Research On The Belief Of Zi Gu

Zi Gu is a representative of Chinese women’s Toilet Gods,and she is the god of managing toilet in folklore.The Zi Gu belief,as a folk belief in the folk gods,originated from the early fertility worship and manure worship.It is also derived from the beliefs of many Toilet Gods.So,Zi Gu is a Toilet God.Her basic godhead is Toilet God.Fertility God and Manure God are her original godhead.At the same time,she interweaves with the Moon God and the Silkworm God,and reflects the godhead characteristics of them.In the Southern and Northern Dynasties,the myth of Zi Gu and the the belief of Zi Gu in the area of Jing Chu had already been merged with the folk customs of the old age,and it was relied on year-old season to be able to spread in the folk.In "Yi Yuan" and "Jing Chu Sui Shi Ji",which separately written by Liu Jingshu and Zong Lin,the authors recorded the customs of village women Ying Zi Gu for asking sericulture and other things in toilets,which usually held in Lantern Festival.Since then,the folk activities of Ying Zi Gu was always existed.And the folk activities had continued until the Republic of China.The area of the the belief of Zi Gu was gradually spreading to most parts of the country from Jing Chu area.As far as cultural space is concerned,belief of Zi Gu is not only widely found in rural village squares,but also once active in the urban suburbs.As far as participating groups are concerned,not only ordinary people have participated in the customs of Ying Zi Gu,even intellectuals have also Ying Zi Gu.In other words,The belief of Zi Gu exists both in the Small Tradition represented by ordinary rural people and the Great Tradition represented by urban intellectuals.Perhaps precisely because of the different cultural space,the different actual needs of ordinary people and intellectuals,there is a big difference between the image of Zi Gu,the time,the space and the purpose of Ying Zi Gu,Take Ying Zi Gu’s purpose as an example,ordinary people Ying Zi Gu are mainly to meet basic survival needs.Therefore,the main purpose for rural women to Ying Zi Gu is to ask questions about the suspicion of sericulture and the good things.The intellectuals Ying Zi Gu mainly to meet the careers and spiritual needs.Therefore,the main purpose of Ying Zi Gu’s is to inquire Imperial Examination results and career,or just for entertainment.However,no matter what needs are satisfied,it all reflects the function of the Zi Gu’s belief.Moreover,many elements during the Ying Zi Gu’s ceremony are for the functions of the Zi Gu’s belief.This is a very typical feature of folk belief in folk gods.