Plague and Folk Religion: A Case Study of Lin Zhao'en and his "Three-in-One Religion (San Yi Jiao)"

In the late reign of the Emperor Jiajing, Putian had been ravaged for years by plagues caused by harassments of Japanese pirates. Lin Zhao' en, the head of an influential family in Putian, tried his best to put plague under control successfully by coping with plague and relieving the poor. During that time, although he had developed his Three-in-One Theory gradually into Three-in-One Religion (San Yi Jiao, trinity or uniting Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism into one), his relationship with the authorities was not opposed but cooperative and complementary. The concept of confrontation between state and society based on Western history seems not fit historical phenomenon in China very well in this case.