracle performed by the trees. Thereupon, the trees got temples and sacrifices (Eberhard 1970:255-56).

Feng (1970:20-21) also mentions a similar legend that at one time under a dynasty, a city was supposed to be destroyed, and the only favour that the highest official was able to obtain was that everything located three feet or more above ground might be saved. Thereupon, the entire populace climbed up trees, so as not to die. For this reason, the trees were later considered to be gods who saved their lives. Temples were built in their honour and sacrifices made.

3, Tree Land God:

Some sacred trees are specifically considered as the Land God himself. Eberhard (1970:21-22) noticed that an enormous camphor tree with a built-in niche containing incense cones and an earthenware dish for sacrifices is worshipped as the Land God. Burkhardt (1958a:70) also mentions that in the New Territories, almost every village has a sacred tree marked with honourific inscriptions which are worshipped as the Land God. some more

4, Temple Tree of the Land God:

Many scholars state that the altars of the Land God are usually built in front of or beside a huge tree (e.g. Proksch 1984:118; Overmyer 1987:260). These trees, though not worshipped, are regarded as divine. For instance, according to the field work of Chamberlayne (1966:170) in the North of Hebei Province, many shrines for the Land God have only the simple form of a small altar with a tree and a bell. The bell is of course a religious instrument and the tree is, I think, the temple tree of the Land God.

There is a story relating to this type of tree in the Chinese classical book "Zhuangzi". I quote the story as follows:

A wandering carpenter, called Stone, saw on his travels a gigantic old oak tree standing in a field near an earth- altar. The carpenter said to his apprentice, who was admiring the oak: This is a useless tree. If you wanted to make a ship, it would soon rot; if you wanted to make tools, they would break. You can't do anything useful with this tree, and that's why it has become so old." But in an inn, that same evening, when the carpenter went to sleep, the old oak tree appeared to him in his dream and said: "Why do you compare me to your cultivated trees such as white-thorn, pear, orange, and apple trees, and all the others that bear fruit, people attack and violate them. Their branches are broken, their twigs are torn. Their own gifts bring harm to them, and they cannot live out their natural span. That is what happens everywhere, and that is why I have long since tried to become completely useless. You poor mortal! Imagine if I had been useful in any way, would I have reached this size? Furthermore, you and I are both creatures, and how can one creature set himself so high as to judge another creature? You useless mortal man, what do you know about useless trees?" The carpenter woke up and meditated upon his dream, and later, when his apprentice asked him why just this one tree served to protect the earth-altar, he answered, "Keep your mouth shut! Let's hear no more about it! The tree grew here on purpose because anywhere else people would have ill-treated it. If it were not the tree of the earth-altar, it might have been chopped down" (Franz 1990:163).

IV. Conclusion:

From the above textual references we can see that stones which were regarded as divine are usually large (e.g. the Elder Brother Stone of the eccentric artist Mifu; the Rain-making Stones in the south of Hengshan County or in Dong Zhungshu's essays; the stone giving birth to the Stone Monkey) or strange in appearance (e.g. the stone that made Gaolin's mother pregnant; the Horse-liver Stone as a tribute to the Court of China; the stones regarded as the Geomancy Stone). Moreover, divine stones are usually regarded as having rain-making, evil-warding, fertilizing, and good-geomancy-bringing capability.

After careful enquiries for a number of years (in 1924 and 1925, and again in 1935) in Sichuan Province, Graham (1936:59-61; 1961:114) found that large and aged trees such as cedar, banyan, cypress, pine, and other varieties sometimes are worshipped as divinities. Allan (1979:5) maintains that trees are considered as divine because of their unusually long life and immense appearance. The research of Burkhardt (1958b:119) in Hong Kong also asserts that the trees elaborately decorated and worshipped as gods are usually trees with long life. Moreover, after field study in the southern parts of China, Eberhard finds that trees that are worshipped are generally large trees (1970:21-22). Additionally, these trees were normally venerated as geomancy trees, miracle trees, the Land God, and temple tree of the Land God etc.

In Chapter Three and onwards, the data which I collected from the field research in 1992-1994 will be applied to this study to see why and how the divine stones and trees are worshipped in present-day Taiwan.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(note.1)

The most well-recorded and important type of divine stones in Chinese texts is "She" stones and the stone Land God. I shall discuss them in the following chapters.

(note.2)

In imperial times, when drought struck part of a province, the governor usually appealed to local deities to bring rain as it was believed that the timely production of rain was a part of the duty of the local gods. If in vain, he, acting as representative of the Emperor, who himself was the "Son of Heaven," could order them to see to their duty, treating them with as little ceremony as he would treat one of his county magistrates. Gods who failed in their duties could be tried and condemned to a public beating (cf. Eberhard 1970:257; Wolf 1974:144).

(note.3)

If someone is sick, Chinese think he is in a Yinyang imbalance. To correct this, treatment often involves tonification (i.e. stimulating the lack) or suppression (i.e. reducing the excess) and restoring a balance (Frese & Gray 1987:27; Yeh Kaofang 1987:21).

(note.4)

Since these stones were usually hewn or inscribed with characters, I excluded them from the current field research.

(note.5)

People have always been ambivalent about the Geomancy Stones, and the belief has been changed since 1929. Graham describes that formerly the streets of Yibin were very narrow, and in them were several large stones believed to be the Geomancy Stone. These stones made it more difficult for people to pass up and down, especially when carrying loads or sedan chairs. No one dared to chip them down so that they would not obstruct traffic - that would certainly cause calamities among the people of the city. In 1929 the Yibin City had a mayor who widened and paved the streets, and had stone masons chip away the stones. The act lessened people's fear of, and respect for, the Geomancy Stone.

(note.6)

There are also some tree legends in Taiwan. Among them, the legend of the divine tree of the Sun Moon Lake is the most famous. According to a story recorded in a gazetteer of Zhanghua (Chang- hua) County of Taiwan (cf. Yuan Chang-rue 1993:8), an Autumn Maple tree grew up overnight on the side of the Sun Moon Lake. The root of the tree stuck 20 m deep in the lake, and the trunk towered 30 m into the sky, where the tree leaves extended a coverage of 20 metres square. The local tribal people considered it as a divine tree.

As soon as the tree had grown big, a child was born by a woman who was made pregnant by the Autumn Maple Tree in her dream. The child was named Guzong, and in time, grew into a man of strong stature and was chosen as the chief of the Tribe. The gazetteer states that in 1726, the Qing Government sent a troop to suppress Guzong who killed and robbed the people of neighbouring areas. In order to facilitate the suppression, the leader of the troop decided that the divine Autumn Maple Tree be cut down. Guzong, the tribal chief, and his two sons were thereupon caught and executed (Yuan Chang-rue 1993:8-9).

However, according to the folk version of the story, the troop was unsuccessful in their first attempt of suppression. Soon, the leader of the troop was advised that Guzong, was actually the incarnation of the divine Autumn Maple Tree which must be uprooted to destroy his mystical power. By piercing the back of the tree all over and by applying dog blood to it, the divine tree was felled. It was at that very moment that Guzong drowned himself in the Lake (Yuan Chang-rue 1993:9).

(note.7)

By the same token, the most well-recorded and important type of divine trees in Chinese texts is "She" trees and the tree Land God. I shall discuss them in the following chapters.

Chapter Three: the Land God in Chinese Popular Religion

2008-02-13T02:23:00.000-08:00

I. Introduction:

Divine stones and trees are most often worshipped in Taiwan as the Land God. The Land God (Tho.-tt-kong or Tudi Gong) is the most renowned deity in Chinese popular religion. He can be seen almost in every family and village, along roads, on the banks of canals, etc (cf. Chamberlayne 1966:167; Brim 1974; Werner 1977:528).(note.1) For instance, older residents of Tainan City claim that in former times every neighbourhood had its own Land God, and evidence gathered by Kristofer Schipper appears to bear them out (Schipper 1975; cf. Wolf 1974:134). John C. Ferguson says that: "the most persistent type of religious worship in China is that offered to the spirits of the Earth" (qtd. in Day 1974:59).(note.2) In Yilan County, there are 67 kinds of deities venerated in 545 temples (and shrines) registered themselves in the county goverment. Among these temples, 168 are dedicated to the Land God. There are, I guess, more than two hundred Land God shrines which are not registered. Therefore, it is evident that he is the most popular deity in Yilan, and, possibly, in Taiwan.

The God is conceived of as in charge of a specific geographically defined jurisdiction. But even though the locality he controls is small,(note.3) he has a specific place in Chinese popular religion and is universally worshipped throughout Chinese societies. Thus arose the proverb, "The Land God is worshipped at the both sides of the field (Chhan-tau Chhan-bue Tho.-ti-kong)," attesting to the profusion of small shrines dotted amongst the fields and rice paddies.

Although not as powerful as the Heavenly Emperor or the Royal Lords, the deity is in charge of many things. Every house has its own Land God as guardian of the family.(note.4) Businessmen worship him for wealth and to guard their riches. Farmers worship him for agricultural fertility and harvests. Those who are in mountain areas adore him, because he is regarded as a god of mountains (Suan-sin).

Moreover, the graves of the properly buried and remembered each have their own tutelary deity. Although the deity is also said to be a kind of Land God, he is formally known, according to the title inscribed on the stone tablet beside every grave, as "Houtu" or "the Earth Governor" (Feuchtwang 1992:95; see figure 112).(note.5) When every year offerings are placed at the graves of ancestors, the Earth Governor receives side offerings accompanied by gold spirit-money (Feuchtwang 1992:49).

II. Names and Images of the God:

According to Yang (1961:97), the Cult of the Land God was introduced in the first century BCE. Schipper (1977:662-64) maintains that the indroduction derives from the politico- religious mass movement of that time. This mass movement tried to realise the ideal society of the past in a new world order based on the principle of Great Equality (Taiping).

The official name of the Land God is "Hok-tek cheng-sin" ("Fude Zhengshen"), which is translated as "Orthodox Spirit of Good Merit" by Schipper (1977:660).(note.6) However, he is colloquially called "Pak-kung" by Hakka people (Suenari 1985:36) and "Tho.-tt-kong" by Hollo people in Taiwan. That the Land God is referred to as "kong" might mean therefore that his image is always depicted as an old man. Many Chinese male deities are often referred to by this title.

There is no consensus among foreign scholars for the translation of the term Tho.-ti-kong (Tudi Gong). It is translated as "the earth god" (e.g. Ahern 1973:6; Fried 1974:131; Maspero 1981:3; Suenari 1985:36), "the Earth God" (e.g. Diamond 1969:99; Brim 1974:98; Wei & Coutanceau 1976:28; Werner 1977:413f), "the Earth Gods" (e.g. Berkovits and others 1969:77), "the local earth gods" (e.g. Baity 1975:58), "the local god" (e.g. Smith (1899) 1969:138; Bredon & Mitrophanom 1927:456), "the Place Gods" (e.g. Sangren 1987:61). "the God of the locality" (e.g. Burkhardt 1958b:151), "the Locality God" (e.g. Wolf 1974:134; Feuchtwang 1992:47) "the gods of the Locality" (e.g. Maspero 1981:110), "the Tutelary Deity" (e.g. Baity 1975:273), "land gods" (e.g. Hsiao Kung-chuan 1960:275f). Moreover, Ling Shun-sheng translates it as "the local deities" (1967:133), "the god of earth" (1967:133) and "local divinities" (1967:136) to indicate the same deity in an article. Chamberlayne translates it as "the earth-god" (1966:167), the local gods (1966:166), "the local earth gods" (1966:164) and "the god of the soil (1966:167) to indicate the same deity in a article also. Some scholars even reserve the Hollo term "Tho.-ti-kong" to describe the god (e.g. Ahern 1973:7; Wang Shih-ch'ing 1974:81; Harrell 1981:131). These English translations are all valid, and indeed, they reflect different understandings of this deity.

In Taiwan, "Tho.-ti-kong" is sometimes thought of as a single being for all localities, and sometimes as a class of beings each of which rules over a particular piece of land. However, the most important function of the God is to be in charge of a piece of land or sometimes related to the land as a whole. Therefore, I shall translated the term "Tho.-ti-kong" as "the Land God" and it will be capitalised hereinafter.(note.7)

The Land God can be worshipped with a stone or tree representing him and without any image or deity statue. However, if being worshipped with an image, he is usually depicted in pictures and in statues as a mild-faced, kind elder with a long white beard (e.g. Wei & Coutanceau 1976:28f; Proksch 1984:39; Sangren 1987:124),(note.8) wearing a round cap and the costume of local elder (Weller 1987:39).(note.9) Moreover, He is sometimes portrayed as holding a long walking stick in the right hand and nothing in his left hand, some with a long walking stick in the right hand and a golden ingot (guan-po) in left hand, some with a jade sceptre (Ju-i) in the right hand and a golden ingot in his left hand.(note.10)

I asked some respondents if there is any preference among these diverse images. They told me that it depends on the area the believers inhabit and the cult to which they adhere. For example, if the God is worshipped as the Earth Governor (Houtu; see figure 112), a statue with a long walking stick is preferred as they believe that without a stick to help him walking, the old God would be reluctant to patrol. But if the Land God is identified with a guardian of business or a god of wealth, a statue with a golden ingot and a jade sceptre is favoured because both objects in Chinese culture symbolise wealth (Schipper 1977:660).

Schipper also identifies the round cap that the God wears as "Yuanwai Mao" of wealthy country elders with no official rank but great influence.(note.11) The portrayal is typical to the traditional local leaders whose virtue and experience have earned them the respect of all (1977:660-64). We might say that because respect for the aged is an important value in Chinese social ideology, in order to pay respect to the Land God much beloved by adherents, they moulded him as a kind, old local elder with a round cap.

However, there are some divergences. For example, some statues of the Land God wear the official hat and official robe. I was told in some field sites that as long as an official who was born in this locality governed the Land God, the statue of the Land God of the locality is permitted to wear official clothes.

The God also appears riding on the back of a tiger (cf. Wei & Coutanceau 1976:28f). I was told that only the Land God who governs the mountain areas is depicted as tiger-riding. In addition, at the ritual of the universal salvation (pudu), the God is constructed with bamboo and paper as brightly coloured, human-sized images with fearsome faces standing directly in front of the temple that hosts the ritual (Weller 1987:18).

Once the specific function of the Land God is decided, people go to a deity statue sculpture workshop. They explain to the sculptor what image they prefer. The sculptor, then, mold a statue according to a image book. The image book consists of the statue images of most popular deities.

III. Distinctive Traits of the God:

There are some traits that distinguish the Land God from other Chinese deities. The most important of these is that he is territorially bound.

1, Territorially Bound:

There are some Chinese sayings such as "the God at the East end of the village is helpless at the West" (Burkhardt 1958a:155) or "if the God of the Soil of the east mountain goes to the west mountain, he will not be efficacious", so that "the T'u-ti at the east end is powerless at the west end" (Chamberlayne 1966:171). Nonetheless, the saying that "The Land God is worshipped at both sides of the field (Chhan-thau Chhan-bue Tho.-ti-kong)", on the one hand, portrays the popularity of the God, but on the other hand, it illustrates the fact that the God of one part of a locality has no control over the rest of that locality.(note.12) Actually, the Land God is conceived of as in charge of a specific geographically defined jurisdiction, within which his duties are usually compared by informants to those of a "local policeman" or "local junior official" (cf. Jordan 1994:153).(note.13)

Because of the territorial boundedness of the God, usually he is worshipped only by those people belonging to his district and not by outsiders. Whoever moves to a new district must accept the duties of the cult there, and whoever leaves a district is likewise relieved of any and all cult responsibilities.

2, Office instead of Person:

It is of interest that the term "Land God" or "Fude Zhengshen" is a title of office and not the honourific title of a single specific person. Usually, even though worshippers do not care much about the distinction, for the ritual specialists and people who take more than a casual interest in temple affairs, the divine titles of deities can be commonly divided into two types, personal titles and titles of office. The divine title such as "Fuyou Dijun" ("the Trusted and Helpful Imperial Lord") for the god Lyu Dongbin, "Kaizhang Shengwang" ("First Divine Patriarch of Zhangzhou Prefecture") for the god Chen Yuanguang, "Zhongtan Yuanshuai" ("Guardian of the Central Altar") for the deity Li Nozha, are all titles for specific persons. They are usually thought of as particular deified persons with saintly qualities, the emphasis being on the deity's moral character and good works (cf. Wolf 1974:140f).

On the other hand, there are titles of office, the most notable of which are "Tian'gong", "Chenghuang" and "Fude Zhengshen". These titles are explicitly compared with the imperial bureaucracy and often treated as administrative positions that can be occupied by different people. Any person may be elected to an office after his death. There are many legends telling of changes made in who should be deified as the Land God, or the City God. The previous one was either promoted or demoted and a new person took over (cf. Werner 1977:528; Cohen 1987:291). Partly due to this specific trait, there are so many different legends delineating the origins of the Land God (Baity 1975:245). I shall narrate these legends in the following sections of this chapter and in the next chapters.

3, Usually Worshipped at Home:

In Taiwan, people usually worship the Land God, among other gods, in their family altar everyday instead of going to temple. On the first and fifteenth days of every lunar month (that is, at the new moon and the full moon) (Sangren 1987:62; Weller 1987:30), he is especially venerated with incense and sometimes several kinds of sacrifices. However, businesses usually stay open on the first and fifteenth to take advantage of the twice-a- month activity, so businessmen such as stall-holders, traders, shop-keepers etc. because they worship the Land God as a wealth god, conduct these rituals instead on the second and sixteenth day of the each lunar month and also have feasts given by employers for their workers (Weller 1987:55).

Almost every locality has its own Land God temple. However, due to the distance or other factors, many people only go to the God's temple twice-monthly or for his birthday festival annually, and worship the God at the family altar everyday (cf. Harrell 1981:133; Feuchtwang 1992:40).

Every traditional Taiwanese family has an altar to carry out some important aspects of religious activities such as the worship of the Land God. The altar stands in the main hall or living room of the family, opposite the principal door. The family altar is usually called the "red table" (cf. Jordan 1985:93).(note.14)

The worship of the Land God at home is usually carried out by the seniors in the family. Since the seniors are prominent in the lives of young children, the example and instruction they provide are major influences on the children's later religious attitudes. The seniors tell religious stories, show children how to practise rituals. Secular education in modern schools often derides popular religion as "superstition," but many of the basic religious conceptions of the young are shaped by the activities of the family (cf. Cohen 1987:293).

4, Unique Location of His Temple:

The location of a temple of the Land God is very important for local people. Usually, it is situated on the edge of the locality (Jordan 1994:153) and should face the upper reach of the biggest stream in order to "guard (the locality) at the end of the stream" ("pe chui-buei") while other deities do not have such a function. Sometimes a dispute might arise over the locality or direction of the Land God temple should face. If this is the case, the God is supposed to decide the site and orientation of its own temple (Wang Shih-ch'ing 1974:83).

IV. Main Functions of the God:

The Land God is multi-functioned in Chinese popular religion. However, the main task of the Land God is to look after the piece of land he governs. He is indispensable to everything concerning the land. For example, the belief is that it might be dangerous to break the earth, since it contains "energies" which are hard to deal with (Cohen 1987:290). Therefore, when the first breaking of earth on a new site takes place for construction or destruction of a house, a temple, a grave, a bridge, or the like, an important person is to be invited to host the ceremony of "Ground-breaking" ("Pho-tho").(note.15) This is marked by the presentation of offerings on the ground to the Land God who governs this piece of land. Only after the host has asked the permission of the God, the piece of land can be broken (Day 1974:67; Wolf 1974:134; Feuchtwang 1992:94).

He is of considerable importance in farming villages, since he is in charge of the land and prosperity; the quality of the crops depends on him.(note.16) No Chinese peasant is supposed to plough his lands until the Land God is worshipped. In traditional China, farmers place small piles of seed in the places where they hope that later great heaps of grain will stand. Various types of grain and cereals are deposited as the centre of successive circles to grant a plenteous harvest in the present year. In Taiwan, the Land God is also the patron deity of farmers. A legend states that the Land God was the agricultural official under Emperor Yao. People worship him because he first taught agricultural skills. Also, a legend describes that the Land God was Mr. Go., a retired official who taught agricultural skills to farmers. Therefore farmers asked the City God to apotheosise him "Hok-tek Cheng-sin". However, the custom that placing small piles of seed by farmers is different from China. In Taiwan, farmers usually place small piles of rice seed in front of or in the hand of Emperor Shennong, a legendary hero who is said to be the inventor of the plough and the first Chinese agriculturist (cf. Werner 1977:415).(note.17)

In addition to asking the God for a good harvest, farmers may ask him to do various things. In Nantou County, pioneering farmers of the area built temples of the Land God for warding off hostile aborigines (Liu Zhiwan 1961:117). The banana farmers built temples for the God to get rid of wild swine (Liu Zhiwan 1961:117). After they settled down in this area, they started to ask the God for improving health and curing diseases (Liu Zhiwan 1961:118).

2, In Charge of Wandering Souls:

Harrell (1974:196) describes that there is a small shrine in a village in the southern Taipei basin that houses bones dug up when a road into the area was being constructed. After it was built, a temple of the Land God was also built a short distance down the road. He remarks that it is so because visitors to the area would see god (i.e. the Land God) before they saw the wandering souls which are supposed housed in the small shrine. He adds that similar constructions can be found by roadsides and in cemeteries throughout Taiwan. Correspondingly, Ahern (1981:405) also records that there is a slaughter house in a village, where buffalo and horses are frequently slaughtered. People in the community were so fearful of the dangerous souls of the slaughtered animals - it was said that one could hear their screams at night - that the owner of the factory built a special temple of the Land God on the premises to control them.

These two field workers, however, offer no explanation for the choice of the Land God, as opposed to some other deity, in these cases. In fact, according to Chinese popular religion, one of the main tasks of the Land God is to be in charge of souls. Chamberlayne (1966:177) records that when the first signs of approaching death appear, the ceremony of "summoning back the soul" of the dying one takes place. Usually the family and friends will go to the shrine of the Land God of the locality, where they light incense-sticks and candles before the God whilst they call out, "Come back, So and So". Then other members of the party will reply, "He has returned". This may occur a large number of times. The Land God is here invoked to help in calling back the soul of the dying person.

When the death has taken place, then the Land God has to be informed. As soon as night sets in, the members of the family light up lanterns, and, weeping, proceed to inform the God. On arrival, they inform him that a member of the family has departed this life. They beg the God to show kindness towards him, stating that during his earthly life he was weak and infirm and toiled hard along the pathway of life. After a display of firecrackers and the offering of incense, everyone returns home. On the second day, the family return - dressed as before in white, with sackcloth bands around their hair - to receive back the soul, which they believe has been hospitably cared for in the temple of the Land God (cf. Chamberlayne 1966:177).

In Taiwan, the souls of the deceased are believed to be wandering about in the underworld. The Land God, then, comes to lead the souls there (Sangren 1987:138). When they wash their hands with the water offered by the God, they will notice their hands are beginning to rot and realise that they are dead (Feuchtwang 1974b:120).

From the role that the Land God plays in the following two rituals recorded by Ahern (1973:221-5) in a small village in northern Taiwan we can also understand the Land God is in charge of souls. The first one is his performance in an episode of a rite known as "the Rite of Merit" (Cho-kong-tek). Most people in the village studied by Ahern insisted that although their ancestors might commit some wrong or other, none of them would suffer miserable reincarnation since "the Rite of Merit" performed on the eve of the funeral would cancel out all misdemeanors.(note.18) The performance requires the services of a ritual specialist and several assistants. It was said that because the road to the underworld is beset by dangerous monsters and unknown obstacles, the deceased might succumb to some fatal disaster long before arriving unless he or she receives the help of the rite.

When all was arranged, a musician played a jaunty tune on a stringed instrument while an assistant hobbled in, dressed like an old man. With his white beard, staff, and bent frame, he was immediately recognised by everyone as the Land God. At first, the God simply wandered around the audience, making jokes and delighting the children, but eventually, the priest, who acted as the descendants' emissary, told him that someone needs help crossing the bridge into the underworld; at this the cloth stretched between the two tables became the centre of attention as a representation of the bridge. The Land God began to circle the bridge, followed by a line of the deceased's direct descendants. As they circle, the Land God talked about how difficult it was to cross the bridge without the help of a god because of the terrible monsters and demons waiting below to snatch up anyone who took a wrong step (Ahern 1973:223).

The descendants, knowing that the God must be paid for such an invaluable service, dropped coins into a bowl under the table every time they completed a circle. The Land God led them on and on, until the amount of money collected satisfied him. He often urged them to make more donations by exclaiming that the prices of food and medicine had gone up recently, and that a person needed more money to live on today.

Occasionally, the priest interrupted to plead that there was enough money in the pot and to ask that the Land God consent to lead the deceased across. Finally, the God agreed, collected his money, and hobbled off stage. Then after the descendants slowly walk the length of the cloth bridge and ensured the dead had been safely guided across the dangerous outskirts of the underworld and had been given ample funds to provide himself with food and protection while he was there, the performance was completed.

The second ritual referred to as "looking around the underworld" (Kuan-lt-im) is also performed with the help of an appropriate ritual specialist (Ahern 1973:228-231). Through the ritual, people were able to descend into the underworld in hopes of catching a glimpse of a deceased relative or of finding an explanation of misfortune in the underworld. When the specialist who possessed the necessary knowledge of incantation came to the village, he put a client in trance and begin to shake. Finally, he said quietly, in a low voice, "There's no road." When the client repeated that he could not find the road, the specialist decided that the problem must be the Land God who led the way wanting money. Accordingly, he began to burn paper money for the Land God on the floor in front of the entranced client. Only when satisfied amount of money offered, would the God lead the way.

Thus, we can now understand the choice of a Land God temple in the ethnographic cases reported by Harrell and Ahern, and cited above. The Land God is able to keep dangerous souls at distance from the community or field where people inhabit (Berkovits and others 1969:76; Wolf 1974:134) and thus serves as the boundary marker between mankind and the ghosts (e.g. see figures 110 & 111).

3, Symbol of Community:

One important function of the Land God in Taiwan is that he or his temple is a symbol of community. Only after a temple to him is installed is a sense of community established. The field reports written by many scholars appear to bear this out. Ahern (1973:27f), in her field site, was often told by a local leader that the Land God Temple of the settlement is "for everyone who lives here. We all live in the same place and worship at the same earth-god temple."(note.19) Harrell (1981:131) observes that all the villagers of a settlement, and no outsiders, participate in its yearly festival at a temple of the Land God. The organisation of religious rituals thus supports geography and formal administration in defining the settlement as a discrete community, separate from its neighbouring communities.

If a household moves to the territory, it then participates in the festival of the Land God in its new neighbourhood rather than that in its old one (Sangren 1987:93). The festival of the Mazu Goddess Temple of Songshan, the biggest festival of the area, each of the 13 administrative units which are territorially defined for the big festival is based on its own Land God temple. When an administrative unit is split up generally a new temple is built for the new unit (cf. Baity 1975:273).

From my field interview, I was told that originally the dwellers of Khe-te hamlet had to go to worship the Land God at another village where they are from. About 20 years ago, when the dwellers of the hamlet became numerous, they could not tolerate not having their own Land God temple to guard their own hamlet, so they worked to built the temple.(note.20) Similarly, Suenari (1985:37f) reports that a shrine of the Land God, one of the oldest in the area where he did research, had many worshippers from a newly established market street in spite of its location in the paddy field. But the number of worshippers decreased to a few after a new shrine of the Land God was built on the market street since the residents of the street came to worship their own new shrine on the street.

The field work of Wang Shih-ch'ing (1974:80-82) in the Shulin area of Taipei County can also indicate that Taiwanese regard the Land God temple as a symbol of a community. From the time of its earliest settlement, the history of the Shulin area has been one of amalgamation, of people of diverse origins uniting to create organisations that overcome their differences. The first example is the establishment of the Land God Temple in Tandi District. Tandi was a district of ethnic strife between residents with diverse origins. However, after many difficulties, the residents there started considering themselves a community and decided to establish a temple for the Land God in 1765. They contributed money to buy a piece of paddy land that was given over to the support of the temple and annual worship of the Land God to demonstrate that they were all members of a community.

A second example is the settlement of Lan lineage. Despite the fact that Lan lineage resided in Sanjiaopu District, they did not participate in the festival of the Land God there. Instead, because they considered themselves as an independent social unit from the District, they set up their own Land God Temple.

A third example about the establishment of the Land God Temple in Pengcuo District is noteworthy. Despite its early settlement and its importance as the site of a rent-collection station, Pengcuo was the last district to establish a Land God Temple among its surroundings. Of the eight districts into which the Shulin area was partitioned during the Qing Dynasty, Pengcuo District had the deepest ethnic divisions. Its settlers included Hakka people from Guangdong Province as well as Hollo people from both Zhangzhou Prefecture and Quanzhou Prefecture. Hollo people from Zhangzhou Prefecture and Quanzhou Prefecture of this district fought each other many times; having gained an advantage, they declared a truce in 1861, at which time they blamed their troubles on their Hakka neighbours and drove them out of the area. To affirm the truce, and perhaps also to celebrate their victory over the Hakka, they jointly built a temple of the Land God and purchased a piece of paddy land, donating its earnings to the temple as an endowment (Wang Shih- ch'ing 1974:81).

In fact, the worship of a common god can provide an unusual, if not unique, possibility for the residents to interact in occasions such as reciprocal exchanges of helping hands and gifts in rituals of life crisis, owning the common property and sharing the decision making process. It acts as a cohesive force to transcend the threat of the narrowly compartmentalised interests of the family as well as the clan, immigrant groups, or ethnic loyalties among the same community (cf. Ahern 1973:71; Wang Shih- ch'ing 1974:80-82; Baity 1975:238; Suenari 1985:29; Overmyer 1987:281) to the state of "following the custom of the neighbourhood".(note.21)

It is remarkable that since the Land God is not an ancestor who is always venerated by a family or a lineage, nor is he a particular god such as the Three Mountain Kings (Sam-san Kok-ong or Sanshan Guowang) who was usually worshipped by an ethnic people, through creating and maintaining of the temple of the Land God, all residents of the same settlement expect to cooperate.(note.22) This might be one of the reasons that Taiwanese people like to choose the Land God to be their community god. (note.23)

4, Patron Deity of Wealth:

In some areas of China, the Land God is worshipped with two figures. On the left hand side, there is the figure of a boy - called Tongnan (the Boy) or Jintong (the Golden Boy). On the right hand side, there is the figure of a girl - called Tongnyu (the Girl) or Yu'nyu (the Jade Girl). These two children are believed to be very auspicious in bringing wealth and precious gifts, especially fertility, to the village (Chamberlayne 1966:173). Sometimes, the wife of the Land God is also associated with a patron deity of wealth (Day 1974:65).

In Taiwan, the Land God is held to be a god of wealth. There is a widespread legend narrating that the God was originally a "Shoucainu", a "slave who zealously guarded the money of his wealthy master" (Schipper 1977:661). Another legend states that the name of the Land God was Tongxiao who lived on the earth one hundred years ago. During his mortal life, he gave his wealth to the poor and engaged in many charitable works, but his property never decreased. Therefore it was said that his possessions were bequeathed to him from the heavens, and were an inexhaustible supply (Wei & Coutanceau 1976:31f), as would be suitable for a god of wealth.

In fact, it is unlikely that a shop is without the statue of the deity. Many people told Schipper that "there would be nobody to guard the money," when he asked friends in Tainan why a street without the Land God might be subject to ridicule (1977:772).(note.24)

5, Recorder and Reporter:

The God is also believed to keep records of all that goes on of the locality and report the same regularly to the City God, his superior. While customs vary, usually the announcement of births and deaths and other important events in the village is made at the temple of the Land God (Hodous 1929:62). Wolf (1974:134) also notes that most people in the Sanxia area reported vital events to the God (Burkhardt 1958a:154f; 1958b:151; Maspero 1981:111).

V. Guardian of Community:

From the above descriptions, especially of the five major functions of the Land God, it is not surprising that Taiwanese regard him as the guardian of community. Actually, each community considered independent from others has its own altar of the Land God. Schipper (1977:770) notes that the Land God played an important role as the first cult established by new settlers' communities to protect them against demons and aborigines alike when the island was being colonised. There is a widespread legend that in ancient times a courageous county official drove out ghosts from one locality after another with such vigor that they dared not return, he was deified as the Land God (Schipper 1977:660f) to guard the community. A legend collected by Baity (1975:245) has a similar notion. It says that the head monk of Zhonghe Temple of Taipei was a venerable old man of 94 at the time that his study was undertaken. He had a wife a few years his junior, as well as a son. Some of his parishioners were heard to say that after he died, he might hopefully become the Land God of his parish, meaning that his spirit might guard the area from evil.

During my field work, I heard an interesting story. It is that about five years ago, a young man came from neighbouring county to the site of the stone Land God of San-tiau Hill (#S23) to build a sheet-metal shelter for the God. The act surprised the neighbours of the God. He explained that: "My father came to tell me in a dream that he was a good man when he lived in the world. When he died, he was deified and was appointed to become the Land God of this area to guard it". "But unfortunately," he continued: "he told me that because the temple has no big tree to shade, he was very hot here. Therefore he asked me to build the shelter here for shade (see figure 24)." (note.25)

In Xinzhu City, I found a deity statue of the Land God whose face looks different from Han Chinese people. I was told by a deity statue sculptor that it is "the aboriginal Land God" ("Huan-a Tho.-ti"). He told me that before the Chinese came, the area was inhabited by an aboriginal tribe. In memory of the aboriginal landowners of the area, Chinese worship them as the Land God of this area and hope that "the aboriginal Land God" will guard the community.

From the role that the Land God plays in the rite "Nocturnal Detecting" and the procession the goddess Mazu in a town we can also observe that the Land God is considered as the guardian of the community.

The rite "Nocturnal Detecting" ("Am-hong") is a religious procession for the purpose of expelling malign influences from an area. The most well-known of these rites is held in a historical town in central Taiwan. I summarise a rite described by DeGlopper (1974:47f) below:

After dark a procession of perhaps fifteen deities in sedan chairs passes along every street and alley in the town all night in near silence and near total darkness. Householders, usually in their night clothes, stand in their doorways with incense sticks and worship as the deities pass. The participants are mostly young men in their regular clothes and are not expected to go into trance.(note.26) There is an intense but somewhat hurried and furtive atmosphere about the whole event. The rite is rather spooky. There are no bands, no floats, no costumed troupes of performers one sees in processions in Taiwan. Most importantly, the rite is led by the Land God together with the City God.

On the day of a festival of the goddess Mazu of a town in north Taiwan where Sangren (1987:99) conducted his field research, the statues of the goddess accompanied by many gods, are carried in procession through the temple's domain. Before the procession, which begins about nine o'clock in the morning, many households not scheduled to sacrifice pigs bring less elaborate offerings to the tables in front of their homes. At the head of the procession is the Land God, followed by the god Kaizhang Shengwang (First Divine Patriarch of Zhangzhou Prefecture), and then the temple's own statue of the goddess, and finally, three visiting goddess statues.

Some scholars even observe that in traditional Chinese world, any offence against the moral law of a community is considered an offence against the Land God who guards it (Bredon & Mitrophanom 1927:455f; Burkhardt 1958a:154f).

VI. The Earth Governor and the Land God:

Probably because Chinese believe that souls dwell in somewhere under the land, in Taiwan and generally in southeastern China, the grave site is guarded by the Earth Governor ("Hio- tho." or "Houtu") who is also regarded as a kind of Land God. When represented by a stone tablet by the side of the grave, the name is read as Houtu, and when represented by an image, it is depicted exactly the same as the Land God (cf. Hodous 1929:59; Diamond 1969:99; Schipper 1977:770; Paper 1990:31) and of course male.(note.27) When people visit the graves, they also worship the Earth Governor. One day, Ahern (1973:166) was told by a family that it could not find the site of one of its ancestors' grave. After looking in vain for hours, the family burned prodigious amounts of spirit money for the Land God, asking him to help in the search. This verified that the Land God is occasionally identified with the Earth Governor.

However, the myth of the Earth Governor is slightly different from the Land God that guards hamlet, street, or ward territory (Feuchtwang 1974b:121). For instance, a legend says that a man, only three days after marrying, was called to do military service and was killed on duty at the Great Wall of China. His soul visited his wife in a dream, begging her to come and find his bones to bury them properly. But when she came to the Great Wall, there were so many bones that she did not know how to identify her husband's. An old man with a white beard, the Land God, advised her that if she cut her finger and let blood drop from it the bones at which it would stop dripping would be those of her husband.(note.28) In this way she found and collected her husband's bones together in her skirts and carried them home weeping. She wept so profusely on to the bones that they began to come to life again. But the Land God considered it unjust that her husband should be singled out from the other soldiers to be brought back to life. When the wife had to go and find food to eat he offered to guard the reviving bones for her. On her return she found that they had lost their life again. She was very angry, and that is why there is a stone represented the Land God beside every grave; "to keep the dead dead" (Feuchtwang 1992:95).

A similar legend tells the story of a heroine Meng Jiangnyu, who, having lost her father, longed in vain for a husband. As the First Emperor of Qin Dynasty was then building the Great Wall, he called up all young men. Wan Xiliang did not want to go and hid away from his home. On the fifth day of the fifth month (Dragon Boat Festival) he was in the garden of Meng Jiangnyu's house. When she came out of the house, the lad hid in a tree above a pond. Meng Jiangnyu proceeded to bathe in the pond, whereupon she saw the image of the boy reflected in the water. She told him that, having seen her nude, he had to marry her. A wedding feast was held, but the old man who ran the general store was not invited. He reported Wan Xiliang to the authorities. The young man died while doing forced labour at the Great Wall, and his corpse was incorporated into the structure. Meng Jiangnyu went to look for her husband. Her tears made the wall collapse and many skeletons were uncovered. An old man told her that the bones that would absorb her blood were those of her husband. She thus found the skeleton and as her tears fell upon them flesh grew anew on the bones. The old man told her that if she put the body in a bag, it would be easier to carry. She did so and it became a skeleton once again. Out of spite, Meng Jiangnyu transformed the old man into the guardian of her husband's grave (Schipper 1977:661f), the Earth Governor to keep the body of Wan Xiliang.(note.29)

VII. Conclusion:

We have found that the belief of divine stones and trees recorded in textual data as the Land God, which has a very ancient basis as we saw in the last chapter, is also well preserved in modern Chinese society. The present chapter helps us understand the God better. We have identified several different traits and functions of the Land God. These traits communicate themselves in some degree to others (e.g. there is a common feature that he is depicted as a local elder devoted to his community) and are linked in a semantic chain: a local elder who is loyal to his locality transferred to a guardian of family, of community, of agriculture, of mountain, of grave, of business place, and thus wealth.(note.30) This fact clarifies why many Chinese elders devoted to their communities are thought as being deified as the Land God and that the term "the Land God" is a title of office and not the honourific title of a single specific person; why he is venerated at the family altar everyday; that he is worshipped only by those people belonging to the specific locality and not by outsiders; that he is territorially bound; that his temple is situated on the edge of the locality and should face the upper reach of the stream to guard the locality. (note.31)

However, no matter how the roles of the Land God are transferred and how these roles are semantically chained, he is, in Chinese popular religion, rather a "keeper" than a "challenger" of society. We see that being a locality god, he keeps hostile aborigines, wild swine, dangerous souls and others at distance from his locality. Being a community symbol, he transcends residents with diverse origins, making them homogeneous and keeping the heterogeneous people outside. In structuralist parlance, he is to "keep outsiders outside". Being a wealth god, he is the keeper of the shop's prosperity. Being a grave god, he is the boundary marker between mankind and the ghosts, namely, to "keep the dead dead".

In addition, I believe the fact that the common feature that the God is always depicted as an local elder who is loyal to the piece of land he governs is hardly accidental or insignificant. I attribute this to the result of the standardisation of the Land God and will examine my hypothesis in the following chapters.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(note.1)

Yang (1961:98) holds that the cult was particularly well developed in south China.

(note.2)

I think the term "spirits of the Earth" refers to "Tudi Gong".

(note.3)

Chinese cosmology and the structure of imperial bureaucracy often correspond. Wolf (1974:131-82) argues that just as lower-level bureaucrats govern small administrative districts and higher-level officials control larger ones, so lesser gods reign over small local systems while more exalted gods rule the larger religion (see also Sangren 1983:5).

(note.4)

Not only the ground underneath the house, but the home itself, the walls and kitchen have their respective Land God. There are the protective Lanqian Tudi of the domestic stable; the Niu Tudi and Zhu Tudi protectors of the cows and pigs; the Gou Tudi of the drain-ditch; the Men Tudi and Buji Tudi of the cotton and the looms, respectively; as well as those very common Qiao Shen Tudi of the bridges and Shan Shen Tudi or mountain spirits beneath the graves. Moreover, for the convenience of the worshippers, entitled "Zhong Tu" or the "United Land Gods" a means by which all piece of land governed by the Land God may be appeased at the same time (Day 1974:67).

(note.5)

I follow Karlgren's interpretation (1930:11) and translate the Mandarin term "Houtu" as "the Earth Governor".

(note.6)

Schipper (1977:663) points out that the term "fute" or "good merit" appears to be of Buddhist origin, in connection with a kind of hostel operated by monks in Central Asia.

(note.7)

The term "Tudi Gong" is most frequently translated as "the Earth God". However, the shortcoming of the translation is that it might lead people to mistake "Tudi Gong" for the counterpart of "Dimu", "the Earth Mother" (see also Chapter Six).

(note.8)

Ahern (1973:67) reports that a couple who often hiked in the mountains near a small town in Taipei County claimed that an old man with a long, white beard had emerged out of a torrential rainstorm and had led them to safety in the temple of the Land God, thereafter immediately disappearing. They identified the mysterious man as the manifestation of the Land God.

(note.9)

Burkhardt (1958c:15), notes that in Hong Kong the Land God wears a red waistcoat and blue official robes.

(note.10)

Schipper (1977:660) also says that the image of the God in a historical Taiwan city is always seated, since in the urban area he does not need to walk a lot.

(note.11)

Schipper (1977:660) says that the Land God wears a "dragon robe". However, I have not found any depiction like this, it seems unlikely, which is not surprising because only an emperor could wear this.

(note.12)

Interestingly, since modernization, the Land God seems to be less territorially bound. In Taipei though he is still district guardian to an extent, today one finds its statues carried in pilgrimage all over the island when the people associated with such a Land God temple decide to organise a pilgrimage (Jordan 1994:153).

(note.13)

Therefore, such a territorially bound deity is regarded unsuitable for adopting children since he is powerless outside of the small territory. We shall discuss the topic in Chapter Six.

(note.14)

The red table is divided into two zones. One of these, the area at the left, where the ancestral tablets are placed, is devoted to ancestral worship. All the rest of the altar is devoted to the worship of gods. Worship is private in these cases. Normally only family members worship at the altar and are unable to name the deities whose pictures are placed over the altar table. They identify them simply as deities (Shenming) (cf. Diamond 1969:100).

In front of it is a lower table, square on top, and cubical in general appearance. This is called a "table of the eight immortals". It can be used to hold sacrificial food during sacrifices. The red table, on the other hand, is a far more sacred object, on which one does not carry out activities other than worship and does not normally store goods, and which one does not readily move about the room. When sacrifices take place outdoors for some reason, neighbors will sometimes carry their eight immortals tables outside to make temporary altars there (cf. Jordan 1985:93).

(note.15)

In some cases, several important people will host the ceremony together. Above all, these people should be very auspicious, to bring fortune for the ceremony.

(note.16)

Therefore, he is less important in fishing villages. Diamond (1969:99) reports that there is no specific shrine for him such as are found in agricultural communities.

(note.17)

The worship of Emperor Shennong is widespread in Taiwan. For instance, in Yilan County, there are six temples dedicated to him, one was initiated by government in 1812 and the others sponsored by common people. We shall discuss the topic in Chapter Eight.

(note.18)

The ritual is intended specifically to benefit the person who has just died, though ancestors who died earlier and have not yet received a rite like this may also benefit (Ahern 1973:222).

(note.19)

The term "earth-god" is Ahern's translation of "Tho.-ti-kong" which I translate as "the Land God".

(note.20)

The temple is located beside the Stone God Khe-te Hamlet (#S34; see figure 36).

(note.21)

This is a Taiwanese saying (cf. Baity 1975:275f).

(note.22)

The cooperation may sometimes give way to conflict. Please see Ahern (1973:71) for the discussion of the topic.

(note.23)

In Taiwan, many gods are associated with particular ethnic groups and are believed to act as patrons of their constituencies in the celestial bureaucracy. "Kai-chiang seng-ong" is a patron of Taiwan's Zhangzhou people. Gods with clear ethnic connections were usually found in communities dominated by a single ethnic faction but not now (cf. Wang Shih-ch'ing 1974:89; Sangren 1987:73).

(note.24)

The god is sometimes thought as a god connected with gambling. On inquiring why a statue of the Land God in Weihaiwei was accompanied by two female images, R.F. Johnston (1910: 374; qtd. in Wolf 1974:145) was informed that "the lady on his left (the place of honour) was his wife and the lady on his right his concubine." Two explanations were offered as to why the Land God of this particular place had been allowed to increase his household in this manner: one was that he had won the lady by gambling for her, the other was that the Land God of this place had appeared to one of the villagers in a dream and begged him to provide him with a concubine as he had grown tired of his wife.

The Land God of a corner in Peking City was reported that at a gambling match with the Land God of another Ward, he staked and lost his wife. It is also reported in Hong Kong that fortuitous contact with a Bo Gong (the name of the Land God of in Hakka) might lead to remarkable blessings. One villager tells the story of a man who saw a Bo Gong and then won first prize at the horse races (Berkovits and others 1969:76). See also Chapter Seven of this thesis.

(note.25)

Normally, when a new temple is built, a tree is planted beside it. I shall study the custom in Chapter Eight.

(note.26)

DeGlopper (1974:47) observed that those who showed signs of possession were immediately replaced and left behind by the rest of their group.

(note.27)

Houtu originally always meant a male god (Fitzgerald 1961:36). The change of sex from a male to a female deity, Houtu Nainai, is thought to have been made in the early part of the Ming Dynasty. It is quite natural that Land, representing Yin (negative energy) and the productiveness of nature impregnated by the life-giving sunlight and rain from Heaven, or Yang (positive energy), should be worshipped as the Goddess-Mother. This shift took place quite late, however (Day 1974:59).

(note.28)

Another version of this story has it that the bones which would absorb her tears of mourning would be her husband's (Feuchtwang 1992:95).

(note.29)

Ahern (1973:203), when inquiring why the Taiwanese must open the graves of their ancestors six or seven years after death to "pick up the bones" (khio-gut) and arrange them in a ceramic pot, was told by one old man a similar legend that a long time ago an emperor wanted to build a great wall around his kingdom. To provide a labour force, he conscripted thousands of young men. Conditions were so terrible for the workers that many men died and were buried under or within the wall. When one young worker had not returned home for some time, his wife set out to find him. When she learned that he was dead, she cried until the entire wall fell down. Then in order to find her husband's bones, she bit off her finger tip and let the blood flow onto the ground. Whenever the blood hit one of her husband's bones, that bone came up and joined together with the others until the skeleton was complete. People told her to carry the skeleton in her arms so that her tears would fall on it, making veins of blood on the bones, and resulting perhaps in a return to life. Just then, the wife of the Land God offered different advice. She said it would be better if the woman were to carry the skeleton on her back. But as soon as the wife did this, for she readily accepted the advice of a goddess, the skeleton fell apart. The wife of the Land God gave this bad advice because she was feeling evil-hearted and thought that there were enough people in the world already. After the bones fell apart, the woman put them in a pot and buried them, marking the place with a stone. Thereafter, people continued doing this. Today, our picking up of the bones is equivalent to the wife's using her bleeding finger to find her husband's bones. We pick up the bones in order to let the dead live again.

(note.30)

The term and notion "semantic chain" is created by Duara 1988:778- 795) to explain the historical development of the myths and symbols of Guandi (Guan'gong). However, when I use the term in this thesis, I do not necessarily mean the traits and functions of the Land God have developed historically, since they are not derived from a definable original text (cf. Katz 1990:217).

(note.31)

Moreover, in the next chapter we will find that different versions of legends portraying the God also have common features and these versions can be linked by a semantic chain.