Break And Revival Of Tradition

Ritual refers to a set of symbolic and expressive customary acts, either religious or secular, which is conventionalized by tradition and culture. Mongolian wedding rituals are created and accumulated in history with the development of its national culture and represent the unique characteristics and styles of Mongolian nationality. Therefore, they are an embodiment of Mongolian material and spiritual wealth.The research views the characteristic Mongolian wedding rituals as a representation of behavior and code and thus takes it as an access to the exploration of the social and cultural changes of Mongolian nationality because the wedding ritual itself is changing with time and is an important variable involved in social and cultural changes. Following this thread of logic, the paper investigates and analyzes the changes of Mongolian wedding rituals in the town of Bainhot in Alashan League, Inner Mongolia.The paper employs related theories of sociology, folklore and anthropology to sort out the first-hand data gathered by field research and gives a detailed account of the half century's changes of the local Mongolian wedding rituals in Bainhot, from the foundation of People's Republic of China to the present day. By analyzing the complicated factors, which trigger these changes and the operational mechanism of such factors, the paper, in the context of social changes, systematically exhibits the traces of Mongolian wedding ritual changes, which have undergone a process of extension, split-up and revival. In addition, the paper also illustrate how the local traditional culture responds to the pressure coming from the development of modernization and at the same time copes with the changes triggered by enormous contact with the culture of Han nationality. Those changes are profound and extensive, with an inheritance and continuity of their own national traditions and the adjustment and adaptation to the new context. The study shows that rituals, as symbolic behavior and activities, are not only expressive but also constructive.Now the society is changing fast and constantly, it is significant both...