A Study Of The Legend And Beliefs Of The Dragon King Along The Yellow River In Shanxi,Shaanxi And Henan

This paper takes the legend of the Dragon King and the beliefs of the Dragon King in the Yellow River region of Jin,Shaanxi and Henan provinces as the object of study,analyses the emergence of the image of the Dragon King in the regional cultural environment of the three provinces and the process of its interconstruction as a spiritual symbol and local cultural identity,examines and understands the beliefs of the Dragon King in the Yellow River region of the three provinces from the perspective of regional similarities and differences,and explores the interaction mechanism and transmission state of the beliefs of the rain god with the life of the regional people.The texts of the legend of the Dragon King that have been passed down in the three provinces are sorted out and interpreted from the perspective of narrative types,and their narrative characteristics and cultural connotations are explored.At the same time,the Dragon King temples in the three provinces are taken as important objects of study.The images,texts and sacred objects required for rituals in the temple space are listed and analysed,and the similarities and differences among the temples in the three provinces are summarised in the context of historical documents and field surveys,thereby elucidating the regional characteristics contained in them.The first chapter analyzes the similarities and differences of the regional environmental characteristics along the Yellow River in the three provinces from the perspective of regional environment,and explores the overlapping effect of the Yellow River basin in the three provinces on the incubation of the image of the Dragon King and the integration and interconstruction of the Dragon King as an image symbol with regional culture.As a symbol of regional beliefs,the Dragon King is closely intertwined with people’s lives,and folklore activities such as festivals and rituals and temple festivals link people’s daily life with folk beliefs,and the vitality of folk beliefs is perpetuated in traditional rituals.The second chapter takes the legendary text carrier of the Dragon King belief as the entry point to sort out the distribution of the legend of the Dragon King in Shanxi,Shaanxi and Henan provinces,classify the legendary texts extracted from the field survey and literature search into types,summarize their storylines and basic themes,and analyze the narrative characteristics and cultural connotations of the legend of the Dragon King in the three provinces,so as to gain insight into the belief psychology and regional character of the people in the three provinces.The third chapter focuses on the spatial carrier of the beliefs of the Dragon King,namely the Temple of the Dragon King,and makes a deeper analysis of the inscriptions,images and sacred relics in the temple space,interpreting the key information of the regional beliefs hidden in the text and image forms such as rain praying inscriptions,blessings and murals,and perceiving the vitality of the regional beliefs and the live sense of the ritual performances by approaching the sacred relics needed in the ritual activities related to the Dragon King.The fourth chapter returns to the macro level and explores the intrinsic connection between the belief in the Dragon King and rural governance.The intersection of sacred and secular attributes in the image of the Dragon King plays an important role in maintaining the stability of rural social order and uniting the descendants of the clan.By making good use of traditional cultural resources and modern means of governance,we can not only seek a modern transformation path for the beliefs of the Dragon King,but also promote the change of customs and traditions in rural society and build a modern new countryside.As a symbol of regional belief,the legend of the Dragon King has been widely spread in the three provinces of Jin,Shaanxi and Henan.During the thousands of years that the belief in the Dragon King has been spread,its secular nature and the sacredness of the temple space have constantly intertwined and overlapped,playing a positive role in the order and stability of the vernacular society,and providing a realistic path for contemporary rural social governance,thus promoting the contemporary transformation of the belief in the Dragon King.