A Century of Sleeplessness: Zheng Guangzu, Lower Gentry and Religion, 1776-1866

In this thesis, I probe the incremental religious and social changes in the local society that led up to the great transformations of the mid-19th century. I use the word “sleeplessness” both literally and figuratively. My protagonist, Zheng Guangzu (1776-1866), a member of a local elite from Lower Yangzi Delta, suffered from insomnia and was perturbed by the corruption of Confucianism by popular Buddhism and Taoism. These were, however, merely an interlude to the great challenge of his life, the spread of the Taiping religion, a heterodox Christian ideology that triggered the mid-19th century civil war. Through a case study, my research highlights the Confucian literati’s daily interaction with local religious practices that are alien to their cultural ethos. In doing so, I explore the diverse appeal of Confucianism to different social groups and uncover the tension between elite and popular culture. Significantly, this tension sheds light on Confucian’s responses to the Taiping. More broadly, based on my protagonist’s description of local religion, my thesis evaluates the extent of the state’s success in reaching into local society through the lens of its religious policy. Although it was the greatest patron of Confucianism, the state, I argue, exhibited an ambivalent attitude toward local cults rather than outright rejection.