Liaoning Province Mazu Culture Research

Matsu is a famous Chinese Poseidon. As a people of God, Matsu was canonized by the emperors in many dynasties from an ordinary woman who named Lin Moniang. According to the legend, she was also called "Lady", "Princess", "Goddess","Queen of Heaven"and "Empress dowager of Heaven",etc.Although the Matsu belief is widely distributed in China, the scientific and cultural research related to Matsu seems "hot in the South but cold in the North", which means, researchers from southern China,such as Fujian, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, has been focusing on it, while those from northern china,especially in the region of Liaoning Province seldom pay any attentionActually, Matsu belief firstly spread to the Liaoning region in Yuan Dynasty though the "Maritime Silk Road" from Fujian. In Qing Dynasty, the Matsu belief has been quite popular in the coastal areas of Liaoning. For centuries, Matsu culture has become an important part of local traditional culture in Liaoning region. Hence, it is of great significance to study and protect the Matsu culture in this area.In this study, based on historical data, remains, present study and field survey data, beginning with Matsu belief in Gushan town, the author tries to summary the context of Matsu belief in Liaoning Province. There are two purposes:Firstly, fill the blanks of study of Matsu belief in Liaoning Province; Secondly, try to the logic of folk culture's protection in Chinese grass-roots society from a new perspective.The theoretical analysis path of this paper is:introducing "the standardization of God" theory, analyze the Matsu belief's development process in concrete historical and geography situation; and then discuss the questions of integrity protection and inheritance in folk culture area. All these work has been in the framework of intangible cultural heritage protection study,This dissertation is divided into seven parts as follows. In the introduction, the author describes the reason and significance of this study, and review of preceding literature. In Chapter 1,the author reviews the study history and the overview of the field work point.In Chapter 2, the author analyzes the history and status of Matsu belief in Liaoning region.In Chapter 3, the author describes the human ecology of field work location----Gushan town.In Chapter 4,the author introduce the local features of Matsu belief in Gushan town.In Chapter 5, the author describes the worship rituals of Matsu belief in Gushan town.In Chapter 6, the author reflects the dilemma of Chinese folk culture's protection and inheritance.