A Study On The Cultural Reconstruction Of Taiping Road In Pingxiang County, Hebei Province

Taiping Taoism marks the formation of Taoism. The social and political environment when China was encircled with internal and external troubles in the late Eastern Han Dynasty provides the historical background, and meanwhile, the highly developed ideology and culture in that period, namely Laozi (a philosopher in the Spring and Autumn Period, founder of Taoism) Taoism and Scripture of the Great Peace act as the origin of ideology. After the developments of society, Taiping Taoism gets on the way of declination because of the Yellow Turbans Uprising, whereas it has far-reaching significance in the development of Taoism in China as one of the earliest Taoism, taking over from Laozi Taoism, and introducing Fulu Taoism.The history and culture of Pingxiang in Hebei Province is rich and profound. In 221 BC, when the Qin Dynasty unified China and divided it into 36 counties, the current Pingxiang area belonged to the government of the Jvlu County, a crucial county at that time. Therefore, modern Pingxiang County in Hebei Province is one of the areas where Taiping Taoism in the Eastern Han Dynasty occurred and developed, and is also the hometown of Zhang Jiao, a leader of Taiping Taoism. Due to the historical relevance, in recent years, Pingxiang in Hebei Province is trying to reconstruct Tainping Taoism in the area as a forerunner in China, and is now at the starting stage.The cultural reconstruction of Taiping Taoism in Pingxiang in Hebei Province starts from three main aspects of the cultural reconstruction of Taiping Taoism-the objectives and sites, religious rituals and folk customs of the Yellow Turbans Uprising, and has gradually paved a reconstruction way of religious culture which is endowed with local characteristics and current significance. The reconstruction has not only enlightened the modernization of Taoism, but also promoted the development of economy, politics and culture of Pingxiang, revitalizing the traditional religious culture in modern times.Taiping Taoism and the classical work Scripture of the Great Peace have been researched from many viewpoints including geographic distribution, religion, history, philosophy, art, and even emendation, discrimination, exegesis, phonology, grammar, vocabulary, literature comparative study, which is a key point in the early researches of Taoism. The modern Taiping Taoism culture in Pingxiang area of Hebei Province is investigated and researched in this paper from the viewpoint of cultural reconstruction and the reconstruction process of local Taiping culture in modern society, which is a breakthrough in the research of the culture of Taiping Taoism.The paper is divided into 6 parts.The First part is the introduction. The origin and significance of the research, research status, innovation and introduction to the location of field investigation are introduced in this part. The research of the cultural reconstruction of Taiping Taoism in Pingxiang in Hebei Province originates from the construction of the teaching and researching base of Taiping Taoism in Pingxiang area by the College of Philosophy and Religious Studies of Minzu University of China in 2013. For further breakthroughs in the research of Taiping Taoism, it is determined that cultural reconstruction should be taken as the viewpoint in studying the cultural development of Taiping Taoism in Pingxiang area. After an extensive reading of the historical documents about Taiping Taoism, the field investigation method is adopted to describe and arrange the cultural reconstruction of Taiping Taoism, trying to analyze and explain the religious meanings behind the reconstruction, in order to explore the influence of the new way of development of Taoism on modernization of Taoism, regional politics, economy and culture, and also the people’s life. This research is based on the former research achievements of Taiping Taoism and cultural reconstruction.The second part is the origination of Taiping Taoism. The method of literature collection is applied to explain the background knowledge of Taiping Taoism from two aspects of emergence, and evolution and fading. The former is compromised of the historical and intellectual background of emergence while the latter includes religious beliefs of Taiping Taoism in Zhonghuang Taiyi, the supreme god of Taiping Taoism, religious ritual of "Taoist Holy Water" in Taiping Taoism, the Yellow Turbans Uprising, and Taiping Taoism after the Yellow Turbans Uprising. The origination of the following research in the paper is explored in this part.The third part is the study of the subjects and sites of reconstruction in Taiping Taoism culture in Pingxiang, Hebei Province. The reconstruction of Taiping Taoism is studied from two elements, the subjects and sites. First of all, it is the religious subject, or the multi-participation of various people, that plays a decisive role in the cultural reconstruction of Taiping Taoism in Pingxiang. The participation of different subjects, including local Taoism believers, local political and business circles, local people, and academic circles, contributes to the emergence and development of the reconstruction. Then, the main site of the cultural reconstruction of Taiping Taoism is Dongyue Tianqi Temple, whose historical legends and development statuses act as the foundation of the reconstruction. Finally, The conclusion is reached by analyzing the enlightenment to modern times of the reconstruction of subjects and locations that multi-participation reconstructs contemporary religious culture, folk legends reconstruct ancient and modern religious culture, and modern Taoism temples reconstruct multi-religious culture.The fourth part is the investigation and explanation on the religious ritual for reconstruction in Taiping Taoism culture in Pingxiang, Hebei Province. In history, the religious ritual of Taiping Taoism was "Taoist holy water", the earliest and most primitive Taoist rite, but it is the local traditional "Taoist rites praying for blessing" and "Taoist rites turning undead for the departed souls" that are reconstructed as the ancient Taoist rites of Taiping Taoism in current Pingxiang area. The spirit tablets worshiped in modern Taoist rites reveal the faith in "Taiyi" and "Sanguan" of Taiping Taoism in the Eastern Han Dynasty; the primitive form of "Taoist holy water" and the tradition of using "Fu (magic features drawn by Taoist priests to invoke or expel spirits)" are inherited in the rituals of modern Taoist rites; and the Taoist music "Taiping Taoism Music" with great regional features is imported. The realization of "reconstruction" is a process where formalization and ritualization are constantly repeated, which are mostly constructed by old traditions and materials. The "reconstruction" of Taiping Taoism culture in Pingxiang area is realized by the constantly repeated formalization and ritualization of a series of old religious rituals, which is not reconstructed in modern times, but endowed with new religious meanings based on the old.The fifth part is the research on folk custom of Yellow Turbans in reconstruction of Taiping Taoism culture in Pingxiang, Hebei Province. The local folk custom provides great possibility and guarantee for it in the process of cultural reconstruction of Taiping Taoism in Pingxiang. As is known to all, folk custom is one or several customs naturally formed in the long development of an area during the daily production and work of local people, and is inherited generation by generation owing to their love for it. The folk customs of Yellow Turbans in Pingxiang include the tradition of advocating the color "yellow", carrying yellow bars (a religious dance), and beating drums while dancing(folk performance). First, the tradition of advocating the color "yellow" in folk customs and activities of Pingxiang inherits the form of the belief of "Zhonghuang Taiyi" in Taiping Taoism. Second, carrying yellow bars (a religious dance) and beating drums while dancing (folk performance) have expended the influence of the religious culture of Taiping Taoism on the masses. Last, the folk customs of Yellow Turbans make the regional culture reconstruction of Taiping Taoism more vivid and lively. Therefore, the folk customs of Yellow Turbans of Pingxiang actually provides the inevitability in the successful reconstruction of Taiping Taoism culture.The sixth part is the conclusion. Review the above, and analyzing the meanings and influence of the culture reconstruction of Taiping Taoism in Pingxiang, Hebei Province to the modernization of Taoism and the regional development of Pingxiang. Last, considering the feelings and perceptions after field investigation, some problems and suggestions are put forward about the current fundamental reconstruction of Taiping Taoism in Pingxiang, in the expect of more and better following studies.As a Ph.D. dissertation, the greatest innovation lies in researching the religious culture phenomenon of Taiping Taoism in modern Pingxiang, Hebei Province in the perspective of cultural reconstruction. The longtime shortage of related researches about Taiping Taoism is the inevitable result of lacking in historical documents and literature. Therefore, this paper is determined to explore the reconstruction of Taiping Taoism in modern times on the base of field investigation, which has never been researched before and is thus a shining point.