| According to Durkheim’s classic theory of religious sociology,the sanctity of ritual comes from the collective,but the sanctity of Taoist blessing ritual,which is less discussed by sociologists,does not come from the collective.In addition,different from the theory of religious sociology,the sanctity of Taoism is not separated from the secular world,but comes from the ordinary needs of believers.According to the ordinary needs of believers and the dual structure of Taoist priests meeting the sacred needs of believers for Taoism through rituals,the sacred representation symbols and symbol based interaction in Taoist blessing rituals are placed in the analytical framework of need and awe to analyze the presentation of Taoist sacred mentality.Based on Durkheim’s definition of sacredness and the emotional synergy theory in Collins’ s interactive ritual chain theory,combined with the empirical study of Taoist temples in Suzhou in the Yangtze River Delta,this paper combs the interaction between ordinary needs and ritual satisfaction in Taoist blessing ritual,as well as the presentation of Taoist sacred mentality,and tries to carry out some discussions in this paper.The research conclusion of the paper is: "in the mutual construction of believer needs and ritual satisfaction,the Taoist sacred mentality can be constructed;among them,the awe mentality is the core presentation of the Taoist sacred mentality,and this Taoist sacred mentality has the characteristics of privatization." Different from Durkheim’s sacred theory of ritual collectivity,Taoist blessing ritual has the characteristics of private sacred mentality.In the Taoist blessing ritual,the Taoist priest often realizes the daily needs of believers for the privatization of the ritual through the sanctity of the identity inherited by the ritual,the sanctity of the space where the Taoist ritual is located,the belief of immortals,and the sanctity of the production of the professional ritual demonstration and performance of Taoism.Believers participate in the sanctity of the ritual through evaluation,and experience the private sacred mentality with the Taoist priest.In the Taoist blessing ritual,the core of the sacred state of mind is the state of awe.It is the fear caused by the unmet daily needs that becomes the sacred experience of the Taoist priest and believers in the ritual.Believers and Taoist priests need to reconnect the daily needs of holiness in the ritual,which comes from the lack of daily public needs and the change of divine support system.Among them,the Taoist sanctity in the form of awe mentality is the sanctity of privatization and the reappearance of the mentality of relationship specialization in Taoism.The number of participants in Taoist blessing ritual is often large,but its sanctity is reflected in a private state of awe.Due to the history and current situation of Taoism,Taoism is often unable to enter the public sphere to provide the public with the sacred experience.The field of its role is often private.This constitutes the dilemma of the development of Taoism itself.In addition,it also involves the discussion of the public mentality.Whether awe can be regarded as a modern individual mentality,how to break the cultural inertia of relationship specialization thinking,and what role Taoism can play in the public sphere and national mentality remain to be studied. |
