The Ritual And Music Of Matsu’s Fiesta In "Nian Li"Custom(Wenzhangwan Village,Zhanjiang City)

The "Nian Li" Festival is a unique folk-custom activity celebrated in a village or an Earth Temple in Zhanjiang and Maoming in the west part of Guangdong province spontaneously and annually. It’s a traditional festival themed with exorcism, sacrifice and benediction. Currently its origin and history are rarely studied and discussed in the academic circle. What’s more, the research about the music used during the Nian Li Festival is even less. Though being mentioned, it’s talked about briefly and wrongly. Based on the Nian Li Festival celebrated in Wenzhangwan Village in Zhanjiang City, this paper will talk mainly about the sacrificial ceremony and the music of the Nian Li Festival. The author expects to obtain a deep understanding of the Nian Li Festival in western Guangdong through the analysis of its sacrificial ceremony.Matsu, the Chinese goddess of the sea, is worshiped as the main god during the Nian Li Festival in Wenzhangwan Village. Therefore, the paper will also introduce the belief in Matsu and other folk deities. Matsu, also named as "Niangma""Tianfei" or "Tianhou" by Chinese, is the Chinese goddess of the sea who has been playing an important role for a long history. The worship of Matsu had spread from Meizhou in Fujian to the whole country, even to Japan and South East Asia since the Song Dynasty. Today it’s spread widely in all coastal areas of mainland China, Japan and South East Asia. In the southern part of China, especially in Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan, there are plenty of Matsu temples located in coastal areas, among which the Matsu temple in Meizhou Island is the most popular one attracting a large number of tourists and pilgrims. Though the research about Matsu has been very mature presently, this paper will focus on the manifestations of the belief in Matsu and the relations between Matsu and other local deities which are shown in the Nian Li Festival in western Guangdong, especially in Wenzhangwan Village.As a postgraduate born in Wenzhangwan Village in Guangdong, the author is very familiar with the Nian Li Festival. So it is advantageous and convenient for the author to study this folk custom. Zhanjiang City, located in the Leizhou Peninsula at the southernmost tip of the Chinese mainland, is a "forgotten corner" in musicology. Besides, the Leizhou Peninsula has been the land of "barbarians" from time immemorial. In the Story of Leizhou which was written during the reign of Emperor Shenzong in the Ming Dynasty, it reads "Leizhou is a remote place, bordering on the sea, and its residents uphold simplicity. Many prominent scholars were expelled here in the Song Dynasty", for instance Su Shi and Li Gang. However, the land of "barbarians" had bred its unique folk custom and music, about which the paper will also discuss.