Investigation Into The Forms Of Musical Expressions In The Mazu Folklore Activities In Putian

The sea worshipping of Mazu in Xianliang Port in Putian including its artistic expressions, as in important part of the folk beliefs activities, plays an indispensable role in spreading the Mazu folklore culture. This paper concerns itself with the forms of musical expressions embodied in this activity both horizontally and vertically. By tracing and reviewing the history of Mazu culture, it expounds its spiritual connotation, practical significance, social functions in addition to a thorough exploration into its forms of contents, in an attempt to provide a deep insight into this activity and its artistic values so that this precious intangible cultural heritage can be better preserved and transmitted.The paper falls into seven chapters.In the introductory part, illustrates the purpose and significances of the study, its research methods, and the literature review.Chapter1traces the origin of Mazu folk culture and its development tendency and then elaborates its spiritual connotation, practical significance and social functions.Chapter2On the basis of the historical review of the folk culture of sea-worshipping Mazu as well as the systematic introduction of its forms and contents, focuses on the artistic expressions revealed in the activity and the forms and functions of musical culture, shedding more light on the social functions of the folk culture of sea-worshipping Mazu.Chapter3focuses on "Lige Music" in terms of its content and characteristics as a kind of artistic expression.Chapter4makes a systematic exploration into the contents and characteristics of "Puxian Traditional Opera" as an musical expression.Chapter5analyzes the "Shifanbayue Music" in terms of its content and characteristics as a kind of artistic expression.The paper concludes with a discussion of the significance of the study in terms of the following four perspectives, namely, the functions and values of musical expressions, the folk characteristics and regional characteristic of musical expressions, the inheritance, preservation and development of the folk culture of sea-worshiping Mazu, and the relationship between Mazu culture and the South-eastern marine culture.