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21 C H A P T E R 2 Violence, Honor, and Manhood Walk into any shrine or temple just about anywhere in China and you will be presented with a tableau that differs little from place to place.1 If a devotee of Chinese popular religion from the mountains of Yunnan happened to venture into a typical Taiwanese temple, he would immediately recognize its purpose and, once he got past a few obvious differences in architecture and decoration, would have little trouble identifying its main features: the large incense burner outside the main entrance; the dimly lit open hall within; the elevated altar along the rearmost wall, on which stand, centered and symmetrically arranged, a group of miniature carved wooden (or cast metal or porcelain or even plastic) human-like images wearing the robes, hats, and crowns and bearing the talismans and weapons of emperors and imperial officials —the gods, shen, of the Daoist and popular pantheon. While local worshippers might realize the devotee was “not from around here” as he knelt and performed a ketou, or “kowtow,” they would still be thoroughly familiar with the gesture’s purpose and meaning. His other acts of devotion would probably elicit no special notice.2 No different from his Taiwanese counterparts, he would find a bundle of incense sticks and paper spirit money on a wall to the side of the main entrance. He would make a contribution for the incense, take the bundle, and separate the incense from the spirit money. He would then light the incense from the nearby propane burner provided for the purpose and would offer incense to the deities following a sequence that differs only in detail from place to place: the path begins at the large tripod placed just outside the main door. The first three incense sticks are offered here, the Emperor of Heaven’s incense burner (tiangong lu). Moving back inside, a worshipper stops first at the main altar to pay respect; make an offering; quietly announce his or her name, place, and date of birth (according to the lunar calendar); and then perhaps recite a petition or make a vow. The worshipper then moves to the subsidiary altar, again offering one (for the Earth God) or three (for higher-ranked gods) incense sticks at each station. Before returning 22 gods, ghosts, and gangsters outside to burn spirit money in the “gold-burning furnace” (jinlu), the worshipper offers one last stick at the niche of the Tiger General, the yin spirit who guards the base of the main altar.3 Finally, the visiting worshipper would be sure to drop a small cash contribution into the “merit box” (gongde xiang) on the way out. In styles of architecture, decoration, and iconography, temples of Chinese popular religion are as diverse as the communities they serve. Yet wherever they may be found, such temples can be identified from a certain set of shared features. Most, for example, are decorated with paintings, carvings, and terracotta figures of dragons and other auspicious beings from Chinese mythology. Painted panels, some in relief, depict scenes from popular stories associated with the temple’s patron deity or another popular deity, such as the capricious child god Nezha riding his fire wheel and grasping a magic ring, or the hero Wu Song subduing a tiger; elsewhere, a mounted warrior charges into battle or grotesque, laughing demons carry the fierce, bearded, ghost-eating god Zhongkui in his open sedan chair. Inside the temple, the main altar stands centered against the rear wall of the main hall. Arrayed across the altar are the figures of the deities. Male and female, some are seated, majestically enthroned, calm and impassive. Others stand in menacing postures, brandishing swords, halberds, or other classical weapons, their faces (red, black, or painted with geometric patterns) frozen in what may be expressions of anguished grief or glaring fury; some show faces oddly disfigured and distorted. Most of these figurines are set on wooden bases, some of which feature the name and title of the deity. In temples of gods who attend to the world of the dead, even stranger images flank the altar. Some are puppet-like heads mounted on long, pointed rods, their demonically grimacing faces painted white, red, or bright green, their hair long and disheveled; they wear military robes but have no bodies. Sitting on a low table in front of the main array may be another set of figurines, unadorned, carved heads mounted on wooden or metal...

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