The Fang La Rebellion and the Song Anti-Heresy Discourse

Students of Chinese history are familiar with the fact that during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) lay religious groups outside of clerical control were denounced under a number of labels including “evil teaching” (xiejiao 邪教) and “White Lotus teaching” (bailianjiao 白蓮教). Regardless of their actual origins and teachings, these groups were assimilated to one and the same esoteric tradition and assumed, often on little evidence, to practice black magic, propagate messianic teachings, and to be a potential focus of rebellion. They were punished under certain laws created specifically for this purpose. I term this set of perceptions and practices the “heresy construct” to designate the fact that it was an expression of official mentality rather than a reflection of socio-religious realities. Less well-known is the fact that the heresy construct had already assumed its immature but still recognizable shape in the Song (960–1279). The Fang La 方臘 rebellion of 1121–1122 marks one of its earliest appearances in the historical records. This article focuses on narratives of the Fang La event. The Fang La rebellion was portrayed as a prototypical “heretic rebellion” in later historiography. But this was not the case in the eyes of contemporaries. I reconstruct the transmission of narratives about the Fang La rebellion to show that its heretical status and magical overtones were a later accretion, due largely to literati embroidery. The same is true of many other reputedly “heretical” rebellions in Chinese history. The literati writing was later incorporated in the “grand narrative” of state history, steering official attitudes in the direction of greater intolerance towards heretics.