In North China In The Qing Dynasty And The Republic Of Pray For Rain

In the traditional society, besides the technical and the institutional methods, whether the harvest is good or bad depends on the rain, while the stability of ruling order is relevant to the harvest. The North China owing to its special geographical position has political sensitivity, and it also locates in the core area of agriculture, so the rain has a unique significance in local area. Rain-seeking is not only one of the methods defending against disasters in drought time, but it becomes a kind of culture gradually. Study with the rain-seeking ritual can help us to know the social psychological and social structure in Qing and the Republic of China. This article is mainly according to local Annals and the ethnography, using the theory of history, sociology, anthropology and the folklore to analyze the rain-seeking activity in Qing and the Republic of China.Introduction:This part will introduce the significance of the selected topic and the current research situation, especially the theories and great achievements in ritual study of anthropologists and the folklorists.Section one:"the rain-seeking activity in North China". In this section we will introduce the gods in rain-seeking in North China, and the symbols in activities of praying for rain. By analyzing the differences of the gods in variety areas, we can see the faith in the rain-seeking ritual is utilitarian; the symbol in rain-seeking ritual, is not only has a function of transferring local knowledge, but most importantly, it evolves local words resources, and becomes the Centrum of local faith.Section two:"rain-seeking-the dual structure of profane and sacred". Rain-seeking, as a mode of cultural performance, not only contains the large-scale rain-seeking ceremony in dry season, but the folkloric usual rain-seeking activity.The usual rain-seeking, appeared as entertaining songs and dances, temple fairs and divinations, is an effective mean to adjust the relationship among relatives, friends and neighbors during slack season. It can be pried that people's longing mind of good harvest and their relation at that time through researching the folkloric usual rain-seeking activity. The large-scale rain-seeking ceremony in dry season includes several links such as reciting folksongs, parading and water-in taking with ritual taboos. It implicates subversion and adjustment in rituals. People's social status can be subverted briefly with the undergoing of rain-seeking ceremony. In this paper it will take widows, epileptics and twins such abnormal people for example, using the ceremony theory of Turner "Structure-Anti-structure-Structure", to account for the change of social structure in rain-seeking ceremony.Section three:"The interaction between the nation and society in rain-seeking ritual". North China, as a core area of political sensitive region, where the security issue caused by good or bad farming will directly threaten the steady of Beijing. As a minority regime, Qing Dynasty has to resolve its political legitimacy and establish the dominate rules as quickly as possible. Qing Dynasty accepts the rain-seeking custom of Han ethnic group, also defines official rain-seeking guidelines according to traditions, which helps the relation between government and people has excellent interactivity, and its power gets approval and trust under the same belief. Qing Dynasty builds relationships between human affairs and disaster, confers the title of local rain-seeking god, which makes people set up the morality of loyalty, kindness and justice gradually, as well as strengthens the pride of local identity. The nation collapses the resistance of the populace dominated by foreign nation little by little during controlling the right to explain disasters. Finally, the identify of common people to the nation's behavior turns into submission.The last part:"The conclusion". In this part we should give a periodically conclusion. The rain-seeking ritual actually is a kind of culture method. By studying with rain-seeking in the peacetime and the dry season; the folk and official rain-seeking, we can see the relationship between the civilian and the civilian, the civilian and the official, the people and the gods.