Chapter 13 The Nineteenth-Century Spirit-Writing Movement and the Transformation of Local Religion in Western Guangdong
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Abstract
This chapter explores the rise of spirit-writing groups in western Guangdong, employing both historical materials and ethnographic data obtained from field research. In western Guangdong 廣東, particularly along the Jianjiang 鑒江 River, a number of spirit-writing halls, called jingtang 經堂 (literally, “scripture hall”) were established by local literati and merchants during the Guangxu 光緒 reign (1875–1908) or even earlier. The jingtangs were directly influenced by the religious movement that emerged in southwestern China in the second half of the nineteenth century, which preached salvation from the apocalypse through the teachings spirit written by Lord Guan (Guandi 關帝) and other savior deities. This chapter examines how this spirit-writing movement was transmitted to western Guangdong, how it took root within the local society, who facilitated this transmission, and focuses specifically on the scriptures’ propagation route. In addition, this chapter explores the historical transformations and current conditions of several spirit-writing halls from the early twentieth century up until the present.