Scholars discuss how Three-Mountain Kings culture strengthens shared cultural identity

On August 19th, the "Cross-Strait · Three Mountains · Four Seas" symposium on the Three-Mountain Kings field study was held at Guangzhou's Yangcheng Creative Industrial Park. The participating scholars shared insights gained from their visits and investigations across multiple places in eastern Guangdong since August 15th.

They distilled and summarized the intrinsic and extended dimensions of the folk beliefs and customs surrounding the Three-Mountain Kings culture, exploring avenues for the future inheritance and development of this culture. The world's first "Interactive Map of the Three-Mountain Kings Ancestral Temple" was unveiled on the scene, along with a three-episode micro-documentary series on the culture of Three-Mountain Kings titled "From the Three Mountains to the Four Seas."

Originating from eastern Guangdong over 1,400 years ago, the culture of Three-Mountain Kings has spread widely to Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Its spirit of "protecting the nation and its people, ensuring national prosperity and people's well-being" has been revered by generations of people. Temples dedicated to Three-Mountain Kings are found on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and across Southeast Asia, serving as important historical evidence in academic studies on migration history and the overseas promotion of Chinese culture.

"Folk beliefs and customs are rooted in cultural traditions and the daily life of the people," Chen Chunsheng, Professor in the Department of History and Dean of the Institute for the Study of Lingnan Culture at Sun Yat-sen University said. In his keynote address, he analyzed the institutional developments, historical records, temple architecture, beliefs and habitual ways from the Song and Yuan dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, and outlined the complex facets of the orthodox recognition and legitimacy development of the folk beliefs and customs of Three-Mountain Kings, thereby exploring transformations in local society during different historical periods and the broader implications of those changes.

Professor Ong Seng Huat, Dean of the Tao Seminary, Malaysia (an Associate of the Academy of Europe-Asia Studies, London), noted that while the Chinese brought their homeland traditions to the Nanyang (Southeast Asia), these traditions also absorbed local elements and evolved accordingly. The history of China that has been passed down in Nanyang has actually become the history of Nanyang itself. From an anthropological perspective, Professor Chuen-rong Yeh of Anthropology at National Taiwan University highlighted intriguing similarities and differences among the temples of Three-Mountain Kings in the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. Ning Ngui Ngi, academic advisor of the Taoist College Singapore, uncovered the deeper structural mechanisms of how these folk beliefs and customs are promoted and maintained from various approaches such as fieldwork, data collection, and AI technology.

两岸及海外权威学者共议三山国王文化：如何激发"同根同源"文化认同？

8月19日，"两岸·三山·四海"三山国王田野调研行研讨会在广州羊城创意产业园举行。与会学者们总结了自8月15日起走访、调研粤东多地的心得体会，提炼总结三山国王民间信俗文化内涵与外延，探讨三山国王文化未来传承发展。现场还发布了全球首张"三山国王庙交互地图"和《从三山向四海》三山国王文化三集微纪录片。

三山国王文化发源于粤东地区，迄今已有1400多年历史，广泛传播至中国台湾地区和东南亚等地，其"护国庇民、国泰民安"的精神被历代民众尊崇。三山国王宫庙遍布海峡两岸和整个东南亚地区，在学术上也成为移民史研究和中华文化海外传播研究的重要史证。

"民间信俗植根于文化传统和百姓的日常生活。"中山大学历史学系教授、中山大学岭南文化研究院院长陈春声在主旨发言中，通过对宋元至明清的制度、史料、庙宇形态与信仰惯俗的梳理，描述"三山国王"民间信俗正统性与合法化发展变化的复杂面向，由此探寻历史时期地方社会特质的嬗变及其启示。

英国欧亚高等研究院－马来西亚道理书院院长王琛发提到，华人把原乡文化带到南洋的同时，也会融入当地元素继续发展这一文化。南洋流传了"历史的中国"，实际上也化为了南洋的历史；台湾大学人类学系教授叶春荣从人类学者的角度，分享了他发现的大陆、台湾三山国王庙的有趣异同；新加坡道教学院学术顾问林纬毅则从田野调查、数据搜集、人工智能技术等多个方法和角度，揭示信俗传播与维持的深层结构。

文、图｜记者 朱绍杰 李国辉 曾潇 古司祺 赵鹏 王漫琪 付怡 温泽广

译丨郑奕玲

英文审校丨林佳岱