Guardian And Awakenin

Life rituals are an important area of folklore research.The rituals of the Hohhot region,which originated in Shanxi,are the local Han rites of passage.Hohhot is a region where farming and nomadic civilisations,Mongolian culture and Jin culture intertwine.Influenced by the diversity of cultures,the Hohhot Han ritual has its own distinctive features.In previous studies of the rite of passage,scholars have mostly focused on the nature,function and purpose of the rite,but rarely on the relationship between the subject and the object of the rite.In fact,as a transitional rite of passage,the rite of passage is also a means of regulation and a ceremony of transfer of power.I take Hohhot "Yuan Suoer"(a rite of taking the lock off)ritual as the object of study.Through participating in the observation of the "Yuan Suoer" ritual,I understand the ritual field,process and related contents,and with the help of in-depth interviews,I understand the Hohhot people’s view of infancy and children and the different ritual psychology of grandparents,fathers and sons.I understand three generations’ attitudes and behaviours in the decision-making and ritual process,so as to analyse the transfer of power in the rituals.Using a comparative approach to rituals,I find that the rituals of the pre-21 st century are distinctly conservative in character,while the later ones are mainly growth records and entertainment performances.The ritual process is described in depth,and the subjects at different stages are analysed,from the "Dai Suoer"(a rite of taking the lock on)to the "Yuan Suoer" and the subjectivity of the "Yuan Suoer" ritual is studied and discussed."Yuan Suoer" is closely linked to "Dai Suoer"."Dai Suoer" is a way in which people in the Hohhot area use to lock the soul of a baby in its body,i.e."locking the life".Obviously the recipient is unconscious and not the subject of the ritual."Yuan Suoer",on the other hand,is for the child to unchaining the shackles of life,meaning that he or she has just become a teenager,and the meaning of adulthood is highlighted and the sense of individuality is strengthened.In traditional society,the parents’ orders cannot be disobeyed and the elders are the absolute subjects in the rituals of life,so the main subjects of the traditional rituals are the parents and grandparents.In contemporary society,however,parent-child relationships have become more equal and the status of children in the family has increased,giving them more rights and expressions of opinion in family life and personal rituals.They will ask for a "Yuan Suoer" ceremony and parents will take into account their children’s ideas on how to conduct it.It is clear that the ’Yuan Suoer’ is now a true rite of passage,with the power of adulthood.It goes without saying that the subject of the rite of passage has changed,from a single parent’s "one voice" to the participation of the whole family.As far as the ritual is concerned,the fathers and sons are only formal subjects,but the real subjects are cultural traditions,secular society and historical memory.It is the invisible forces mentioned above that drive people to perform the ritual of the "Yuan Suoer".