從服食雲母得仙的嶺南何氏女，到增城邑人何泰抗婚的女兒，最後成為以「仙姑之後」自詡的何姓居民敬奉的「仙姑婆」─女仙，未嫁女兒，祖姑，這幾種身份在帝國晚期共同交織出增江沿岸何仙姑信仰多元的面向，也揭示了這塊山水交會之地上的人群在流徙與生根落戶之間拓蕪興荒、聚合與爭競的歷史。本文結合文獻（text）、歷史（history）與田野調查（fieldwork），在區域社會史的架構和歷史人類學的理論關懷下，探討廣東增江地區以女神「何仙姑」之名為中心的傳說系統和崇拜活動，是如何具體在一方水土之上為不同的人群與勢力團體所襲用與創造，漸層堆疊交織成為帝國晚期的樣貌。透過析縷何仙姑信仰與增江沿岸社會從宋代自清中葉相互構造的歷史過程，本文試圖呈現神祇傳說與廟祀傳統背後所隱含的人群關係、社會樣貌與歷史文化傳統，並揭示神祇的靈顯之名是為何與如何鑲嵌進入地方社會的組織結構與文化肌理之中，以及在這樣的過程中被改變，留存，或新創。本文認為，增城何仙姑信仰具體說明了一方之神的靈顯之名，實為複雜的宗教、文化、地域傳統先後參與對話的結果。所謂地方宗教（local religion）傳統的「地方性」（localness），除了植根並展演於為特定地理疆界所定義的地域社會之中，實際上還是鄉土邊界以內和以外紛陳的政治社會文化勢力相互激盪和構造出來的產物。裰織仙名的歷程揭示了仙姑之名的不朽，實來自社區生活的展延、地方歷史敘事的不斷更新以及敬拜人群持續選擇與實踐的結果。本文指出，以「何仙姑」之名在地方社會中上為各方士庶所敬拜的神祇，對於敬拜者而言，不是同一位（the same/unified）神明，而是共同的（common/commonly shared）神明。在增江沿岸社會，「何仙姑」作為一個具有豐厚歷史文化積澱的神話人物，其傳說與廟祀實踐所體現的主流文化和神祇的多重形象，一方面為面臨不同機遇的行動者提供了豐富多元的象徵資源，一方面也在立場、動機互異的行動者之間鋪陳了一個可以對話與行動的共同基礎，這是此一信仰傳統能夠持續呼應世道並存續綿延的主要原因。 / Female deity, unmarried daughter, and grand paternal aunt─are the three dominant identities that have mutually characterized the cult of the Goddess He Xiangu (the Transcendent Maiden He) in the local society along the Zeng River in Guangdong since the mid-Qingto date. Drawing upon the perspective of regional social history and historical anthropology, this study adopts an interdisciplinary text-history-fieldwork investigation into how these three identities had overlapped over a period from the Song to the Mid-Qing. By mapping the historical and social settings wherein the cult had been crafted, I depict in detail the process through which the image and identity of the deity had been shaped, renovated, and appropriated by diverse social groups in multi-layered historical conditions. It is in fact the result of an on-going interactive dialogue among multiple religious, cultural, and local traditions. In this process of the social affairs associated with the legend and religious practices, the role of community and collective memories are proved decisive. The study shows that the localness of the local religion/cults was taken formed by the diverse socio-political powers and cultural traditions that not only existed within but also beyond the boundary of the given local society. Through elucidating the transformation of the cult, I consider that as a local symbol of divinity with abundant meanings, what the goddess meant to her believers may be of the same title "He Xiangu" but with variant interpretations according to different ways of adaptation from commonly-shared understandings among local communities. This explains the complexity of the legend and religious practices. In a shell, it also shows us how the cult meanders with the path of history and keeps echoing to the sound of the new world. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 廖小菁 = The fabrication of divine prestige : the making of the He Xiangu cult and local society from the Song to the mid-Qing dynasty / Liao Hsiao Ching. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 208-235). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Liao Xiaojing = The fabrication of divine prestige : the making of the He Xiangu cult and local society from the Song to the mid-Qing dynasty / Liao Hsiao Ching.

By reconstructing the interaction between the indigenous people and the Chinese state over a long period of time from the Tang dynasty to the Qing, this thesis argues that the anomaly of indigenous contact with the state in the southwest, unlike the Pearl River delta or even Fujian, is the very long duration of contact and the persistent representation of the indigenous as part of the dominant (Han) tradition, despite the Han claim to superiority. / In my visits to Gaozhou, Leizhou and Hainan, I was attracted by the interesting phenomenon that Madam Xian (Xian Furen) or the God of Thunder (Lei shen) is worshiped not only as a deity, but also as an ancestor. The deities had been blended in with the ancestor because in the late imperial period, local people had changed the foci of their territorial worship as they became become part of the Chinese polity. / This paper draws on a variety of sources---including official documents, the images of the subjection of the natives, the temples, and the performance of ritual and so on---to voice the indigenous point of view. It goes into the history of Hainan, Leizhou and Gaozhou to relate changing religious practices with social changes and the contact between the indigenous and the state. It also relates history to ritual practices as they are currently observed. By bringing together published historical sources, steles and documents found in the field and current observations of ritual practices, this thesis shows that the imperial tradition was made up of many different strands. / 賀喜. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2007. / 參考文獻(p. 261-276). / Adviser: David Faure. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0714. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2007. / Can kao wen xian (p. 261-276). / He Xi.