Cluster Leader: Jinhua Jia, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
The field visits of Cluster 2.1 have been focusing on the historical sites of the traditional Chinese state sacrificial system dedicated to spirits of major mountains and waters, including Five Marchmounts 五嶽, Five Strongholds 五鎮, Four Seas 四海, and Four Waterways 四瀆, which formed a part of the most authoritative religious institutions in imperial China. Over two thousand years, the state ritual and belief have gradually integrated with other religious traditions such as Daoism, Buddhism, and local cults. From the Jin dynasty onward, Daoists have been in charge of many of the state temples, taking part in, or fully responsible for, the sacrificial ritual. Local people have produced legends, stories, songs, deities, cults, and rituals related to the age-old mountain and water spirits. Temple fairs have continued and all kinds of popular religious activities such as offerings, worships, fortune telling, and spiritual possession are present in the fairs. These historical sites present a unique perspective to observe the transformation of traditional state sacrificial ritual and its integration with Daoist, Buddhist and popular religious culture.
The field visits to these sites have provided a unique perspective to address questions such as when, where, and who has defined authoritative and authentic religion in China, and how the “authoritative” religion has interacted and integrated with “sub-authoritative” and “non-authoritative” traditions. By investigating these sites, researchers in this cluster will seek to realign the narrative of the history of Chinese religion with traditional Chinese state religion, which has been largely disregarded by contemporary traditions-based definitions of religion in China (e.g., Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism).
Teams of Cluster 2.1 visited the Jidu Temple 濟瀆廟 (Temple of Ji River, one of the four waterways) and Mount Wangwu 王屋山 in 2017, the Dongzhen Temple 東鎮廟 (Temple of Eastern Stronghold), Mount Yi 沂山, and nearby religious sites in 2018, and the Beizhen Temple 北鎮廟 (Temple of Northern Stronghold) Mount Yiwulü, Mount Haitang 海棠山, and nearby religious sites in 2019. The outcomes of the three trips are three videos, about 700 stele inscriptions and images, and an on-going database. Some participants wrote research articles based on the visits and some plan to write books on the historical development of these religious sites.
The cluster plans to continue to investigate other sites related to the state sacrificial system to mountains and waters, to complete the database, and to hold an international conference focusing on this topic in 2021.
View digital data collection from 2017 here.
The report from the 2017 field visit can be found here.
Videos of the 2017 field visit are also available.
View digital data collection from 2018 here.
View digital data collection from 2019 here.
The report from the 2018 field visit can be found here.
Videos of the 2018 field visit are also available.
2018 field visit team
The report from the 2019 field visit can be found here.
Videos of the 2019 field visit are also available.
| Affiliated Researchers | Associated Researchers |
| Bratt, David (University of California Berkeley) – 2017 | Bai, Zhaojie (Shanghai Academy of Social Science) – 2018, 2019 |
| Carlton, Kelly (Princeton University) – 2019 | Chen, Siyu (Harvard Divinity School) – 2018 |
| Lovedahl, Nate (Yale University) – 2018 | Cheng, Jihong (Zhejiang Ocean University) – 2017 |
| Rusk, Bruce (University of British Columbia) – 2017 | He, Shuyue (McGill University)- 2018 (Columbia University) – 2019 |
| Teiser, Stephen (Princeton University) – 2019 | Huang, Chenxi (Renmin University) – 2017, 2018, 2019 |
| ter Haar, Barend (Oxford University) – 2017, 2019 | Kong, Qingmao (Nanjing University of the Arts) – 2017 |
| Wang, Yue (University of Saskatchewan) – 2017 | La Torre, Joseph (Harvard Divinity School) – 2018 |
| Wei Yin (Oxford University) – 2018 | Li, Jing (City University of Macau) – 2019 |
| Xu, Yuji (Hong Kong Polytechnic University) – 2018 | Li, Lin (Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts) – 2018, 2019 |
| Yang, Zhaohua (Columbia University) – 2019 | Li, Teng (University of Macau) – 2017 |
| Zhang, Yuanjing (Hong Kong Polytechnic University) – 2018, 2019 | Liu, Jie (Zhejiang Ocean University) – 2017 |
| Lu, Guobin (Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts) – 2018, 2019 | |
| Rols, Johan (École pratique des hautes études) – 2017 | |
| Su, Shenghan (Hong Kong Polytechnic University) – 2018 | |
| Tian, Menglu (University of British Columbia) – 2018, 2019 | |
| Wang, Shixiao (Southeast University) – 2017, 2018 | |
| Wang, Xiaoyang (Southeast University) – 2017, 2018,2019 | |
| Wang, Yue (University of Alberta) – 2018, 2019 | |
| Wu, Sijia (Southeast University) – 2017,2019 | |
| Yuan, Xiaoli (Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts) – 2019 | |
| Lin, Peiying (Fu-jen University) – 2018 |
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