Belief and Order-A Study of Folk Worship for Gods in Eastern Guangdong and Taiwan in the Ming and Qing Dynasties

In the regional society in South China, folk beliefs and their relationship with the countryside often profoundly reflect the historical changes and real existence of local cultural resources and power structure. This book collects nine studies completed by the author in the past 20 years, focuses on the development and evolution of several important belief forms in South China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (including Three Mountain Kings, Shuangzhonggong, Monk Dafeng, Yimin and Mazu) and the process of regional social and historical changes reflected by them. This book attempts to reveal the complex relationship between folk god belief and rural society and the evolution of this relationship in the context of local social modernization in the past hundred years in the process that the common people in relatively (marginal) areas gradually accepted 'ideology' from the 'Central Plains'. The book also includes 3 articles, such as articles used in lieu of a preface and appendix, which describe the author's purpose, academic experience, and his experience and new opinions in decades of teaching and research.