Praying For Rain In Shanxi During The Ming And Qing Dynasties

This paper takes the folklore of praying for rain in Shanxi region as the research object,uses the theories of folklore literature,interpretive folklore and disaster folklore,adopts documentary analysis,literature and field methods and comparative research methods,takes ancient documents as the data,focuses on the context of praying for rain in Shanxi,the object of praying for rain and the folklore cultural psychology reflected by it,etc.to conduct a more systematic research.This paper is based on previous research.Based on the previous studies,this paper systematically compares the existing rain praying folklore in terms of the objects and ways of praying for rain,ancient rain praying folklore studies,rain praying folklore studies in literature and Shanxi rain praying folklore studies.Praying for rain folklore is recorded in all kinds of ancient literature and canonical texts,and the ancient Chinese literature on praying for rain and the literature on praying for rain in Shanxi are classified,and the textual content of the literature on praying for rain folklore is analyzed in a more in-depth manner.It is found that from the pre-Qin dynasty literature to the Ming and Qing dynasties literature,from the official historical literature to the folk literature,the series of rain praying behaviors carried out by the government and the people recorded can be described as a history of resistance that does not yield to nature;the characteristics of documentary,abbreviated,and utilitarianism embodied also gradually appear.The context of rain praying folklore in Shanxi in the Ming and Qing dynasties is explored from three aspects: natural context,historical and cultural context,and folk cultural context,and the development and evolution of rain praying folklore in Shanxi during the development of farming civilization.In addition,from the perspective of folklore literature,we discuss the objects and rituals of Shanxi rain praying folklore in Ming and Qing dynasties,and compare the rain praying folklore in Shanxi with previous generations in a chronological manner,analyzing the inheritance and differences between the government and the people in this period and the previous rain praying customs;in a common manner,we analyze the rain praying customs in different regions of Shanxi in the local literature,focusing on the specific rituals and the analysis of rain praying texts,especially The main purpose of this study is to analyze the rituals and the texts of rain prayers,especially the beliefs of water gods,dragon gods and other related deities derived from rain prayers,and to sort out the cultural psychology of rain prayers and their functions,such as reverence and gratitude to nature,praying for abundant crops,uniting people’s hearts to teach the public,self-adjustment and spiritual solace in the face of natural disasters.The thesis is an exploration of the folk psychology and folk view of the people of Shanxi in the process of rain praying rituals,and an analysis of the folklore of praying for rain in Shanxi from ancient times to the present day as a result of the unremitting efforts of the people in their desire for national peace and prosperity,a smooth harvest of crops,and the "victory of man over nature".The paper is divided into introduction,text,references and appendices,totaling more than 75,000 words.