Communicating cultural memory: The governance anchor and the localized survival of Xuantian Shangdi in Thailand

How do regional grassroots deities survive in diasporic contexts? Examining the Teochew Xuantian Shangdi cult in Thailand through multisited ethnography, this article argues that diasporic faith is sustained by a “governance anchor” managed by local temple elites. This framework balances orthodox preservation and local integration via two microinstitutional mechanisms: the hierarchical governance of memory carriers (using spatial and textual boundaries) and institutional grafting (translating symbols to negotiate legitimacy). Furthermore, we challenge the assumption that coshrining Taoist and Buddhist deities causes cultural dilution. Instead, it constitutes “asymmetrical syncretism”—a strategic arrangement where peripheral indigenous deities act as a protective buffer, safeguarding Xuantian Shangdi's theological centrality. By shifting attention from the macro-networks of global deities to the everyday institutional labor sustaining regional cults, this study advances understandings of cultural memory and diaspora governance within Inter-Asian flows.