Study On Shanxi Merchants And Jinlong Sidawang Belief In The Southern Taihang Area During The Ming And Qing Dynasties

There are a large number of golden dragon four king(jinlong sidawang)temples(Dawang temple)in the South Taihang area.Golden dragon four king are the gods of the canal and the Yellow River area to protect the safety of water transportation.This paper focuses on why the belief of golden dragon four king appears in the South Taihang area without water transportation conditions,and then investigates the relationship between the Dawang temple and regional social economy in the South Taihang area.This paper mainly uses the existing temple inscriptions materials in Dawang temple to carry out research,and comprehensively uses historical geography,field research,folk literature and other methods.In the South Taihang area,Dawang temple is mostly located on the edge of village and the side of river.In some temples,the golden dragon four king still maintain the image of Xie Xu,whose function is still to protect the safety of water transport.These are mostly for merchants to protect the safety of water transport when they go abroad.In other temples,the Dawang has been interpreted as the king of the dragon,whose function is to prevent floods.Ordinary villagers also believe in it.At first,the Dawang temple was brought back to the South Taihang area by merchants,who mainly engaged in business in the canal or the Yellow River area,including iron industry,silk weaving and cloth industry,pawnbroking industry and opera industry.There is a close relationship between the merchants and the Dawang temple.The merchants built the Dawang temple in order to thank God for the Dawang spiritual experience.The organization of the construction of Dawang temple is mainly carried out through the Dawang Hui,which is different from other temples organized by the village community(she).Merchants provided financial support for the construction of the Dawang temple,and raised donations for the Dawang temple in other places.The Dawang temples in the South Taihang area are brought back to their hometown by Merchants who do business outside.This is a typical case of businessmen promoting the spread of faith.