A Study Of The Life Course Of A Rural Geomancer

Fengshui culture has always been a hot topic in folklore research.Based on the"performance centered" new folklore research paradigm,combined with the perspective of life course theory,this paper discovers and studies the connotation and evolution of Fengshui culture from the whole life span and stage of individual Fengshui masters.In this paper,semi-structured interview and participatory observation are used to make a detailed investigation and in-depth analysis on the major events and practical activities of Fengshui in the period of entry,maturity and adjustment.In order to fully show the dynamic process that individual feng shui masters enter into the Feng Shui industry,gradually get familiar with the Feng Shui discourse,and independently carry out Feng Shui practice activities.Finally,based on the evaluation of three-dimensional indexes of trust,intimacy and prestige status,this paper analyzes and forecasts the career prospects of individual Feng Shui Masters in the future.The results show that:The natural environment,cultural environment and family environment of an individual's area will significantly affect the possibility of engaging in geomancy.In addition,the important early life events emphasized by life course theory have a significant impact on whether an individual is engaged in fengshui industry.In the early stage of life,individuals who have experienced negative life events such as dropping out of school,unemployment will be more inclined to choose to work as geomancers.Most of the individual Fengshui teachers complete the study of Fengshui discourse by self-study,and the form of self-study is mainly limited to Fengshui books.The phenomenon of teaching and communication among the Fengshui masters is very rare,and most of them are "behind closed doors".However,the individual is not totally dependent on the inherent Fengshui books.In most cases,the individual Fengshui masters will summarize the experience words more suitable for the local use from the Fengshui practice activities they host or participate in.Compared with the contents of books,this kind of experience discourse is more understandable and more popular,which fully embodies the wisdom of individual feng shui masters.Compared with the traditional Fengshui activities,modern Fengshui activities have great differences in content and form,discourse system and implementation steps.Traditional Fengshui activities are book based,mostly in rural areas and the content of Fengshui activities is relatively single.However,modern Fengshui activities are based on experience,popularized in urban areas and diversified in content.Individual feng shui masters often have a very high professional reputation in their area,and they communicate frequently with their neighbors and villagers.They are relatively close and have good interpersonal relationships.At the same time,it has a strong convincing force and can be trusted by the villagers.Therefore,the future development of fengshui industry is quite promising.This paper is a preliminary exploration of the whole life course and stage of individual feng shui master by using the new research paradigm of folklore,in order to provide a basic reference frame and thinking for the follow-up in-depth study.