Study On The Change Of Tujia Folk Belief In Southeast Chongqing(1734-1873)

Folk belief is the cultural foundation of Tujia society and the spiritual support of Tujia people in southeast Chongqing.It is the most important cultural element in the study of Tujia history,and its change is the best reference to explore the evolution law of Tujia history.The great change of folk belief in southeast Chongqing began with bureaucratization of native officers.As an extremely important change event in the history of Tujia people in southeast Chongqing,the bureaucratization of native officers have played an unprecedented role in promoting the political and cultural process of the region.Geographically,the paper selects Shizhu,Youyang and Shizhu,the three Tujia autonomous counties in southeast Chongqing,as the main research area.In terms of time,the transformation of the Tujia Chiefs in Youyang beginning in the twelfth year of Yongzheng(1734)and the Qianjiang Teaching case ending in the twelfth year of Tongzhi(1873)is defined as the beginning,and it is found that the Tujia area in southeast Chongqing has been influenced by Han culture and foreign culture in the past 140 years,which makes the social elements in this area increasingly rich.In particular,folk beliefs are more diverse and complex.On the one hand,after returning to the countryside,the chiefdom system prevailing in southeast Chongqing for more than 600 years was abolished,which promoted the interaction between southeast Chongqing and the Central Dynasty more frequently,and created opportunities for the introduction of Han culture and various beliefs.On the other hand,under the dual effects of state power and folk choice,the organizational form,language,customs,cultural education and folk beliefs of Tujia society in southeast Chongqing began to change,and these social elements influenced and penetrated each other.On the changing process of folk belief in southeast Chongqing.From the macro level,the folk beliefs of Tujia people in southeast Chongqing after the conversion are manifested as the disappearance,variation and increase of beliefs in content,and the decentralization in structure.From the micro level,the change is manifested as the change of the core gods of belief,the change of worship content and ceremony,the more complex type of belief,the change of the status of the clergy.In particular,the folk beliefs of Tujia area in southeast Chongqing,such as white tiger totem worship,ancestor worship and polytheistic belief,are embodied in the Tima ritual activities in a kind of gathering posture,that is,the Tima belief formed in the ceremony contains all the faith events.Therefore,the change process of Tima belief after the return of the land can also explore the change trend of the overall folk belief,and further discover the game interaction process between Tujia culture and Han culture,Tujia region and the central government.Through the exposition of the contents of various folk beliefs in the Tujia area in southeast Chongqing and the tracking of their changing process,this paper explores various motivations of belief changes and the appearance after belief changes,and summarizes the historical laws of the belief culture and social historical evolution of other ethnic minorities in the country by the changing process of Tujia folk beliefs in southeast Chongqing,a specific ethnic group in micro region.