Study On Folk Beliefs In Shanzi-ya Cliff Of Mt. Tai

This thesis aims to discuss the occurrence, development, change, decline and recovery of folk belief in Shanzi-ya Cliff of Mt. Tai through the research of its past and present situation, and is going to show a detailed and comprehensive study.Chapter one introduces the natural and social environment of Shanzi-ya Cliff in Mt. Tai.The dangerous geographical condition makes the Shanzi-ya Cliff have the advantage of easily defense but difficult attack. There were a lot of wars around Shanzi-ya Cliff in its long history since Han Dynasty.The natural and social environment both will be the background of the following study on its folk belief.Chapter two introduces and discuses the occurrence and development of the folk belief in Shanzi-ya Cliff. It began at the building of Tianzun-Temple in the early Qing Dynasty that was done by Wangwu-yu. And on the one hand trace the Taoism that existed there before Qing Dynasty, on the other hand show research the development and change of folk belief in Shanzi-ya Cliff from late Qing Dynasty to early Republic of China. Taoism was the central belief in early Qing Dynasty, but at least the belief of the God of Wealth has become the central belief in Shanzi-ya Cliff in the era of Guangxu, Yuanshi-Tianzun that was worshipped as the highest god of Taoism has transformed into the god of wealth in the folk society.Chapter three discusses the popular religion beliefs in the era of Republic of China. Both in Tianzun-Temple and Wuji-Temple there were the beliefs of popular religion occurring and developing, the belief of Wusheng-Laomu was spreaded in that period. Some of buildings about popular religion are left until now. It is much too difficult to explain and analyze the relative elements because of the limits of information.Chapter four introduces the situation of folk belief in Shanzi-ya Cliff after 1949, and finds the same and different comparing with before. Experiencing the dramatic changes before and after the founding of People's Republic of China, the festival about the belief of God of Wealth recovered and developed gradually. In the process, both traditional heritages left, also some new changes happened. This chapter will discuses these inheritance and transformation on the base of the description of the festival about the belief of God of Wealth. The last chapter is the conclusion. Throughout the entire process of the folk belief in Shanzi-ya Cliff, we could find that there is positive correlation between the flourish of folk belief and the social unrest. The people who were in a turbulent society need more religion belief to maintain their life and survival, the related worship acts increased in this period until formed a new era of folk belief.