Regional Perspective Of Faith And Landscape

The folk beliefs in traditional Chinese society are research objects of various disciplines. The relationship between the development of belief and the regional social progress is the key of research and the t worthy concern of the belief.In a sense, the regional differences in society is the foundation of various folk beliefs. Folk belief is the product of regional society, it effects or confirms the development progress of regional society in some extent.The landscape of belief is the important form of the belief expression, it is the external mark of the belief development, and feeds back the belief which derivative of it in the developing process.Shaanxi province locates the east of northwest region of China.The rain god worship in shaanxi origined early and existed long-term because of its more arid and semi-arid area. Frequently drought in shaanxi was the geographical basis of the rain god worship in qing dynasty; Pray for rain custom in regional society,the low cost of it were the social basis. The rain god worship had the clear visible traces of Tang dynasty gods in the early qing dynasty, but quickly weakened in the next century, instead by regional rain god- Taibai mountain god. The officials or the public in regional society was the practitioners of the rain god worship in different periods, dominated the belief activities, played a similar role to promote the belief development. The ceremony of praying for rain was constrainted by regional traditional and natural environment, it can be divided into draught worship and festival worship, they alternately appeared in different regions. The rain god's temple is the rain god's extension, the mark of gods presence, and the places of worship rain gods. The landscape time-space distribution presented obvious difference because of the different rain worship degree.The Taibai mountain god was the most influential rain god in Shaanxi province in Qing dynasty. The taibai god development condition before Qing dynasty was the foundation of it in Qing dynasty. The taibai mountain god was produced in Han dynasty,it had close relationship with Taoism. But it was accepted by people because of its relationship with rain. The taibai mountain area has relatively rich terrain rain, it was the foundation of god produce, and much drought in Guanzhong region was the important opportunity in god development. In qing dynasty, the taibai mountain god experienced great changes in shaanxi. In early qing dynasty, The taibai mountain god spreaded quickly in eastern and southern of shaanxi; In mid-qing dynasty, the taibai mountain god was translated from the place god to regional god,then quickly developed in guanzhong region; In Jiaqing period, the taibai mountain god developed in southern shaanxi. Thus, the regional extends of taibai mountain god was basically ended. In the belief development process, it gradually formed two big center, its denotation constituted the core region of belief; Based on the administrative power and regional identity, it constituted the edge area, then formed the belief circle,this is the inevitable result of belief spread. In the taibai mountain god spread process,it experienced repeatedly fluctuation,and belief area gradually expanded,this was the proof of the social change.Belief development is a kind of aeriform exist, landscape as the belief material extension,is the basis when we judge the development of the belief. Taibai temple was the mainly landscape of taibai mountain god. In the belief source region,the landscape countained the mountainous landscape,water landscape and temples。Besides this area,temples were the mainly landscape of belief.Mountain and water landscapes gradually became specific from mysterious image in cognition devepopment process. Temple was the most mature kind of landscape,it followed the belief development from beginning to end. With the development of landscape, the landscape of specific layout was changed with the natural basis changing,and conveyed the course of belief development in spatial distribution.Based on the power and the administrative districts, the belief gradually appeared political trend, the power in regional society was the vane of its development direction. Belief as a product of society, it couldn't be separated from its soil, the secularization of the belief was unavoidable, belief had a long-term influence on regional economy and society.Belief landscape was the product of belief development.In the early stages of belief, landscape and beliefs were unary correspondence; in the maturing age of belief development,they presented multiple correspondence. The degree of belief was the existence of perception,it can be decided the density of the landscape. As a place god, Taibai temple scattered sporadic;As a regional god, temples scattered throughout the belief circle, and had a faint spread trend out of the circle. Landscape as the product of belief had influence on the belief.Landscape was the witnesses of the belief, and the belief can be delayed by it. Both the belief and landscape's development, they didn't have the same trend,at last they formed a corresponding but not equivalence relationship. Regional society was the field of folk belief's emergence and development, landscape was material existence which produced by the belief based on this area. Both belief and landscape changed, regional social changed,too. The alterant stroma must be reflected on the belief and landscape which activitied on it, they were interaction for nearly three years. Beliefs, landscape and regional society, couldn't seprate from each other. This article attempts to find out a way to analyze this process and theirs relationship.I think it's a useful attempt.