Study On The Custom Of Sheep-sending In Taihang Mountains

The custom of sending sheep is a folk custom in Taihang Mountain area,which is still circulating in the local villages.The main content of this custom is to give the sheep from the mother’s family to the married daughter or grandchild.On the cultural level,the custom of sending sheep is deeply influenced by Confucian idea of filial piety.At the level of social relations,it is an important link to conclude and maintain the good operation of in-laws,and plays an important role in the daily life of local people.This paper takes the custom of sheep-sending as the research object,the village of Taihang mountain area as the investigation point to carry on field work to obtain the data,the folklore,the cultural anthropology,the culture sociology and so on theory to discuss the sheep sending custom in the marriage.The cultural connotation and significance exist in the activities of kinship communication.In the introduction part,the author gives a brief introduction to the basic situation of this study,including the origin and significance of the research,the present research situation,the explanation of terminology,the sources of data and the research methods.The theoretical hypotheses of this study are as follows: the unity of time and space is used to explain the custom of sending sheep,and from the angle of the exchange of gifts between in-laws and relatives,the general folklore description of the custom of sending sheep and its related cultural elements is taken as the main content.The first chapter introduces the natural environment of Taihang Mountain,people’s livelihood,historical and cultural traditions,and concludes that this area is the combination of nomadic and farming nations,and is an important basis and support for the inheritance and development of sheep sending customs.The social and cultural functions of sheep sending in agriculture and animal husbandry are explained,and the three types of sheep sending in Taihang mountain area are introduced,that is,grandchild(female),daughter(daughter),and other types of relations.It is pointed out that the custom of sending sheep has regional,stable and variable cultural characteristics.The second chapter describes and analyses the folk customs of the sheep feeding in Taihang mountain area.This chapter mainly according to the field survey data,according to different objects of sheep delivery,sums up three different types of sheep feeding custom in Taihang Mountains,and makes a deep drawing and analysis of the ritual process of each type of sheep feeding by the method of case study.It has filled the field of sheep’s customs research and description and interpretation.The third chapter mainly discusses the role of sheep sending in the conclusion and maintenance of affinity relationship.When a man and a woman enter into a marriage relationship,the man delivers the sheep to the woman,and the sheep becomes the symbol of the marriage relationship.After the wedding,the daughter and her husband,and the child returning to her mother’s house during the holiday period,are a form of emotional expression.The family gives sheep to their daughter or grandchild,which is a sign that the family actively maintains the balance of in-laws.The fourth chapter discusses the changes in the social development of the rites of the sheep as the conclusion and maintenance of the relationship of marriage.This chapter mainly discusses the production skills of the sheep begin to turn from hand to machine,and the presented goats have gradually become commercialized,and the social status of women is improved constantly.But its cultural symbolic elements still play an important role in the society.