“国家在场”的展演:明清洮岷汉人“湫神”信仰记忆的重构

The Performance of “State Presence”: Reconstruction of the Memory of Qiushen Belief of Han People in the Taomin Area during the Ming and Qing Dynasties

“国家在场”是研究“国家”与“社会”互动关系的重要表达理论。民间信仰是地域社会文化的重要组成部分,它的发展和变迁体现了地域社会和民众文化心理的历时变迁。区域内部不同的文化因子,孕育出不同的信仰事象。洮岷位于甘青民族走廊核心地带,也是汉族与土族、蒙古族、藏族等众多少数民族文化交融区域。洮岷汉人的民间信仰系统中,最为推崇的是“湫神”崇拜。“湫神”崇拜作为水神信仰,在洮岷地区历史悠久,并形成了独具特色的信仰记忆。明清时期,国家力量在西北边地下沉和进入,引起了洮岷地区汉人湫神信仰记忆的变迁,信仰变迁主要体现在信仰记忆的重构。在“国家权力的强势嵌入”和“地方社会的积极回应”两种力量的驱动下,洮岷汉人“湫神”信仰实现了湫神原型、祭祀仪式、祭祀地位和湫神传说的重新构建。洮岷汉人湫神信仰记忆的重构,是明清时期西北地域社会变迁的一面镜子,彰显了洮岷汉人在“国家在场”理念下所表现出民族意识和国家认同,实现了国家与地方社会的互利和双赢。此外,洮岷区域信仰文化具有多元性,该研究有利于民族交融区域不同族群的民间信仰在保持文化差异基础上实现信仰文化认同和信仰文化共建,对构建凝聚力更大的民族共同体也颇具价值。

“State presence”is an important concept in the study of the interaction between“state”and“society”.In addition,folk religion is an important part of Chinese traditional culture.The development of Chinese folk religion mirrors the diachronic changes of the social landscape and takes on different shades for different people.Taozhou and Minzhou are geographically connected places and their folk customs are similar,so in history they often have been labelled “Taomin”. Taomin is located in the middle of the GansuQinghai ethnic corridor. This is an area where cultures blend together, such as Han and Tu, Mongolian, Tibetan, and from many other ethnic minorities. It also has been a collision zone between agriculture and nomadic culture since time immemorial. Different cultural situations in this area have led to different religious phenomena. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, for example, worship of qiushen was the most popular form of folk religion in Taomin, and the Han people constituted the majority of the locals who believed in qiushen. The worship of qiushen, as a kind of faith activity related to the worship of “water god”, has a long history in the Taomin area and has become a unique religious folk remembrance.Driven by the two forces of “strong embedding of state power” and “positive response of local society”, the qiushen belief of Han people in Taomin had been reconstructed during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The reconstruction of this faith practice included its original form, sacrificial rites, sacrificial status, and legend. These “reconstructions” showed the following: the original form of qiushen had to do with “mythical figures” but it changed to “deserving officials and generals”;the rites of qiushen sacrifices became more complex and diverse;the purpose of these ceremonies had altered from “praying to God” to “entertaining God”;the sacrificial status of qiushen had shifted from the state level to the that of common people, and finally a legend of qiushen was created, yet in a more utilitarian genre. In traditional Chinese society, the state was seen as an omnipresent and everpresent divine force, full of distant and untouchable mystery. These views and convictions often were the main source of political, social and cultural “orthodoxy”. Taomin is located in the northwest corner of China. When reconstructing the recollection of qiushen belief, a different yet special understanding of the concept of “state” came to light as well. In short,in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the belief of the Han people in the Taomin area became a medium for benign interaction between the state and local government. Through the reconstruction of religious understanding of the past, the awareness of “state presence” in local society has been effectively demonstrated. The reconstruction of Taomin Han people's qiushen religious memory shows the changes in social landscape in Northwest China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In addition, the religious culture in the Taomin region has been very diverse, so this study enables the preservation of the cultural diversity among different ethnic groups, and it is also valuable for building a tighter national community.