The Semiotic Analysis On The Ritual Nuo Of Driving Away The Demon At Wu'an County In Hebei Province

With its long history, the Ritual Nuo of Driving away the Demon at Wu'an County in Hebei Province that is affected by Yellow River civilization has enlivened in people's life. Driving away the Huang Demon at Guyi Village and Driving away the Died Demon at Baifu Village are typical representatives of the Ritual Nuo ofDriving away the Demon at Wu'an County. They reflec the people's traditional customs of god worship and ancestor worship by driving away the demon. In addition they express people's hopes for good weather, abundant harvests, peace and security. On the base of field investigating,this paper applys Semiotie theory to reorganize and analysis the Ritual Nuo of Driving away the Demon at Wu'an County. Case analysis and common issue analysis are integrated to make a deep understanding on the overall characteristic of the Ritual Nuo of Driving away the Demon at Wu'an County.The purpose is to attempt to find a new way of understanding the Ritual Nuo of Driving away the Demon at Wu'an County and give some good advice on traditional culture protection.This essay firstly sets its foot in the field investigation. The witer has gone to the villages to participate in activities and communicated with the villagers.Secondly, literature study is another important research method to deeply understand the the Ritual Nuo of Driving away the Demon at Wu'an County,by combining different kinds of material and files.The paper is divided seven parts.The first part is the introduction of the cause of research,the relative theories,the purpose and the research methods.The second part is the basic information on Driving away the Huang Demon at Guyi Village and Driving away the Died Demon at Baifu Village.The third part is key ritual symbol included in Driving away the Huang Demon at Guyi Village and Driving away the Died Demon at Baifu Village.The fourth part and the fifth part are to comparate Driving away the Huang Demon at Guyi Village with Driving away the Died Demon at Baifu Village in order to find out their same spots and diversities.The sixth is about some opinions about the development of Driving away the Huang Demon at Guyi Village and Driving away the Died Demon at Baifu Village.The last part is the conclusion.Through the discussion of the different symbolic signs,the features of Driving away the Huang Demon at Guyi Village and Driving away the Died Demon at Baifu Villagea are obvious enough to be noticed. Therefore in this thesis the writer fully try to explain the symbolic meanings underneath the cultual appearance and find the symbolic system sturctuer and symbolictivity of Driving away the Huang Demon at Guyi Village and Driving away the Died Demon at Baifu Village.