近年來，透過歷史角度來探討祠神信仰與國家╱社會關係的研究已漸受學界重視 ，但仍以後者較有成果。本文主旨並非全面探討歷來祠神信仰與國家╱地域社會關係的研究 ；而是將焦點集中於官僚層及縉紳對祠神信仰的態度上。以下分別就歷來相關研究之不同主 旨，透過三個面向討論：(1) 國家權力與祠神信仰 -- 「賜額、賜號」問題。(2) 地方祠神 信仰的「國家化」與「儒家化」。(3) 官僚層、縉紳與祠神信仰 -- 淫祀的認定。綜合歷來 學界對宋至清代國家與祠神信仰研究，我們大致可發現下列現象：學界的焦點幾乎集中於宋 至明，忽略了清代特有的歷史發展脈絡下，國家對祠神信仰態度的特色。因此，專就清代來 探討國家與祠神信仰的關係，有其特殊意義。經由此一主題的探討，我們不僅可分析權力與 信仰的互動；亦可了解清代菁英文化與通俗文化間的關係。

　　　　　Recently, Western and Japanese historians have paid much attention to the question of relationships between popular cults and state as well as local society from the Sung to the Ch'ing Dynasties. This article reviews recent works on this issue by means of three different approaches: (1) the relationship of state power with popular cults, such as awarding titles (賜額、 賜號 );(2) the relationship of nationalization (國家化 ) with Confucianization (儒家化 ), and (3) the efforts of banning the so-called licentious cults by bureaucrats and local elite. To sum up, recent works on the relationship between state and popular cults concentrated on the period from Sung to Ming, thus neglecting the attitude of the state toward popular cults in the particular historical and social context of the Ch'ing. Through this review and discussion of the topic, we not only can analyze the interaction between state power and religion, but also understand the relationship of elite culture with the popular culture.