Territorial cults in Sino-Tibetan borderlands: mobilizing spirits for local identity and environmental protection1

Abstract

In the Sino-Tibetan borderlands – as across the Tibetan plateau – since the 1980s, there has been a revival of mythology and rituality dedicated to local deities, including the well-known latse rituals. Since time immemorial, these rituals, which involve offerings at stone-cairns adorned with prayer-flags, have been closely connected not only to the local cosmology and sense of place but also to the local religious authority and political leadership. As pointed out by many Tibetan studies specialists, these rituals are central to Tibetan popular religiosity and were some of the earliest manifestations of spiritual life to be revived in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution (1966–76). They have also been the focus of intersecting religious traditions, including local autochthonous cults, Bonpo, Buddhism and Taoism. Exploring particular examples of historical and contemporary territorial cults from the Kham region (Sichuan Province, PRC), this chapter suggests that these are best understood as pivotal elements in cosmopolitical ecologies. A source of power on multiple scales, landscape deities appear as non-human actors engaging in a complex relationship with the modern Chinese secular state and its shifting policies. They may also combine ancient cosmological and moral frameworks with ecological agendas of environmental protection in highly effective and sometimes controversial ways.