Ritual Object?Culture Item And Tourist Commodity-the Social Life Of Paper Gods In Shangguan Dali

Approached from the perspective of social life of things,the paper aims at investigating the factors of the turning point in the entire social life of Jiama and the transformation of its value.Since being introduced into Yunnan from the Central Plains,Jiama was originally used as a ritual item by local people in practice activities.But in today's social environment,Jiama is associated with the region or connected with the nation,thus becoming a cultural symbol that can represent a certain region or nation.In addition,Jiama can even completely break away from the original meaning system,“create” a pattern that more caters to consumers' needs and preferences.And experiencing making Jiama has become a commercial project.As a kind of thing,the Jiama has experienced transformation and superposition of multiple identities.The joint interaction between the government and the inheritors prompted Jiama to complete its first life turn: the government granted Jiama the political status of “Intangible Cultural Heritage”,while the inheritors played a significant role in the process of spread,communication and promotion.The value of Jiama has been continuously strengthened.The encouragement of the government,the “packaging” of the travel agency,the reinterpretation of the meaning and the “creation” of the pattern promoted the second life transition of Jiama.Of course,the three identities of Jiama are not a gradual replacement,but a state of coexistence.The three forms are also not parallel,in which there is a value coincidence and intrinsic association.Through this research,we can not only understand the item of Jiama itself,but also help to clarify the social and cultural picture reflected behind it.Namely,we can make a biography of social culture through writing the social life of things.