From Local Worship to Orthodox Worship: A Research on the Transition of the Northern God in Foshan During Ming Dynasty

People in Foshan have believed in gods since ancient times. They built many temples to worship various gods, most of which were private and unorthodox. On the one hand, the private worship reduced head-on collision in belief between the grassroots and the state, forming a relatively wide buffer zone for social beliefs; on the other hand, when the private worship became a threat to the ruling order, or was likely to subvert the orthodox concept, local government would intervene, correct, or ban it. As private worship and temples were forbidden in Ming Dynasty, local officials and gentries attached a series of legends to the Northern God, known as Making God Movement. They succeeded in upgrading the Northern God from originally local worship to the orthodox worship.