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Interview with Li Zhongxian at the Tangxi Chenghuang Miao
Doug, June 29, 2002
1. Information about Mr. Li
a. He is from Lizhai in Dongyang. He’s 82. He graduated from college and served as a junior high school teacher in Tangxi. He came to Tangxi in 1950 and so the information he told us about the pre-49 layout of the temple is dubious. He may have been remembering the layout of the Dongyang city god temple.
b. He knew some basic information about the history of city gods. He knew that city gods did not appear until the Tang/Song and he also knew the details of Ming Taizu’s ritual reforms concerning city gods.
c. His account of how the people conceive of the city god in Tangxi was somewhat inconsistent. When asked whether the city god had any power over the weather he replied that it did not. However, he said that people prayed to the city god for rain during times of drought. He also said that the city god simply determined one’s fate after death. But then he demonstrated how to ask the city god for predictions and advice concerning one’s future with prayer sticks.
d. He said that he didn’t believe in the city god. When asked why the people wanted to restore the temple, he said that it was due to their beliefs. He claimed that the city god was a shen and had nothing to do with Buddhism or Daoism.
2. Temple Layout
a. The city god’s office is in the main hall. He resides in the inner quarters (qingdian) with his family. In the inner quarters Song Yue is seated on the right, his parents are in the middle and his wife is on the left.
b. Mr. Li claims that the ceilings of the temple were all painted and carved prior to 49. The pillar brackets were carved by people from Linghai rather than Dongyang because Linghai carvers were cheaper. He says that the 1925 renovation cost 100,000 yuan. The model of how the temple used to look was reconstructed from memory.
c. Old ladies in the village collected donations for the “reward the good and punish the evil” displays in the main hall. He claims that they designed the displays. Prior to 49 the 10 bays in the display area contained the ten gods of hell. Some of the gods had statues and some were painted on the wall.
d. The temple design was supposedly modeled on the city god temple in Suzhou.
3. Renovation and Upkeep
a. Mr. Li claims that the xianzhang sensed that the people wanted to have the temple returned to them and restored and so he initiated the application process for the temple to become a protected cultural relic. He at first said that the money to pay for the renovation came completely from private donations. However, he later admitted that the province contributed 250,000 yuan.
b. He claims that the upkeep of the temple is supported by donations. The government does not contribute any money for festivals.
c. He would not give us any concrete information about the miaohui or temple association. He claimed that there was a miaohui, but he implied that they did little or nothing to organize festival activities. He argued that they just happen naturally.
4. Festivals and Temple activities
a. The large statue in the main hall does not leave the temple. The smaller inner quarter statue goes out on ritual processions to inspect the city on the 16th day of the fourth month (Song Yue’s birthday) and the 15th day of the first month.
b. On Song Yue’s birthday, people fill the temple and stay there overnight. Mr. Li claims that people come from all over the area to celebrate his birthday. The people offer incense and burn candles as they pray to the city god for protection. The city god can protect people from ghosts and other dangers.
c. Mr. Li claims that people conceive of the city god according to the hierarchy established by Ming Taizu. The top god is the Beijing city god. According to Mr. Li, the Beijing city god is the ruler of the underworld.
d. The plays are performed for the city god. People have to stand on either side of the courtyard during the performances so that they do not obstruct his view. They started to perform the plays again after 1979.
e. The portable shrine (xiangting; longting) is new. Mr. Li said that the old portable shrine had a slogan wishing the emperor a long life engraved on it. He says that the city god image was carried behind it during the ritual processions through the town. (I’m not that clear if I understood his meaning here).
f. Mr. Li showed us how to pray to the city god for advice. After kneeling before the city god, you pick up the container of prayer sticks and circle it around the incense burner three times. Then you gently shake the container until one stick falls out. You take it to the front of the temple to get an answer that corresponds to the prayer stick.
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