這篇文章主要研究明清受僱常駐於廟宇以提供一般儀式服務的神職人員(包含僧人、道士及靈媒)。一座廟並不一定需要(而且大多數並沒有)一個常駐的專家才能正常運作(廟方主事人員可以在節慶時才僱用這種專家來執行儀式)。有些廟宇主事人員選擇不僱用任何人，有的則可選擇僱用具神職身份(僧人或道士)的專家作為「住f寺J'或是不具神職身份的「廟中兄」。本文以碑文，法律文書及其他敘事資料(筆記等)為主，說明俗家主事及所僱用的宗教專家之間的各種關{系，並討論促成雙方關係的社會、經濟及宗教方面的原因。本文檢視這些住持及廟祝在儀式中的角色、合約上的權利義務、以及繼任方式。本文認為這種俗家主事及僱用之經營者之間的雙邊關係及合約協議的模式是全國普遍的，在中國各地所找到的案例中都可見到非常相類似的合約及規定。這種具有法律和契約性質的住持與廟祝行業，不僅傳承了中國廟宇的管理經驗，且能區司地制宜調整其經營模式。

This article deals with the religious specialists (Buddhists,
Taoists, spirit-mediums) who were hired during the late imperial period to
live permanently within temples and provide regular services there. A
temple did not absolutely need resident religious specialists to operate
properly on a regular basis (temple leaders could instead invite specialists
to perform rituals during festivals), and most did not have one. Among
the temples that could afford to hire a temple manager, some temple
leaders chose not to hire anyone; others chose to employ a cleric (Taoist
or Buddhist), called zhuchi, while yet others chose to employ a lay manager,
called miaozhu. This article uses inscriptions, legal documents, and
narrative sources to describe the variety of relationships between lay leaders
and hired resident specialists, and discusses the reasons — social, economical,
and theological — behind such choices. It examines the ritual
roles, contractual rights and duties, and patterns of recruitment and succession
among employed zhuchi and miaozhu. It argues that the basic
patterns of relationships and contractual agreements between lay leaders
and their hired managers formed a repertoire of social know-how that
could be found throughout China, as documented by instances of very
similar contracts and regulations from different regions. Zhuchi and
miaozhu idioms, embedded in a legal and contractual framework, were
part of a China-wide repertoire of temple management, put to use in different
ways in each local system and each individual temple community.