HICCS 2025

This bilingual panel explores the dynamic interplay between folk religion and cultural adaptation across different communities in East Asia.

Jingyang Zhao
Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Lecturer

Title:
Ancestor Myths and Witchcraft Traditions: Folk Religion As A Strategy Of Cultural Adaption For She People In Eastern Fujian
Abstract:
Pan Hu worship （盘瓠崇拜）and Lvshan Taoism（闾山道法） are of great significance for She people（畲） in Eastern Fujian, by examining local historical documents, and fieldwork data, this paper argues, to hide, or to emphasize the memories of the saga of Pan Hu, which are two opposite cultural orientations of She people，may coexisted in eastern Fujian. In fact, integrating into the society and escaping from that are both strategies of cultural adaption. In the process of She people’s settling down and localization，while resolving the political conflicts of the power and right，they make their identity intensified as the descendants of Pan Hu. At the same time，Lvshan Taoism helps to strengthen She people’s awareness of ethnic boundary by an organic integration of ancestor myths，witchcraft traditions and local Taoism. It also motivates She wizards to take part in more social life activities for they are given title of ritual specialists in a traditional naming system.

Bartosz Czerwinski
Taipei National University of the Arts, Ph.D Student

Title:
The practice of temple isolation (坐禁) in Penghu folk religion: case study of Yu Sheng temple in Baikeng village.

Abstract:
During late Ming and early Qing dynasties, inhabitants of Mainland China provinces of Fujian and Guangdong were migrating in waves to the tiny archipelago of Penghu, situated near the south-western coast of the Taiwan island. Along with their wealth and families, they brought religious customs that turned out to be a foundation for Taiwanese folk beliefs as we know them today. Originating in Penghu, zuojin (坐禁）is probably the most mystical ritual practice in Taiwanese folk religion system commonly referred to as Faism (法教). A rite of passage which was to foster spirit mediums, and high priest is now a nearly non-existent curiosity practiced only by the most devoted Faist priests and their temples. Selected among Penghu’s most talented and bright young minds (usually boys aged 8 to 13), aspiring priests were subjected to the period of forty-nine day in-temple isolation, where under strict vegetarian diet and on purpose sleep deprivation, they were learning about advanced Taoist arts including writing and usage of talismanic scripts (符令）, and ritual hand gestures (手印). Although zuojin used to be a common practice among temples of Penghu and southern Taiwan, during last several decades it started to slowly disappear from country’s spiritual life. The gradual disappearance of zuojin has been regarded as an outcome of globalization, rapidly lowering birth rate in the Republic of China, and growing education standards in the country. Nowadays the practice is nearly non-existent.

Through qualitative interviews and analysis of written materials obtained during field research, I aim to introduce the practice of zuojin through the lens of Yu Sheng temple situated in the Baikeng village of Penghu, which was one of the last places to ever organize the ritual in its full forty-nine day form. My main guide to the spiritual world of Penghu islands was Xu Tianfu (許天富), a long-time head priest of the Yu Sheng temple who supervised the ritual himself, and is now regarded as one of the last remaining final authorities on the Faist ritualistic practices of Penghu archipelago.

Yu Tong Zheng
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ph.D Candidate

题目：
「新東北文學」中的「出馬仙」民俗信仰書寫研究

摘要：
「出馬」作為一種動物修煉而成的仙，在深受薩滿教傳統影響的中國東北文化中長期受到尊崇。其中以「胡黃白柳灰」五種動物仙最為常見，通過修煉百年後來到凡塵積累功德，以求能成為正修仙神，在民間通常與治療疾病相關聯。「出馬仙信仰」作為東北文化的重要組成部分，在東北文學的百年歷程中不乏與之相關的文學創作。本文通過分析自20世紀抗戰時期「東北流亡作家群」的寫作至近年來備受矚目的「新東北作家群」中的「出馬仙信仰」與跳神儀式，嘗試釐清「出馬仙信仰」在東北文學中的書寫路徑發生的諸種轉變。進而以「東北文藝復興三傑」之一的作家鄭執及其代表作《仙癥》為例，揭示出馬信仰與東北民俗儀式在這批當代青年作家筆下具有更為複雜的象徵意涵。他們既渴望脫離父輩建立的象徵秩序，卻又無法逃離。故而出馬仙信仰和跳神民俗活動作為東北文化象徵體系的核心，在1990年代的東北下崗潮背景之下逐漸脫離原本昏昧迷信的象徵涵義，一方面蘊藏對父輩失敗的反思與逃離，另一方面暗藏作家對東北土地的懷舊與鄉愁。此外，在對東北文學中的出馬仙信仰進行縱向歷史梳理的同時，對比「新南方文學」中關於巫術與疾病的書寫，指出當代地方文學可能存在的民俗寫作轉向