明ㆍ淸代 福建 宗族의 成長과 地域神 ― 詔安縣 沈氏宗族을 중심으로 ―

Abstract

Currently, the Zhaoan Shen clan consists of five branches, including the Guanyinshan, Dongshen, Qíshān, Julin Branches from Lord Qui Lineage as well as the Taiping branch from Lord Zhi Lineage, while the Taiping branch is believed to belong to the clan in the late 20th century. It is presumed that the forming of the 4 branches from Lord Qui Lineage happened in the early 15th century, because the preface of the Chenghua family’s genealogy log cleary states the 4 branches and their 13 families when the genealogy log was republished after it had been lost in fire in the middle of the 15th century. In the second half of the 16th century, the Zhaoan Shen clan secured its status in the community, and its representative was Shen Fu. As a iinshi, Shen Fu actively participated in local activities such as roads, bridges, or religious facility constructions, and thus he played a vital role in forming of the genealogy of the clan, including organizing and spreading of lineage or verifying of the lineal oder of Danji (Zhou) → Yingchang (Later Han) → Taiyilang (Qui in Southern Song). Among the things happened in those days, it is noteworthy that anti-Yuan activities of Shen Zizhen and his brother during the Song-Yuan transition period and region-saving activities of Shen Zhou in the Deng Maoqi rebellion (1448∼1449) during the mid Ming period were listed in the Zhangzhou Regional History published in the first year of the Wanli era (1573). It is also notable that the statue of Shen Shiji was enshrined in the Zhenjunmiao Tomb (Cijigong palace at that time) after the 6 Generals Shrine had fire, and began to be worshiped. It was in the 18th century that the story about the Wudehou (Martial Virtue Lord) named Shen Shiji emerged on the genealogy. In its center lies the Dongshen branch, whose formation was relatively late than other branches. The Dongshen branch held Martial Virtue Lord as the clan progenitor and claimed the lineal order of Shen Yingchang → Shen Shiji → Shen Qiu. It is assumed that the Dongshen branch, as a late mover, tried to show that they were a powerful clan by claiming their clan progenitor to be Shen Shiji, one of Kaizhang Gongchen (meritoriously serviced officers in developing Zhangzhou) in the cult of Chen Yuanguang who was widely worshiped at that time. Especially, they highlighted Wudehou not only as a military general by giving stress on his great contribution to the development of Zhangzhou, but also as a civil officer by pointing his contributions in conducting various civil works for common people. It is not clear when the Guanyinshan, Qishan, and Julin Branches, which had not recognized Wudehou as their direct ancestor, came to accept him, but it is presumed to be in the 18th or the 19th century. To unit the Zhaoan Shen clan which had tendency to split into various factions owing to the large number of its population, it was needed to accept hearts of clan members who favored the symbol of “Wudehou” than uncertain lineal order of Shen Shiji → Shen Qiu, which led to choosing Wudehou as the clan progenitor, creating the motive to unit the clan. The check-touring activity of Wudehou is a specific expression of it. The massive check-touring rituals of visiting around each local village for a few months create the sense of unity even to illiterate clan members through their seeing, hearing, and participating in it.