The Interplay of Rites and Customs: The Evolution and Regional Propagation of the Religion of Crown Prince Zhaoming

Previous studies on the religion (xinyang 信仰) of Crown Prince Zhaoming 昭明太子, focused on the welcome ceremony of the Nuo deities 傩神 (the deities driving away the plague) and the historical figure of Crown Prince Zhaoming but on the other hand, overlooked the evolution from the folk or heterodox deity Jiulang Shen 九郎神 (Jiulang God) to the state-recognized or orthodox deity Crown Prince Zhaoming and the role of Song-era national policy of conferring titles and inscriptions upon deities in this process. This paper aims to illuminate the following five points: Firstly, the original deity upon which the religion of Crown Prince Zhaoming in Chizhou 池州 is based is Jiulang God, one of many deities in the Nuo religion imbued with rich elements of Wuism (wuxi 巫觋). The religion of Jiulang ascended to its peak during the Tang dynasty (618–907). Secondly, driven by the discourses of scholars, government officials and national rites during the Song dynasty (960–1276), Jiulang was transformed into Crown Prince Zhaoming through the conferment of titles and inscriptions, becoming an orthodox deity. Thirdly, Crown Prince Zhaoming and Jiulang God coexisted for a prolonged period, and this suggests that the rites–customs dichotomy was universally found in folk religions in traditional China. Fourthly, the proliferation of the religion of Crown Prince Zhaoming in western Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other regions of China reveals a mix of factors that led to the widespread and lasting prevalence of the religion. These factors include the deity’s role as a guardian of maritime voyages and merchants; a stable, enduring organizational structure for sacrificial rituals; and the dichotomous coexistence of rites and customs. This article reveals that from the Song Dynasty, the national system of rites permeated and impacted folk religions through official and academic discourses, propelling the latter’s continuing transformation into an orthodox form. Nevertheless, there remained spaces between the national system of rites and folk religions where “rites” and “customs” interacted, integrated and coexisted well. The interplay, fusion and peaceful coexistence between “rites” and “customs” is the normative state of folk religions in traditional society in China, as well as one of the key reasons why many folk religions continue to flourish and play a societal role.