On The Disaster Belief In The South Of Yangtze River During The Republic Of China

During the Republic of China in Chinese Mainland, the productivity was falling behind. Religion is still the important means for people to deal with the sudden disasters. It's the same with the people living in the south of Yangtze River which were affected by Europe at the early time. A great many temples and legends related to the disasters reflect that people depend on gods greatly. To some extent, people can survive mainly because of the existence of these spirits. After expedition, it can be discovered that the positions of these temples in southern regions have some characteristics. These characteristics not only reflect the occurrence of some disasters in history, but can also explain the influence of disasters on people's social life. Disasters happened frequently during the period of the Republic of China in Chinese Mainland. The main way people respond to disasters is still to hold a variety of ceremonies. According to the different forms and people's attitudes, these ceremonies can be divided into three types: prayer, witchcraft and omens. Although these different forms of ceremonies express different meanings, they can reflect people's attitudes towards crisis. Beliefs of disasters and ceremonies can also have a positive impact on people's lives. The influence plays an important role in people's social life during the period of the Republic of China. When people are troubled by disasters, the influence can comfort people, enhance their confidence in survival, add people's daily entertainment, adjust the pace of social life, maintain the unity of the whole society, promote the communication and development of traditional culture and publicize modern national consciousness. Beliefs of disasters can long exist in people's social life and ideologies contribute to the functions they have.