Folk Belief And Grass-roots Organization Of Villages Since Ming And Qing Dynasty

Folk belief is a vital perspective to observe rural society. It connects closely with grass-roots organization of rural area and also plays a role in those aspects of community structure and social space. On the one hand, the organization is the specific organizer and executor for folk belief activities. On the other hand, folk belief continuously reinforcing the cooperation and recognition for the masses strengthens the authority of the organization. Both sides have some interactive relations.Family is the basic social group of rural area. As the basic unit of producing and social activities, family is also the major part inheriting the folk belief. Belief activities are frequent on account of increasingly demands of producing and life in family. Individuals go through life and death in family where their lives belong to and their spirit relied on. Individuals in family members can clear away fear in heart and gain spiritual console by means of belief from which they also gray for safety, rich and prosperous for family. Clan is the expansion on family and extension of blood relationship. In ancestor-worship activities, clan strength is continuously consolidated. It is embodied in activity of taking genealogy, offering sacrifices to ancestors in turn during Spring Festival and attending Tomb-sweeping gathering. Reinforcing clan strength promotes belief activities of internal clan and plays a role in rural affairs.Community is the basic organizing unit of rural society. It has effectively organized and fully expressed the belief idea, ceremony behavior and so on in people's daily life, constantly gathered the masses and maintained the relationship of rural community. Meanwhile, community organization strengthened and extended its function drawing support from authority of gods. The bounds are relatively vague between village and community organization. Two parties are frequently overlapped. Village temple is a place where villagers get together worshiping gods, as well as a location for litigation, trial, punishment and laying up public property. Rural organizations centering on village leaders use temple as the central location, executing daily affairs like dealing with civil issues, organizing the field patrol, punishing stealers, managing public property, as well as belief activities of entire village such as praying for rains, building temples and setting off fireworks with shelves. It stimulates entire villagers to participate in such activities, which strengthens the community consciousness and sense among villagers. Village leaders and organizations win authority in village public affairs. The common idea of entirety is deepened in village belief activities, too.Villages with the same belief gradually become an inseparable entirety. The legend of Giant Buddha of Yuci is the source of common belief. It provides the explanation and common recognition in aspect of legend for Eight Community Thirteen Villages. The Giant Buddha temple is considered as the symbol of exceeding villages union. The Giant Buddha Valley temple fair and the ceremony of escorting the figure of Buddha in turn set up a systematic procedure for folk organization running among Eight Community Thirteen Villages, which continuously maintain and intensify the connection and recognition for each other. The village leaders hold position of major part of belief maintaining, they establish the rural authority exceeding villages, which shows a self-government tendency. The villages in the same belief of Giant Buddha Valley have close relationship in clan, water-using and so on. Conflicts also emerged on the belief aspect. Eight Community Thirteen Villages gradually become integration in the progress of connection and conflict. After 40s of 20th century, Folk belief once suffered intense ruin. The Giant Buddha temple ruined seriously. Temple fair and activity of escorting the figure of Buddha stopped, the organization of Eight Community Thirteen Villages disintegrated. In recent years, folk belief is considered as folk culture to carry forward. It has merged in the theme of present society and shows great vitality with the development of the society.