Figures
1.1 The third floor of the Confucian Congregation in Huishan. © Chen Na 34
1.2 Lining up to welcome guests for the opening ceremony of the House of Dao of the Huishan branch of the Confucian Congregation. © Chen Na 37
1.3 Offerings at the opening ceremony. © Fan Lizhu 41
1.4 Ketou/kowtow at the opening ceremony. © Fan Lizhu 41
1.5 Slogan on the wall: “Love the Party, Love the Country and Develop the Congregation; Construct a Harmonious Society.” © Chen Na 46
2.1 Master Jingkong. © Ji Zhe, 2013 66
2.2 Children in front of the Ancient Dabei Temple who have enrolled in a summer class dedicated to the study of the Dizigui. © Ji Zhe, 2011 81
2.3 A class of girls studying the Dizigui, Ancient Dabei Temple. The portrait of Confucius and big characters—ai 愛 (love), xiao 孝 (filial piety), ti 悌 (fraternity) and zhong 忠 (loyalty)—are posted on the classroom wall. © Ji Zhe, 2011 81
2.4 The portrait of Confucius in the Dizigui classroom of the Anshan Temple, behind several covered Buddhist statues. © Ji Zhe, 2013 83
4.1 A portrait of Confucius in Jianshui’s Temple of the Kitchen God. © Chung Yun-ying 129
4.2 Prayer cards to Confucius during the “Confucius Assembly”. © Chung Yun-ying 130
4.3 People gathering for the “Confucius Assembly”. © Chung Yun-ying 130
4.4 Prayers to Confucius during the “Confucius Assembly”. © Chung Yun-ying 131
4.5 Spirit tablet of Confucius (on the left) and of one of the highest Daoist deities, the Celestial Worthy of Original Beginning (on the right) in the temple of the Kitchen God. © Chung Yun-ying 133
5.1 Xiwang high school students. © Nakajima Takahiro 168
5.2 Praise for excellent young students. ©Nakajima Takahiro 169
5.3 Praise for citizens. ©Nakajima Takahiro 170
5.4 Unveiling ceremony. ©Nakajima Takahiro 170
5.5 Round-table discussion in the Department of History and Culture, Northeast Normal University. © Nakajima Takahiro 172
5.6 Wenmiao in Changchun. © Nakajima Takahiro 174
6.1 The main hall of the Changchun Confucius Temple. © Ishii Tsuyoshi 178
6.2 The construction site of the Confucius Cultural Garden. © Ishii Tsuyoshi 180
6.3 The Confucius Temple Elementary School. © Ishii Tsuyoshi 180
6.4 The Manchukuo Imperial Palace Museum attracts tours by groups of primary school students. © Ishii Tsuyoshi 182
6.5 Tour groups of primary school students can also be seen at the Changchun Confucius Temple. © Ishii Tsuyoshi 183
6.6 The Jilin Confucius Temple. © Ishii Tsuyoshi 184
6.7 A corner of “Home” (jia), a private-run nursery training children in a cultivated lifestyle centered on traditional culture. © Ishii Tsuyoshi 193
6.8 Images of the Buddha and Laozi’s Classic of Virtue on a wall at “Home”. © Ishii Tsuyoshi 194
6.9 A ceremony to worship Confucius (2010). Students play the part of temple staff performing rites. © Ishii Tsuyoshi 196
6.10 The Changchun Mosque. © Ishii Tsuyoshi 200
6.11 The Huguo (Protecting the Nation) Prajna Temple. © Tsuyoshi Ishii 201
6.12 Street outside the Huguo Prajna Temple. © Ishii Tsuyoshi 202
6.13 The Changchun Christian Church. © Ishii Tsuyoshi 202
7.1 Nanjing 219
7.2 Suzhou 226
7.3 Wujiang 230
7.4 Confucius temples share a ritual habitus with rituals performed in other ritual sites 232
8.1 The Xiao lineage Sixu Hall in an urban residential area. © Chen Bisheng 238
8.2 Confucius shrine. In the past, the Sixu hall encompassed a school or sishu (私塾) and Confucius worship was also performed. A shrine to honor Confucius has been reconstructed in today’s ancestral hall. © Chen Bisheng. 241
8.3 Qiu Jun’s diagram based on Zhu Xi’s stipulation in the Ming Dynasty work Family Rites and Etiquettes. © Chen Bisheng 246
8.4 Diagram for offerings in the ancestral hall in Wu Zhai’s compilation of the Family Dictionary of the Wu lineage of Mingzhou. © Chen Bisheng 249
8.5 Shrine for ancestral tablets in the Xiao lineage’s Sixu hall. © Chen Bisheng 251
8.6 Position of the ancestors’ tablets in the Sixu hall. © Chen Bisheng 252
8.7 One of the newly opened halls of the Xiao lineage’s Sixu hall. © Chen Bisheng. 257
9.1 Zhu Zhizhong on the doorstep of his sishu in 2007. © Guillaume Dutournier 269
9.2 Zhang Zhiyong teaching basic martial arts movements to children in his sishu (2010). © Guillaume Dutournier 283
9.3 Zhangguying’s sishu in 2011, with a sign showing Zhang Zhiyong in traditional robe. © Guillaume Dutournier 294
Tables
1.1 Gods and deities whose birthdays are celebrated in the Confucian Congregation 30
1.2 Major literature of the Confucian Congregation 31
3.1 List of the phoenix books produced by planchette writers of western Yunnan, Eryuan and such places 104
7.1 Most commonly observed ritual activities in contemporary Confucius temples 206
7.2 The impact of different economic structures on the way the temple managements facilitate (or not) ritual activities 213
7.3 Commonalities of ritually rich temple sites 214
7.4 Density of ritual activities in Mainland Confucius temples 215
8.1 Situations of three ancestral halls 239