A Research On The Ritual Books Used By Folk Priests In Banan District, Chongqing

The books used by the folk priests is an important part of folk culture andan important carrier of folk beliefs. This article is written on the basis of eighty bookscollceted through field work. Through the study on the edition, preservation and contentof the books and a case study of “the ritual of rewarding the underground carriagedrivers”, analysing the process of the rituals and the text to discover the relationshipbetween the folk books and the local culture, and discover and anylise the Sichuandialect and folk customs reflected. Taking the books as the centre， we traced thesuccession of teachings of between generations of the folk priests and studied thecustoms related. Meanwhile, we also studied the present rituals which are still popular.We analysed the process of the “Four Day Ritual”.The priest, books and the rituals are united in one and formed the system of “folktaoism”. The books are the records and the guide of practices, and a bridge between theritual teachers and his disciples. The priests are the authors of the folk books and thepracticer of the rituals. The rituals are the object of the description in the books and animportant means to communicate between the gods and the human.As the society and civilization develps, the priests are becoming fewer, the booksare ruined and the rituals are becoming more and more simplified. Under thisbackground, the study of the succession of teachings, the books and rituals is the studyof dying traditional beliefs. This work should achieve the goal of discovering thereligious culture out of the sight of the orthodox philology and contribute some inknowing more of the Bashu culture, even more of the Chinese traditional culture.