Chapter 9 The Liu-Han Altar: Between a Literati Spirit-Writing Altar and Popular Religion
In: Communicating with the GodsSearch for other papers by Mingchuan Zhu[明川 朱] in
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Abstract
This chapter explores the tension between spirit-writing as a traditional literati religious practice and spirit-writing as an aspect of local popular religious culture. Master Lou, a supposed official loyal to the Ming Dynasty, has regularly descended to the Liu-han Altar in the period from the late Qing up to the present. Founded by the Guo family, a family of scholar-officials in Fuzhou in the late nineteenth century, the Liu-han altar then established branches in other centers and continues operation today after moving to Hong Kong in 1949. In the spirit-writing texts received from Master Lou during the Qing, his biographical details were vague at first. However, after the founding of the Republic, despite the Guo family remaining loyal to the Qing, the biographical materials received gradually become clearer. In 1912, Master Lou revealed that he was the spirit of a Ming loyalist and finally, in 1923, he transmitted his autobiography outlining his martyrdom and ultimate divinization. While Master Lou’s life as a model loyalist was important for elites, due to the adoption of local popular spirit-writing traditions he began to be perceived as an animal spirit in the local residents’ imagination, thus widening his appeal.