Sawing Constant Of The Dragon Boat

This paper sets the dragon boat race in Wenzhou area during the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic China as the main study object. Based on this, the essay discusses the relationships among the gentry, the public and the local officials, especially what strengths were gathered during the process of breaking the official bans, and what’s the nature of those strengths? In this process, what kind of role did gentry play? At last, the paper discusses the relationships between local gentry and local officials, as well as the power structure in local community.The dragon boat race in Wenzhou area was originated from the demand of life. It could expel plague, banish disaster, ensure safety and pray for good harvest. Perhaps because of brawls and casualties when it was popular, officials and gentry wanted it to be prohibited to maintain stability and harmonies custom. But the activity had never been suppressed effectively. Civil society could break through powerful and enduring pressure from official and succeed in keeping the dragon boat race on. The reasons were:the public were eager to beg for asylum from the God, which was rooted in the internal needs of people, the dragon boat race had a distinct feature of grass-root and regionalism. Elites among grass roots wanted to obtain or consolidate their power and status in and out of the village through these races. Due to the popularity of exploitation of seabeaches and the disputes over land among villages, the cross-village communities came into being. The paper takes gentry named Zhang Gang in Ruian for an example. Gentry like him acted differently when they dealt with community members and local officials. In order to maximize interest, Zhang even switched his role on the same thing.According to the study of the dragon boat race in Wenzhou, this paper found that the local community had complex situations at that time. First, there was a "grassroots elite class" in local community,which restricted the gentry, Therefore gentry only in certain circumstances convert their identity in order to obtain the maximum benefit. Second, there was an organized social force, the typical one was the Long Chuanniang and strengthen inter-village alliance through intermarriage circle.