The Replacement and Empowerment of Deities: The Development and Characteristics of Pichang Deity Worship in the Song Dynasty

This study examines the belief in the Pichang deity[皮場神] during the Northern Song and Southern Song periods. The Pichang belief, a folk religion that formed around Xianrenfang[顯仁坊] in Dongjing[東京] during the Northern Song dynasty, was also widely practiced in Linan and surrounding areas during the Southern Song period. During the reigns of Emperor Shenzong[神宗] and Emperor Huizong[徽宗] of the Northern Song, intervention and control over folk beliefs were systematically carried out through the inclusion of ritual codes and the conferral of honorary titles as an extension of the reform policies of the New Laws Party. Under direct pressure from state power and the involvement of Taoist forces favored by Emperor Huizong, the Pichang deity adapted by transforming from the Land deity to a Healing and Medicine deity. During the early 12th century, when the decree to abolish unauthorized shrines was enforced, the deity of the Pichang shrine was replaced from Bijing-deity[壁鏡神] to Shennong-deity[神農神], allowing it to grow as a deity of the Capital city Dongjing[都城東京]. Following the conquest of Dongjing by the Jin dynasty, the Pichang belief was transferred to Linan[臨安] along with refugees, and it expanded its religious influence by establishing temples in key locations within the city, in addition to the ancestral temple on Wushan[吳山]. The powers of the Pichang deity also expanded from that of a “Healing deity” and “Medical deity” to include roles as a “Deity of the imperial examination” and “Deity of the underworld.” The Pichang belief during the Song dynasty became a space of religious faith for the residents of the capital, amidst the regulations of the Confucian government, the intervention of Taoism, and the rapidly developing socio-economic changes centered around southern China.