ABSTRACT
In the early seventeenth century, offi cials in Fujian were working their way through an evocative approach to xiangyue, whereby civilization continued to be promoted as what would bring together offi cialdom and local society. Huang Cheng Xuan, the provincial governor, one of the offi cials who fi rst launched the project of xiangyue, called for local elites to fulfi ll their roles as servants of the state. He advised yue chiefs to “share a period of spiritual communication with the local people [jingshen yu xiangren xiangtong]” in order for “civilization to be achieved effectively [huacheng zhi xiao].” He also issued a warning, asking: “Would a community pact exist without the accompanying conferences [hui] of dialogue? They would lose their signifi cance.” As he supposed, the worst consequence of it was that “each place would build its own pact hall [geli yuesuo] for its own purpose and convenience without obeying the regulations of the offi cial xiangyue.”1
