| On the basic study of the previous people,this paper studies the nature,content,characteristic and function of the Khitan Shamanism in the Liao Dynasty.On the basis of the theory of primitive religion,this paper includes the concept,content,characteristic and function of the shamanism of the domestic and foreign scholars.And it defines the related concepts of the Khitan Shamanism,examines the traditional beliefs of the shamanism in the northern grassland,and sums up the forms and characteristics of the Shamanism,but also explains its relationship with the shamanistic tradition of other nationalities in the grassland.Also the paper concludes social and political functions of Khitan Shamanism of the Liao Dynasty and it is divided into three parts: introduction,main body and conclusion which the main body is divided into five chapters.The main contents and arguments of this paper are summarized as follows.The first part is the introduction.It includes the status quo of academic results,summarizes the shortcomings of the current research,and elaborates the main content,the research ideas,innovation and difficulties of the paper.The second part is the main body which is divided into five chapters.The first chapter illustrates the definition of the nature of shamanism.First of all,the paper states the definition of the nature of shamanism at home and abroad,defines the definition of the nature of the Khitan Shamanism of the Liao Dynasty which has the primitive religious nature.Secondly,it includes the definition of shamanism at home and abroad,also the features and functions.The basic form includes the worship of nature and worship of ancestor and after the founding of the Khitan Shamanism,the content of the Khitan Shamanism of the Liao Dynasty is the founding form of the inheritance and embodiment.And the worship will also be changed with the social and economic factors.The second chapter clarifies the traditional formal content and function of the shamanism of the people in the northern plains of the past.This paper collects the exist literature of the shamanism of the ancient Huns,Wuhuan and Turkic nationalities by using the theory of primitive religion in combination with the previous research and archaeological excavations.And it concludes that there is something similar between the traditional formal content and function.The third chapter tells the form and characteristics of the Khitan Shamanism in the Liao Dynasty.Considered of the "History of Liao ","The National Records of Khitan" and other literature records,it holds the view that the traditional content of Khitan Shamanism based on worship of nature and worship of ancestor.And it also summarizes the contents and features of the Liao Dynasty.The contents and characteristics of the worship of nature are mainly from the worship of heaven and earth,sun and moon,even mountain and animal.And the contents and characteristics of the worship of ancestors which are told mainly from the worship of ancestral mausoleum,ancestral temple between red mother statue and eight sons’ statue.The Shaman in Khitan society has a higher social status and play the intermediary role of God and people.They host the ritual ceremony of Shaman and participate in the political,military,social and other activities of the Khitan rituals.The fourth chapter illuminates the function of Khitan Shamanism of the Liao Dynasty.The Khitan Shamanism of the Liao Dynasty is the remains of the Khitan Shamanism in the Liao society.The original part of the natural worship and the ancestral worship is inherited and embodied in the social life and political life of Liao Dynasty.And it influences the whole aspects of the Khitan Shamanism of the Liao society.In particular,from the analysis of the contents of Khitan Shamanism of the Liao Dynasty,we can see the thinking of "God grants the monarchy power" and "Do it for heaven" which are contained in Liao’s political theory.The fifth chapter tells about the change and decline of the Shamanism in the Liao Dynasty.With the social and economic life changes of Khitan,the external forms of the Shamanism of the Khitan rise and fall together with the changes of the internal content.So the decline of the shamanism of the Liao Dynasty comes into a historical necessity.Firstly,the economic reason is mainly due to the changes in the ideology caused by the changes in the economic and social life of the Liao Dynasty.Secondly,the conflict between shamanism and centralized politics which is not good to consolidate the Khitan imperial power is the main political reason.And the concept of Buddhism and other nationalities are the reasons which impact the Khitan Shaman of the Liao Dynasty.So with the social and economic changes of the Khitan,the Shamanism goes through the coming up,development and decline.The third part is the conclusion.Above all,the paper summarizes the form,content,characteristics and function of the Khitan Shamanism of the Liao Dynasty.The basic form and content change with the social and economic changes of the Khitan.And compared with other traditional shamanism of nationalities of the grassland,it has the characteristics of Khitan. |
