嶺南併入宋土後，朝廷在政治上已完全控制南漢舊地，集權措施令地方割據力量消失，南北渾成一家；然而，由於自然環境差異和文化傳統不同，南疆與中州間的文化畛域，卻不易泯除。隨著國土擴張，統治者當然不能容許嶺南地區繼續悖離中原的儒家禮樂文化，於是中土文明就從中心向邊緣推進，移風易俗，懲巫揚醫，開化兩廣。本文即以宋代嶺南的巫覡巫術為題，探討宋代中原文明隨著國土拓展，對兩廣巫覡巫術的了解、對策與想像。本文指出，宋朝政府和士大夫一方面以一個陌生外來者的角度，了解、描述、塑造想像中的嶺南「異文化」；另一方面，為了將嶺外的蠻荒世界逐漸納入中原的禮樂文明裡，政府和士大夫又透過高壓和勸誘兩種手段，逐漸消滅原地的土著文化，「一道德，同風俗」。

Ever since Lingnan (嶺南) came under the direct rule of the Song court, the court exercised full control of this area that had previously been governed by the Southern Han. Authoritarian measures were enforced to defeat local separatist forces as the southern and northern parts of China were fused to become a single political entity. However, because of differences in the natural environment and cultural traditions, cultural conflicts between Lingnan and the Central Plain (Zhongzhou 中州) inevitably emerged. With the expansion of their territory, Song rulers understandably made every effort to integrate Lingnan into Zhongzhou's Confucian ritual culture. In this context, the Zhongzhou civilization was brought to the outer reaches of the country by eliminating indigenous culture, suppressing shamans and shamanism and promoting medical practices instead in Guangdong and Guangxi. This article examines Zhongzhou's understandings and misperceptions of shamans and shamanism in Guangdong and Guangxi, and the strategies adopted in the course of territorial expansion during the Song period. This article show that, on the one hand, the Song government and scholar-officials understood, narrated, and created illusions about the "different culture" of Lingnan from an outsider's point of view; on the other hand, in order to transform the wilderness and achieve "one moral, identical custom" it gradually destroyed the indigenous culture by both suppression and persuasion.