An Anthropological Study On The Folk Beliefs Of "Heimama"

As a typical regional folk belief in Northeast China,"Heimama" is universally known as the "Northeast Great Protector" by people who believe in institutional and decentralized religions in Northeast China.The folk belief of "Heimama" itself combines Taoist beliefs,shamanistic beliefs,the beliefs of family preservation fairies,and the beliefs of horse-emerging fairies,in addition to the nature worship and animal worship in primitive societies,all of which are reflected in its body.Through the ancient records,legends,and observations related to the folk beliefs of"Heimama",the author can see that the more prominent feature of the image of "Heimama" is that it is not only worshipped in legitimate public places of worship,but also in folk places of worship in Northeast China.The worship of the deity is also very common in the Northeast.In both public and private places of worship,"Heimama" is at the center of the statue placement and the writing of the list of immortals,and is the only deity in charge of all the earth immortals in the Northeast.At the same time,"Heimama" is closely related to the Quanzhen Longmen School,one of the Taoist sects introduced to the northeast in the late Ming Dynasty,and she is a very rare deity created by the head of the institutional religion based on the characteristics of the northeast region and the stage of Taoism."The local gods of the Northeast were created by the institutional religious leaders based on the geographical characteristics of the Northeast and the stage needs of Taoism.By giving her the title of "Great Protector of the Northeast" and creating vivid legends related to "Heimama" to attract the faithful,she eventually gained the identity of her title and status from the faithful.The thesis is divided into three parts,which are structured as follows.First is the introductory part of the paper,which mainly contains the origin of the study of "Heimama" folk beliefs,the current situation of the study,related concepts,purpose and significance,research methods and research innovations.The focus is on the religious belief system in Chinese history,and the specific study of "Heimama" folk beliefs is paved in many aspects,so as to explore more clearly the origin and development of "Heimama" folk beliefs.Secondly,the main part of the article is divided into four chapters.The first chapter mainly focuses on the faith content and faith profile of "Heimama" folk beliefs,including the basic introduction to the image of "Heimama" deities and the distribution of "Heimama" folk beliefs.The first chapter discusses the development of the "Heimama" folk beliefs in city C.The second chapter discusses the development of the "Heimama" folk beliefs in city C.The second chapter discusses the development of the "Heimama" folk beliefs in city C.The second chapter discusses the development of the "Heimama" folk beliefs in city C.Chapter 2 explores the origins of the "Heimama" folk beliefs and the causes of the "Heimama" folk beliefs.From the perspective of tracing the origin,a detailed analysis and comparison of the legends related to the "Heimama" folk beliefs are made,and the history of the formation of the "Heimama" folk beliefs is reasonably deduced,and the social and cultural backgrounds of their formation are analyzed.The third chapter describes in detail the existing status and rituals of the "Heimama" folk beliefs.Based on the results of field surveys and interviews with believers,the author compiles the detailed rituals of worshipping "Heimama",which are divided into the rituals of public ritual sites and those of folk ritual sites,and the purposes and forms of worshipping "Heimama" for both are The purpose and form of worshipping the "Heimama" are both the same and different,so that the reasons and significance of the different rituals of institutional and decentralized religions for the same deity can be inferred,which is more conducive to analyzing the causes of the mixed characteristics of the "Heimama" folk beliefs.Chapter 4 considers the functions of the "Heimama" folk beliefs according to the anthropological theory of the functionalist school,and after analyzing their positive functions,the "Heimama" folk beliefs are demystified and reflected on in the same social context.In addition to the positive functions of "Heimama" folk beliefs,such as maintaining morality,spiritual comfort and protecting nature,they also have certain hindering effects on the scientific development of modern society,which requires believers to exercise their own judgment and make a reasonable distinction between superstition and faith.The last part is the conclusion of the article.This section provides a general overview of the article,a brief review of the process of the emergence,development,reconstruction and innovation of the "Heimama" folk beliefs,and a description of the value and significance of the "Heimama" folk beliefs to the Chinese folk belief cultural system.The value and significance of the "Heimama" folk beliefs to the Chinese folk belief culture system are explained.