主編:詹石窗
出版:香港蓬瀛仙館
ISSN 1728-7642

Daoism Studies ›› 2020, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (2): 118-134.

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History,Legend and Holy Site-Concentrated on the Belief Space of Niangniang Temple in Chengdu

Hu Rui   

  • Online:2020-12-10 Published:2021-08-19
  • About author:Hu Rui, Professor, Sichuan University, Institute of Taoism and Religious Culture; Research Direction: Taoist Temple, Religious Geography; Address: Institute of Taoism and Religious Culture, Sichuan University, No. 29, Wangjiang Road, Chengdu, Sichuan, China; Postcode: 610064; Email: hurui@scu.edu.cn, 407031074@qq.com.

Abstract: Sha jia gao miao(殺家告廟), a story about Liuchen(劉諶) killing his wife and complaining in the ancestral temple of Liu's Family(劉氏宗廟), is taking place during Shuhan (蜀漢)of Three Kingdoms period and is generally considered at Han Zhao Lie Miao(漢昭烈廟sacrificial temple to Liu Bei), where is the site of Wuhouci(武侯祠) in south Chengdu. However, this story should be taken place at the ancestral temple of Liu's Family, close to Wudan Moutain(武擔山)in north Chengdu. The ancestral temple of Liu's Family is identified close to the Niangniang Temple(娘娘廟). From the perspective of courte duree, it can be certain that after 1894 the Niangniang Temple uses the story as its religious background and adjust its role and function when the society changes violently as a Daoist temple. Before Niangniang Temple, at the same site, there existed some other belief spaces such as Buddhist and Daoist temples, etc along with the history. These disordered belief spaces have manifested the serious transmission and representation of the worship of Wudan Moutain, the holy site. The later one is concentrated on the legend of Ancient Shu, the king, and his wife, and is strengthened by the history of Liu Bei's ascending at Wudan Mountain. Niangniang temple is the typical representation of the belief of this holy site from modern time. By integrating Daoist belief and folk custom at that time, this belief space inherits and reflects the holy site's core idea, the functional explanation system of how the local society organizes and operate ever since the ancient time by their collective memory and rules, such as Ancient Shu identification, legitimism, and orthodox, and demonstrates it by the Daoist belief.

Key words: Sacrificial temple of Liu Bei, Ancestral temple of Liu's Family, Niangniang Temple, Holy site of Wudan Mountain