Confucian Elite and Joint Worship Confucian Elite were involved in exorcism Confucian literati sent for physicians, spirit-mediums, lay Daoist exorcist, and Buddhist monk to deal with patient ’ s illness. Had Daoist exorcist rituals arranged in their families. Young boys in their families were encouraged to serve as spirit-mediums Ritual masters or exorcists interpreted illness as resulting from their (Confucians ’ ) failure to maintain efficient family education according to Confucian curriculum, including teachings of moral and ethic codes

Change of Mortuary Ritual Confucian mortuary ritual changed Buddhist and Daoist rituals became pervasive, replacing Confucian ritual Elite families had difficulty practicing Confucian funerary ritual Buddhist rituals: Building of “ merit-cloisters ” (gongde si/yuan) “ Retreat of Water and Land ” (Shuilu zhai) Daoist rituals: “ Retreat of the Yellow Register ” (Huanlu zhai)

Convergence of B&D Rituals “ Retreat of Water and Land ” and “ Retreat of the Yellow Register ” converged The construction and purification of a ritual space The summoning of the gods, saints, and souls of the dead, including ancestors and hungry ghosts, into the ritual area Rites for their deliverance: Destroying the earth-prisons; opening the roads from purgatory; releasing souls from sin;bringing souls into the ritual area, washing, dressing,and feeding them; subjecting the souls of the dead to transformation and/or conversion

Sponsors of the Rituals Sponsors included the people in general, wealthy individuals in particular. Officials and literati were the most numerous: Examination candidates, students, teachers Local magistrates Controller-generals Chief ministers The Salt-Superintendents

Yellow Register Retreat Occurred in literati ’ s families The dead was summoned and appeared at the ritual area Ways of summoning entailed the use of “ Soul Banner ”, straw puppet (or spirit-medium as a human substitute), ashes of burned talismans to make “ talismanic water ”, spells, a paper and wood-framed model of the earth-prison. Family youth was possessed by the spirit of deceased father or other elder during the ritual Preparation for the ritual started with purificatory bath and change of clothing A step signifying the abandonment of the previous institution of the impersonator in death ritual.

A mortuary ritual turned into an exorcistic ritual also carried functions of therapeutic ritual and so recognized by the contemporaries recognized as a ritual for saving the dead, for the deliverance the dead from the earth-prison, and to the transposition of the dead to an entirely separate plane of existence — salvation of the dead turned into a form of exorcism

The Syncretic religion Practice of the three teachings developed at two levels: Philosophical or doctrinal Resulted from the intellectual ’ s conscious attempt to reconcile the differences of the three teaching and harmonize them Religious, or ritual Resulted from the wide acceptance of Buddhist and Daoist rituals as exorcistic and mortuary routines The proliferation of local deities and local cults and their incorporation into these rituals The burgeoning wealth of Song families and commercialization of society increased the flow of capital, which in turn facilitated the sponsorship of temple construction and of the exorcistic and mortuary rituals