On The Chinese Folklore Concepts Of Lat Pau In Singapore

Lat Pau was the earliest,the longest-issuing and most influential Chinese newspaper in Singapore.It was founded in 1881 and has been issued for 52 years.It was known as the “Nanyang First Daily News”.As a newspaper founded by Singaporean Chinese,it had a distinct national sentiment and consciousness,which contained a large number of Chinese folklore concepts.Different from Chinese local newspapers and periodicals,the newspaper was in the forefront of cultural exchanges between China and the West,and its cultural perspective was more advanced and dialectical.In the environment that was out of mainland China,it regarded itself as the carrier of traditional culture and transmitted Chinese folk beliefs such as festivals,marriages and funerals to local Chinese.At the same time,it actively accepted Western ideas,criticized the negative content of traditional folk customs,and always seeks a balance between Chinese and Western cultural exchanges.This article takes Singapore's "Lat Pau" as the research object,and uses the editorial content of the folklore concept in Lat Pau as the research text,to sort and analyze the Chinese folklore concept of Singapore's Lat Pau.The Chinese folk customs concept is divided into three parts: religious beliefs,ritual customs and change of those customs.Religious beliefs part,starting from Confucianism,Buddhism,Taoism and folk beliefs,fully affirm the necessity of the existence of religious beliefs,and promote the return of the people to the classics of the various factions.The concept of ritual and custom is mainly to choose the wedding mourning customs and holiday rituals as the representative,through the actual life of Singapore folklore shown in the newspaper,to analyze the inheritance of traditional Chinese folk customs by Singaporean Chinese and the adaptation of Chinese folk culture to the local environment.In part of changes of customs,it reflects how the Lat Pau handled traditional customs,sought a balance between traditional ideas and modern ideas,made changes on the basis of integrating Western modern ideas,abandoned feudal superstition,and pursued scientific democracy.Through the study of the Chinese folklore concept in Singapore's Lat Pau,the article affirmed the role of Lat Pau in promoting the inheritance of Chinese folklore in Singapore.This is mainly reflected in that the overseas Chinese who are represented by the founders of the newspaper,although they are far away from mainland China,on one hand,they still adhered to the main position of Chinese culture,on the other hand,they and dialectically criticized and adapted to reform of modern civilization.Under the long-term immersion of Chinese and Western cultures,Singapore had become a multi-cultural city at that time.Through Lat Pau,it reflects the fusion attitude of Singaporean Chinese in cultural collisions and shows the adaptive progress and innovation of Chinese folklore.