A Study On The Belief Of Two Immortals In The Southeast Of Shanxi In Ming And Qing Dynasties

The belief in Erxian is one of the typical folk beliefs in southeast Shanxi.The belief originated from the foot of Ziguan Mountain in Huguan County in the late Tang Dynasty.It grew stronger than the two Song dynasties and matured and perfected in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.In the long historical development process,the Erxian faith attracted local people with its unique charm.The sacrificial rituals and recruitment activities centered on the Erxian temple have also been widely participated by social groups.In the southeast of Shanxi during the Ming and Qing Dynasties,Erxian temples were mostly distributed in nearby areas such as commercial market towns,transportation routes,and local villages and communities,because these areas could provide convenient commercial,transportation,and demographic conditions for the development of the Erxian faith.Based on these temples,the Erxian belief spread to the surrounding areas to attract believers,and gradually formed a regional belief network centered on Zhenze Palace in Shenjiao Village,Huguan County.However,in the process of spreading out,Erxian The legend of faith has also undergone localization in some areas.Temples are an important carrier of folk beliefs.The number of temples and the grandness of regulation are the most direct reflections of the rise and fall of this belief.In the long historical development,new temples have been created,old temples have been rebuilt,and temples that no one cares about have gradually collapsed and disappeared.Under this dynamic development process,Erxian temples can get many times.The key to rebuilding,repairing,and expanding,and thus retaining it until now,is that the rebuilding project has received extensive participation from local people.Whether it's asking for rain,praying for a sunny day,asking for a child,or going to sick,the people found that,whenever there is a prayer,as long as they enter the Erxian Temple and pray to the goddess of the second fairy,their wishes will always be fulfilled.Xianniangniang came to settle in the village and spared no expense to build the magnificent Erxian Temple.Local officials hope that Erxian can bless his good performance and help him to promote customs and education.Business people hope that Erxian can bless his business prosperity and wealth and prosperity.The people in the village hope that Erxian can pray for anything.During the rebuilding of the temple,all social strata in the southeast of Shanxi can actively participate in it and donate widely to provide sufficient human and financial resources for the rebuilding project.The temple is the office of the village community organization,and it is also the core of maintaining the village community system.Therefore,whenever the temple is eroded by wind and rain and is about to collapse,the head of the village community society puts forward an initiative to consolidate the human resources of the village community.Coordinate arrangements and organize division of labor to provide organizational guarantee for the rebuilding of temples.The Ming and Qing Dynasties were at the end of traditional society,and Chinese society experienced unprecedented changes.As the representative region of rural society in North China,the social customs of southeast Shanxi are also undergoing profound changes.Since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty,with the development of social stability and productive forces,people have generally pursued a higher standard of living,and social customs have shifted from frugality to extravagance.In the Ming and Qing Dynasties,after being destroyed by military fire in the southeast of Shanxi,social customs experienced a cycle from collapse to remodeling and from frugality to extravagance.In the context of changes in social customs,the belief in Erxian has been in the process of development.The folk beliefs represented by Erxian and social customs influence each other,and together constitute the spiritual world of local people.Under the influence of changes in social customs,village organizations in the southeast of Shanxi are also making efforts to adjust their operating methods in an attempt to continuously adapt to the complex and changing external environment.