The Religious Activities In Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua

Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua as the first vernacular novel in China,gives a detailed and in-depth description of the social situation in the late Ming Dynasty by means of realism.In particular,it intersperses a large number of religious activities in its hundred chapters,showing the world and customs at that time.It has a unique value and significance in the history of Chinese literature.In the late Ming Dynasty,politics became increasingly decadent,and the influence of policy support,the development of commodity economy,the confluence of Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism greatly deepened the degree of religious secularization.Monks and Taoists began to enter people’s daily life,exposing the original mystery and sacredness.The religious activities in Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua involve the activities of xuanjuan,fortune telling,funeral rituals,Daojiao,Baidou and so on.These religious activities have unique literary functions.Firstly,they can promote the rich and colorful images of the characters in the novel and reveal the fate of the characters;Secondly,the author constructs the structure of the novel with the help of three religious characters: Wu Shenxian,Huang Zhenren and Pujing Zen master.They appear in the key part of the plot and undertake the functions of coordinating the whole text,connecting the preceding and the following,and ending the whole text;Thirdly,with the help of religious activities,the author expresses the ideological content of the novel and his creative theme,which is mainly reflected in the enlightenment thought of abandoning greed,the retribution thought of persuading good and punishing evil,and the concept of destiny,conveying his humanistic concern of warning and educating the world.Finally,the description of religious activities profoundly reveals the degeneration and utilitarianism of monks and Taoists in the late Ming Dynasty,and shows the declining trend of Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism.The description of religious activities in Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua runs through the whole novel.It vividly reproduces the scenes of folk life in the late Ming Dynasty.It has precious folklore value because of its broadness and profundity in reflecting reality.The related plots of xuanjuan,fortune telling and funeral activities recorded in the novel retain true and rich historical data,which has important reference value for us to understand the development of the three in the late Ming Dynasty.The description of seasons in the novel also has a strong religious color.The Lantern Festival,the Chinese Yuan Festival and the Laba Festival all originate from religious festivals.At the same time,the description of religious activities also reflects the values of the ordinary people in the late Ming Dynasty,which is mainly reflected in the contradictory psychology of generally negating and relying on the monks and Taoists and the cultural psychology of advocating pragmatism.