Western Guangdong Years, Cases Of The Diversity Of Worship Forms Of Historical Analysis

In the village of western Guangdong, take Maoming as centre where still retains a festival called Nian Li which preserved from Qing dynasty. This is the most solemn festival of local and the time concentrated from the first lunar month to March which lasts 3 days. Nian Li'gold is asking for a good year and lucky, it fills with kinds of fastidious complex sacrifice ceremony. This thesis based on field survey, united reorganization and analysis to related historical document, attempt to make collation and analysis to the sacrifice pattern of Nian Li of western Guangdong. I chose Liantang village of Maoming as filed spot, track and record the whole process of Nian Li of this village in 2009, and carry on interview to related people to obtain the preliminary field survey material. For the next year, I carry on a number of traditional field surveys and interviews to get more material. According to my investigation, western Guangdong' Nian Li has a fastidious procedure and particular emphasis sacrifice ceremony. Nian Li process by the beginning, entering room, put ancestor, sent money, kai guang, god' parade, feast, sent evil and put flag down, all they focus on sacrifice unless feast. Holding various sacrifice activity is to ask lucky and expel evil. According to the literature I have read, it can be inferred that the embryo of Nian Li has been formed at least 300 years ago, the festival'name has been formed at least more than 200 years ago, Nian Li integrated new elements hereafter, its influence is getting bigger and bigger and eventually becoming the most great festival in western Guangdong. The complex and diverse sacrifice pattern of Nian Li is a combination of several factors:this festival based on local god and patron god; It partly retains the custom of sacrifice for community before Qing dynasty; It has integrated Lantern Festival' factor of entertainment and festive, it has weakened and even assimilated influence of Lantern Festival in western Guangdong; In the sacrifice activities, many kinds of magic are used repeatedly cause the Nian Li to bring with some trifle mystical witch character; All the sacrifice activities of Nian Li managed by Taoist priest make it inevitably mix some feature of Taoism'.Combining a variety of doping elements bring the characteristics of diversity and complexity to Nian Li'sacrifice form.