Licensing the Divine: Controlling Dissent within the Tang Dynasty’s Southern Frontier, 618–907

This paper analytically and historically examines the Tang dynasty’s efforts to control religious experiences within the areas south of the Yangzi River valley.  From the seventh to tenth centuries CE, Tang dynasty officials saw the areas south of the Yangzi as being only partially civilized at best, and vigorously moved to channel local behavior into morally acceptable, imperially sanctioned forms and customs.  By examining the efforts of Tang dynasty officials to control local religious practices, these efforts can be seen as part of a larger program to create a climate of assimilation in the southern parts of the empire.  While Song dynasty efforts to control spiritual practices through a combination of legitimation and repression have been well-studied, such efforts have their roots in Tang dynasty practices.   Both official histories and fictional stories from the Tang period reveal the importance of channeling local spirituality during this time, and this paper argues that Tang government officials aimed to remove possible centers for dissent and thus remove barriers to assimilation.  This paper contributes to the scholarly discussion on religions as vehicles for dissent, center-periphery relations in imperial China, the assimilation/preservation of local cultures in southern China during the Tang dynasty, and the continuities and changes between Tang and Song dynasty societies.