| Longevity and birth etiquette is one of the ancient Chinese etiquettes. Among them, longevity is the head over "Wufu", namely longevity, riches and honor, anosis, sons and grandsons pervaded the hall, a natural death. Meanwhile, longevity is the important component of life rituals. A life of etiquette continues from former customs and passes on from generation to generation. Therefore, the process of the study of birthday present for an elderly person form a process of ceremony as well. The French anthropologist, Arnold Van Gennep, summarized all etiquettes as personal life turning ceremony in his book ’Rite of Passage’. Reappearing throughout the ceremony over the years includes celebrating birthday and celebrating the New Year. As an important part of life etiquettes, birth etiquette and longevity etiquette are’rites of passage’in the life ceremony and signify a process from a time of life down a stage of transition. In each ceremony process, each step is a symbol of specific connotation.longevity rite as well as birth rite means the mark and blessing of birthdates. Because of the age and time for life and the site selection and arrangement are different; longevity rite reflects the lifestyle and corresponding state of mind belonging to local citizens. With the development of society and the improvement of people’s living standard, people’s thought also has different degree of change.The thesis analyzes the symbolic meaning and cultural function of longevity rite on the basis of field work in a village called Xiangrong which belongs to Yueshan town, Huaining county, Anqing city. The thesis mainly includes two parts. The first part mainly describes the field ethnography in Xiangrong village. The author made an investigation in this village for two month from start to finish. The primary content includes the condition of longevity rite in1980s and the current condition of Xiangrong village at the beginning of21st century. In1980s, the process of longevity rite proceeded as the traditional custom. It is particular about its process. China’s traditional culture fully put a high impact on longevity culture from preparatory work at first to the beginning of the longevity rite and the end of the longevity rite. The primary characteristic of longevity rite is gaining present by forcing people. The whole process reflected the lofty position the old had and the interpersonal relationship that village people had. In the21st century, the process of longevity rite has changed a lot. Asking professional theatrical troupe to sing Huangmei opera, using modern communication tools and cake reflecting western culture have appeared in the process of longevity rite. Meanwhile, the position of the old has somewhat declined and the longevity rite has also embodied the consideration of economy. Most importantly, interpersonal interaction has been inferior to the past.The second part analyzes the ethnography and tries to reflect the function of longevity rite in the different time. Thus the author can study the differences between the two longevity rite and probe into the reason why the difference happened. By comparison, we can see that the position of the god of longevity has incessantly decreased. The big change has been existed in the origin of the content, form and longevity rite. The symbolic signs are composed of the symbolic system, such as the god of the longevity, peach-shaped birthday cake, birthday cake made by flour, birthday candle, central scroll, birthday map, longevity coffin, longevity crust and longevity pillar. These symbolic signs consist of the symbolic system in the process of longevity rite. Of course, these symbolic signs are not always the same. With the development of society, some of them have lost their original meaning, while some have given some new meaning. The main function of the longevity rite mainly includes three aspects, such as the strength of social contact, the social influence of the family and ideological indoctrination. Interpersonal communication and interact have been deepen by longevity rite. The influence of the family has been strengthened by holding longevity rite. At the same time, longevity rite also expresses the respect to the old and ties the emotion from several generations and embodies the function of moral education. The main causes of change in the process of longevity rite mainly include culture changes, individual’s psychological changes and social development. The speed of culture changes depends on the degree of openness contacted by the two cultures. The traditional cultures which comparatively conserved lead to the slow speed of cultural changes influenced by traditional force. They are still stick to the old customs. More considerations have been laid on economic benefit in today’s longevity rite, which include greater utility factor. Individual’s psychological changes are consistent in social change. Meanwhile, social development will lead to some new things and phenomena.The author makes a deep description and comparison on the longevity etiquette of the two families through the dual-perspective of emic study and etic study and the approach of the in-depth interview during the time period respectively in1980s and in the21st century. Meanwhile, the author tries to explain the connotation of every symbolic symbol in the longevity rite. The author not only compares the major facts, such as the function and transition of the longevity customs, but also summarizes the process that the rural cultural customs gradually move from tradition to modernization. |
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