Ritual Techniques for Creating a Divine Persona in Late Imperial China: The Case of Daoist Law Enforcer Lord Wang

Abstract:Lord Wang (Wang lingguan 王靈官, Wang tianjun 王天君) is a ubiquitous god in late imperial and modern Chinese society, worshipped in different contexts, including temple processions, exorcistic rituals, monastic ordinations, and elite spirit-writing cults. This article argues that his divine persona remains coherent in these different contexts, and that a reason for this coherence is that he is made present to his many audiences through ritual techniques (controlled spirit-possession, ritual theater, spirit-writing) that are closely related to each other.