The Intersecting Of The Interpretation: A Research Into Dai Le’s Structure Of Dual Belief Focusing On Manga Village

Adopting the theories of structuralism and structural order,this study is to reveal the inner structure and its deep mechanism of beliefs in Dai Le’s society by exploring the explanations and interactions of dual beliefs in history.The representatives from both vernacular belief of Dai Le and Southern Buddhism interpret the social context of Dai Le society respectively with their own theories.Therefor,two sets of philosophical systems for interpretations have formed.This study explores binary interpretations of Dai Le’s two beliefs in Dai Le society by describing and depicting the nature,humanity and historical memory,ritual,festival and daily life practice of Dai Le community in Manga village,the binary interpretations of which is the opposition in the philosophical sense: following one’s heart vs.abstinence from sex and self,being bounded vs.being unbounded and living in the world vs.living beyond the world,etc.This study also reveals the conscious pattern of two beliefs is the surface structure in Dai Le society,which is the secular in present life vs.merit and virtue for afterlife.While unconscious patterns of two beliefs are the deep structure of the society,which are the binary relationships or opposition,like being exclusive vs.being non-exclusive,equality vs.inequality,being paternal vs.being maternal,being in power vs.out of power,emphasizing cultural function vs.emphasizing political function,avoiding death and facing death,etc.Based on in-depth and detailed fieldwork,the study concludes that the principle of the interpretation in vernacular belief system in Dai Le society is to classify and categorize the things and people in the world.Such principle forms a kind of longitudinal cognition of the world;while the principle of the interpretation in Southern Buddhism is to stratify the society,making Dai Le society a highly stratified society.The method forms a latitudinal cognition.Thus,when two interpretations,longitudinal and latitudinal principles intersecting in the same society,Dai Le society is divided as a grid structure.This study argues that the dynamics of the beliefs in Dai Le society is to scramble for the power of interpretation by one over the other to get the domination and gain the legitimacy,authority and effectiveness of the interpretation,and overall the exclusive right to secular power.However,the coexistence of dual beliefs illustrates the deadlock between two beliefs—— neither one of them can win the domination.Two beliefs maintain a stalemate though the two interacted with each other in history.Manga Village is located on the borderline between China and Myanmar belonging to the Indo-China Peninsula.On the one hand,the local indigenous civilization is superimposed and influenced by the Chinese civilization.On the other hand,it is baptized by the civilization from South Asia.Such an area is also a cultural overlapping zone.The village has characteristics of institutional religion and diffuse religion at the same time,which is a very unique existence.On the one hand,Southern Buddhism can provide ethics for the world independently.It has systematic theology,rituals and structural organization and even combines with kingship to control and regulate ordinary people.In an absolute sense,it embodies features as a typical institutional religion.On the other hand,the native vernacular belief of Manga Village people,such as offering sacrifices to family gods,village gods and Meng gods as well as divination,feng shui and other beliefs in daily life are active and form a part of the Dai Le social life,which is typical of diffuse religion.The dual beliefs are distributed evenly in time and space in Manga village and each has its own system of duties,festivals and rituals,and symbols.Historically,the roles of vernacular belief and Southern Buddhism have wandered between the two ends of a continuum of political and cultural function.During the period of tribal alliance,vernacular belief played more political function;In the feudal dynasty,the foreign Southern Buddhism also played more political function.After the rule of Emperor Zhu Houcong(Jiajing Period of the Ming Dynasty),Southern Buddhism gradually became the political control tool of the Burmese Dynasty over the Dai Le people.Under such a form,the Dai Le people chose vernacular belief as its spiritual tool to deal with realistic contradictions.And in different historical backgrounds,Dai Le people,these simple and sophisticated philosophers,could resort to two different spiritual beliefs according to their own needs.Vernacular beliefs are rooted in people’s lives and cover a wide range of contents,including animist beliefs and their structural systems,deity systems,and views on life and death.vernacular beliefs have “mysterious” and “supernatural” experiences.The deep cognitive mechanism in the vernacular belief of the Dai Le people is the cognition of “spirit” and the classification of “spirit”,from which a whole set of concepts,interpretation and corresponding means are developed.Similarly,priests in vernacular beliefs are also distinguished by different types.Among them,the “spirit”of the ancestors who have the power to protect the world is regarded as a powerful deity,also known as “Diuwada”.Furthermore,there is a hierarchical deity system in the spiritual world.The interpretation of vernacular belief in the Dai Le society is based on the principles of classification and category attribution.The interpretation of Southern Buddhism in Dai Le society makes Dai Le divide the social structure more carefully.It bunches and interlocks the order of religious system and the order of secular kingship and provides a series of well-organized fields of competition.It makes clear that the formal structure of Dai Le society revolves around the monarch,royal court,court and army.There are distinct hierarchies from the monarch to his agents in various places—— Zhaomeng and from the local governor to the head of the family.In addition,Southern Buddhism has brought enlightenment to the people of Dai Le.It can be said that the interpretation of southern Buddhism is based on the principle of “order” and “courtesy”.On the basis of this cognition,three supplements to the research on Dai Le’s dual beliefs were put forward: the interpretation of dual beliefs strengthens collective identity;the interpretation of duel beliefs plays a guiding and prescriptive role in collective behaviors;the essence of the scrambling for the interpretation power is scrambling for the domination.Daily practice further maintains the interpretation of dual beliefs functions.