The Cultural Interpretation On Symbols Of Shuidong Candied Jujube

Human culture can be understood since its inception. With the symbols and signs, culture was able to be created and presented. Therefore, observation and interpretation of cultural symbols became the direction of anthropologists’studying. This thesis focuses on Shuidong jujubes, coordinating the domestic study on jujubes and Western the myth-ceremony theory. Based on the rich literatures from the methods such as participant observation, literature analysis and depth interviews, this thesis aims to describe Shuidong jujubes culture microscopically, interpret the cultural symbols in it and discover and understand the cultural function and significance in the local community.The field survey is vital to culturally interpret Shuidong;"the hometown of jujubes" as deep as possible. In order to interpret Shuidong jujubes culture deeply, local social life should be taken into consideration. In addition, the author hopes to provide a little hint for "how to protect the historical culture of Shuidong jujubes without losing the vitality, and to promote the local cultural industries under the influence of modernization" through this interpretation.This thesis composes of the foreword and four chapters. The foreword briefly illustrates the origin of this study. The first chapter introduces the overview of domestic research on jujube culture and foreign theory of myth-the ceremony to clarify the significance of research, research methods, and define the relevant conceptions. The second chapter describes geographical and cultural environment of Shuidong, including climate, resources, local economic, dialect, diet and other aspects. The third and fourth chapters are the main body of this thesis. The third chapter introduces the production culture, diet culture and folklore related with Shuidong jujubes. Although its production has become modern industry from family workshops, traditional production process and tools are retained so far. Even in modern processing technology, traditional atmosphere can also be found. The significance of jujubes in traditional Chinese New Year and local wedding customers is detailed explained. Shuidong local folklore on the origin of jujubes has several versions, not only fascinating, but also closely linked with the local social fact. Following the previous chapter, chapter four focuses on the significance of symbols such as monk hat, tea jujubes,"jujubes naturalization legend " in the local social life. The conclusion part summarizes the culture of Shuidong jujubes, and provides some ideas to it through interpreting.