The Analysis Of Zitong Folk Belief

Zitong came into being from scratch.In the process of development,the local god in Sichuan,integrated the social functions of Wenchang God,then became the cultural God of the East Asian cultural circle.Apart from that,Zitong as a god of Taoist,also assimilated Confucianism,which made it develop the maintenance functions of being loyal to the superior.Meanwhile,Zitong absorbed the Buddhist theory to form the consciousness of life that helps people to move toward kind and generous.The folk custom of Zitong is deeply rooted in the social life.It absorbed the essence of social culture such as palace music,folk tune,folk song and dance,formed a peculiar characteristic.Qiqu temple fair is a concentrated form of Zitong custom.Through the distinguishing features of Dongjing music and ancient buildings of Qiqu temple,they highlight the original symbol that makes Zitong belief different from others.At the same time,the prosperity of Zitong custom also plays a role of constructing social culture,infiltrating the value of Zitong into all aspects of social life.Therefore,this paper takes the Qiqu temple fair in Zitong County as the starting point,traces the history of Zitong belief from various periods,and further explores its current situations.Through the understanding of the cultural symbol behind the Zitong belief,we can also explain the internal relationship between folk customs and social life.Specifically,the paper emphasizes on three issues,first of all is to figure out the history of Zitong belief.The second one is to study the cultural principle and social motivation behind Zitong belief.Last but not least,to present the precious value of folk belief.In the process of study,the paper also used historical documents,cases and materials on the actual research,the theory of symbolic power and structural functionalism,all kinds of approaches to analyze the operating mechanism behind the belief system.