The Vanishing Of Agriculture Civilization

The temple fair was fostered by the rituals of sacrifice offering to ancestral temple and princeassembly as well as popular belief in ancient times; after the Tang and Song periods, it developed further inthe Ming and Qing dynasties; with the business functions, it has become an important component of theeconomic, spiritual and cultural life of people, and it reflects people’s psychological demands, customs andtraditions in modern times. Many activities in the temple fair are compatible with the traditional cultivationculture in China. Fundamentally speaking, the temple fair was a product in the development of cultivationculture in China. There are evident marks of the influence of cultivation culture in the following aspects:gods in the sacrificial activities in the temple fair, timing of temple fair festivals, the social function of theearly sacrificial activities, the cultural origins of the sacrificial objects in the temple fair, the content ofcommodity trading in the temple fair, etc.A number of activities in the traditional temple fair by which people meet their material andcultural needs are compatible with the traditional cultivation culture in China. For example, the exchange ofcommodities is the embodiment of some characteristics of the natural economy; the art and culturalactivities, which are designed more for resting the weary body and mind of laborers, also contain theenlightening staff. All of these start from maintaining the social stability. Fundamentally speaking, thetemple fair was a product in the development of cultivation culture in China. There are evident traces of thecultivation culture in the following aspects: gods in the ceremonial activities in the temple fair, timing oftemple fair festivals, the social function of the early sacrificial activities, the cultural origins of thesacrificial offering objects in the temple fair, etc. Along with the social and economic development in the society of commodity economy, theproductive forces have been emancipated, and people’s living standards have undergone a qualitative leap,but the strength of faith has been diminishing with the development and progress of science and technology;people have stronger cognitive abilities to understand the world, and many people do not believe theexistence of gods. However the temple fair has still showed a prosperous momentum in recent years. Thetemple fair is based on belief. The reason why the temple fair has grown steadily in the environment ofweakening belief in contemporary and modern times is because the economic functions of the temple fairhave play an increasingly important role today. In the past, the first thing that people did in the temple fairwas burning incense and praying for bless of gods and the spiritual fulfillment. Nowadays, however, peoplego to the temple fair mostly for sightseeing and making holiday. They regard the temple fair as a traditionaltourism resource.The diversified temple fairs throughout Henan Province, which have been rooted in the fertilecultural soil in the central plains of China since their foundation, still maintain their vitality and greatattractiveness to people and are loved by people in both urban and rural areas after hundreds or eventhousands of years of historical accumulation. It is of far-reaching significance to select the culturalchanges in Zhongyue Temple Fair as the subject investigated. The Zhongyue Temple is located in Dengfeng,a convergent point of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism with deep cultural connotations. The ZhongyueTemple Fair has extensive influence in the Songshan District. With lots of pilgrims, it enjoys a deep socialand mass base, and can meet people’s varied demands.This paper’s structure is divided into4parts:Part1: the relationship between the Zhongyue Temple Fair and cultivation culture. It describesthe origins and formation of the Zhongyue Temple Fair, re-elaborates the gods in the Zhongyue Temple; it also explores and analyzes the relationship between the Zhongyue Temple Fair and cultivation culture. TheZhongyue Temple Fair represents the landscape by gods, and every nook and cranny of the Temple bearsthe stamp of faith.Part2: the modern transition of the temple fair. It compares and analyzes the temple fair in thetwo time periods from1949to1979and from1980to2008from four perspectives: content of the templefair activities, organizers and pilgrims of the temple fair, and commodities in the temple fair, which clearlyindicate that the temple fair has been constantly changing along with the continuing development of thesociety of commodity economy.Part3: industrialization of temple fair culture. Based on the active exploration of the cultural andeconomic characteristics of the Zhongyue Temple Fair, it gives reflection and constructive comments of theindustrialization of contemporary cultural resources.Section4: concluding remarks.