| From Dragon totem worship to Dragon god worship, Dragon asthe symbol of the Chinese nation, it experienced a long process. Inpeople’s mind, Dragon can change drought to rainy, many classicexpounded. Shanxi Province located in the arid and semiarid regions,precipitation is less, especially in Datong area, affected by naturalgeographical factors, combined with the Datong area strong religiousatmosphere, people there are in belief of Dragon.In the Qing dynasty, all kinds of belief got a rapid development infolk. Datong area presented a unique form and characteristics inbeliefs. People believe in Dragon made a profound impact on people’sspiritual and social development in Datong.This paper on view of Datong’s Dragon belief in the Qing dynasty,analyzed the reason of the widespread belief in Datong region, thedevelopment of the specific situation, the characteristics of thepublic belief in the Dragon and people of faith the role of socialdevelopment in the Datong. Provides a new Angle of view to studyDatong people’s spiritual world, and this made a preliminaryexploration for the study of regional intellectual history. This paper isdivided into five parts:The first part mainly investigat dragon belief’s emergence, development and the overall situation of folk belief in Qing Dynasty.Dragon worship originated from primitive dragon totem worship,thentransfered by Confucianism and Buddhism Taoism.Then to the QingDynasty Dragon becomes a combained God with in totem worship,worship of gods, and emperor worship. In Qing Dynasty, the rulerstreat folk belief as free, this is one of the important reasons of dragonworship can generally flow.The second part discusses the realistic environment in Datong inQing dynasty. Shanxi located in arid and semiarid regions,precipitation is less, the water conservancy facilities is not perfect,the drought situation is grim, there’s always outbreak of large-scaledrought, made food production insufficient, people praying for Dragonwhich can bring water and rain to them,so they built water temple,Dragon temple. In terms of the Datong area, the worse environmentand the local strong religious atmosphere and influenced byBuddhism, Taoism, people tend to show more faith.The third part introduced Datong’s Dragon belief in the Qingdynasty, including the temple’s character and distribution in Datong,the activities of belief in Dragon in Datong.Dragon temples were built many in Datong in the Qing dynasty,because people want to resist drought, seek spiritual comfort.Scholars, local officials, businessmen and ordinary people areinvolved in built Dragon temple, even the rulers also order people bulitDragon temple. The beginning of the a year, people will worship theDragon in order to look forward to harvest. when in drought, thepeople worship Dragon for rain, when it rains, people reward it asDragon’s power, they hold many activities to express their thanks to Dragon. The Dragon has been integrated into the public life, custom inthere have the character of Dragon worship. In addition, the articlealso from the perspective of sociology, psychology, religion and otherdisciplines, to analysis the ceremony, witchcraft, taboo in worshipingactivities.The forth part mainly summarized the characteristics of peopleworshiping activities in the Qing dynasty. Reflect the God. God of rainis not only the Dragon, but also Dragon mother, fox, Chinese God andgod of north.Dragon mother not only can bring rainfall but also canbless children born safe. They showed the following characteristics:1.The Dragon belief distributes widely, people in faith are various;2.People in Datong not single worship the Dragon but many otherobjects;3. The public belief in Dragon obviously influenced byBuddhism;4. Dragon mother have a great role place. In a word,Datong area in the Qing dynasty Dragon religion is thrive, people buildDragon temples widespread. people devout prayers and sacrificesmeet the spiritual needs, Activities in Datong are the most popularactives, its also reflects the close relationship of Dragon andBuddhism.The fifth part discusses theDragon beliefs to social developmentin Datong area, embodied in the integration of social forces,strengthening people’s historical memory and promote socialinteraction and entertainment.A comprehensive summary of the full text finally, stressed theDragon worship flourish in Datong in the Qing dynasty and itscharacteristics. |
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