A Study On The Patriarchal Worship Of The Bai Nationality From The Perspective Of Rational Choice

With the development of science and technology, more and more people questioned about religious belief, especially minority religious beliefs. It’s really inadvisable? And it’s at odds with society modernization and rationalism? The puzzles always have taken over our mind. As a response, this dissertation conducts a sociological study on the worship of Benzhu(village god) prevalent among Bai people in Dali.In this study, the core concept----“rational choice” is operationalized into four dimensions and other specific indicators as follows:(1) economic rationality(tradeoffs, input and output of the local deity worship, intellectual economy, tourism benefits),(2) political rationality(political consciousness, political appeal, social stability),(3) cultural rationality(symbol system, the philosophy of cultural, cultural heritage),(4) ecological rationality(the ecological choice in spirits and entities, such as myths and legends, taboos, temples, inscriptions, literature, and so on.). On this basis, reflecting on the each kind of ration, this dissertation describes and discusses the situation of the Benzhu worship on all the dimensions and indicators based on above conditions. Besides, the dissertation analyzes the realistic values for rational being and interactive mechanism of the four rationality.The basic conclusion of this study is that this belief is the Bai people’s choice,and results from the joint effects of economy, politics, culture, ecological factors.It’s the survival of the fittest in Bai society. At the same time, the four rationality are not isolated exist,and each other suspect stagnation. All in all,it will exist for a long time in the society.