Dispersion And Integration: A Study Of Ritual Communication Of Xianliang Hong Kong Mazu Culture

Taking Theory of Ritual Communication and the Theory of Social Integration as the basic analytical framework,field investigation as the main method,and taking the individual communication and group interaction of local residents in Xianliang Port as the research object.From the three levels of individual,group and society,and from the four fields of sacrificial space,identity space,media space and living space,this paper explores the phenomenon of discretization and integration in the spread of Mazu cultural rituals.From the perspective of ceremonial communication,this paper investigates Mazu culture in Xianliang Port and finds that different ceremonies shape different cultural space of Mazu and express specific meanings.This paper extracts four types of space and ritual practice of Mazu culture in Xianliang Port: as a traditional ritual,Mazu beliefs and customs are embodied as sacrificial space,presenting the cultural memory of Xianliang Port and the relationship between man and God;the ritual of Mazu returning to her mother's home embodies the space of identity,and constructs the concept of Tianhou ancestral temple in Xianliang Port as the center of Mazu's family;as a medium,Mazu culture connects a broader body of identity and realizes the intermediary function of Mazu culture;as a Life-oriented Culture of Mazu,it dispels the anxiety and uncertainty in life,writes the rural “acquaintance relationship” network,and constructs the communication community of local culture.In order to restore the stability and continuity of daily life,Mazu believers' worship of Mazu is subordinate to the logic of family life and the need for community integration.In the practice of interaction between society and temples,rites and customs,and villages,Mazu rituals are embedded in the daily life of the believers.The study finds that Mazu believers in Xianliang Port community are divided into different settlement units by the “community”,which reflects the social differentiation function of the social gods.The ancestral temple in Mazu's hometown triggered nostalgia.Emotional ties played a moral role.Individual emotions were attributed to collective emotions,which promoted social integration.The rituals of Mazu's return to her mother's home and Mazu's sea sacrifice are carried on in a living way through repetition by means of cultural transmission directly to the people's hearts and ancestral places,continuing the ideological concepts,humanistic spirit and moral norms contained in the excellent traditional culture.The social integration ability of the ancestral temple of Tianhou not only depends on the cultural foundation of Mazu belief in daily life,but also embodies the practical logic of ritual communication.The study shifts from the focus on ceremonies in specific periods to the focus on the communication situation of Mazu believers in daily life situations and situations in the context of daily communication.The emergence of “hollow village” and the increasing normalization of migrant workers and out-of-town struggle declare the break between villagers' original daily life and the real society.Such a fundamental change means that the low-risk and high-stability living conditions gradually give way to the uncertain state in daily life,which seems to be a conspiracy of urbanization,commercialization,marketization and even globalization.However,the continuous repetition and reciprocation of rituals effectively strengthen the sense of belonging of the believers.Normalized dispersion and performance aggregation in rituals are constantly intertwined and embedded in people's daily life.In the practice of ritual communication,people in the community of Xianliang Port constructed a community communication network.The board of directors of ancestral temples and Mazu volunteer public welfare organizations and other groups have their own characteristics of communication and interaction in the communication platform and unique cultural space created by Mazu culture,showing endogenous and positive subjective creativity,which also hides discrete power.By investigating the typical activities of the two groups,it is found that their original intention is to promote communication and understanding and reduce prejudice and estrangement.In the special ceremonial field of Mazu cultural space in Xianliang Port,the identity and ownership of Mazu's family,the ritual transmission of folk matters embedded in daily life,and the dynamic ritual system of Mazu culture in Xianliang Port have become the basis of the livingtransmission of Mazu culture in Xianliang Port.Of course,the investigation of a folk matter can not be separated from the specific time and space of its existence.The dissemination form of Mazu culture ceremony focused on in this paper is also closely related to the development of the times.When Mazu was endowed with the status of “Patron Goddes of Maritime Silk Road” and became a worldwide symbol of Chinese culture,how to survive Mazu beliefs has become a topic of the new era.In spite of the complex transformation of functions of diaspora and integration,the core of ritual communication of Xianliang Port's Mazu Culture is that it exists lively in the interaction and communication of people.