A Study On Shaping Rural Spirit By Rural Sports Ritual

The report of the 20 th CPC National Congress pointed out that "The most challenging and arduous tasks we face in building a modern socialist China in all respects remain in our rural areas.” At present,the agricultural rural development of our country has entered a new historical stage.The focus of work related to“agriculture,rural areas and farmers” is gradually shifting to rural revitalization.“Implementing the rural revitalization strategy should focus on material and spiritual civilization together,with special emphasis on enhancing the spirituality of farmers.”General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed.However,in the development of modern society,the impact of urbanization and industrialization has caused many problems in the countryside at the spiritual level,resulting in the chaos of rural social order,leading to the distortion of some villagers’ perception and leaving their spiritual world in a state of deprivation.Some research shows that folk sports activities help to create a healthy and positive spiritual environment for the countryside,and folk sports activities are mostly ceremonial sports activities,often accompanied by some ceremonies,the ritual itself can also have a positive impact on people’s spiritual level.Therefore,it is worth thinking about how to use village sports rituals to shape the rural spirit.Daliwang Lion Dance is a traditional folk sport activity originated from Daliwang Village in Luoyang City,which has a long history of development and is the "rural spirit" of Daliwang Village and has a positive impact on the spiritual level of the village.Daliwang Lion Dance held on the first day of the Chinese New Year every year serves as a collective village ritual,which largely reflects the relationship between village sports rituals and the shaping of rural spirit.Therefore,this paper selects the Daliwang lion dance as a case study,and uses the methods of documentation,case study,field investigation,and drawing on the relevant theories of anthropology,folklore,sociology to investigate the Daliwang lion dance ritual.This paper sorts out the natural and human background of the Daliwang lion dance,its generation and historical development,as well as the preparation,ritual artifacts,and ritual process of the Daliwang lion dance ritual.In-depth interviews were conducted with the inheritors and the villagers of Daliwang Lion Dance.By combining their oral materials and relevant theories,the relationship between the relationship between the symbolic system,behavioral procedures,contents and forms of the Daliwang lion dance ritual and the formation of the villagers’ spirit in Daliwang was analyzed,thus revealing the mechanism by which village sports rituals shape the rural spirit.The research draws the following conclusions:The Daliwang lion dance ritual achieves the shaping of rural spirit through the symbolic system and structured behavioral procedures,as well as the unique ritual form and the ritual content that are popular among villagers.At the level of the ritual symbol system,the transmission of the cultural significance of the symbol’s “feeling level” allows villagers to obtain spiritual comfort and achieve psychological adjustment in the ritual participation,which promotes harmony and stability at the spiritual level of the village;also uplifting the villagers’ spirit,boosting their morale and delighting their mood,allowing the villagers to obtain positive emotions and shaping a positive rural spirit.The transmission of the cultural significance of the symbol’s “concept level” deepens the villagers’ collective concept and community consciousness,enhances the villagers’ sense of discipline,enables the villagers to shape and strengthen advanced morality and values,and gradually forms a good culture in the village that is in line with the socialist core values.At the level of ritual behavioral procedures,the mechanism of the role of ritual identity helps villagers strengthen the sense of inter-ethnic unity,cultural tolerance,the value of equality for all,the sense of striving for upward competition,and the concept of solidarity,love and mutual assistance among neighbors.The ritual acts strengthen the sense of community among the villagers and make them more united;continued the spiritual tradition of "filial piety" and "respect";relieve the anxiety of people and put them in a good emotional state;strengthen the brave spirit of the villagers in spite of difficulties.At the level of ritual content,the ritual content that the villagers enjoy motivates them to actively participate in it,thus giving them the opportunity to achieve spiritual formation through the ritual;it makes the villagers identify highly with the ritual and thus spiritually move towards the direction that the ritual leads.In the ritual,the villagers can release their dull and depressed emotions,obtain spiritual satisfaction,adjust and balance their emotions.The highly ornamental ritual attracts people from other villages to watch,which enhances the self-confidence and sense of collective honor of the people of Daliwang and cultivates the virtue of hospitality among the villagers.Inter-village lion dance competition also strengthens the villagers’ collective mindset and stimulates people’s motivation.At the level of ritual form,the performance form that requires a high degree of cooperation helps eliminate contradictions and estrangement among the villagers and increases tacit understanding among the villagers;it also strengthens interpersonal communication among villagers,increases their emotional exchange and enhances their spirit of unity.The interaction between the audience and the lion dancers during the ritual inspires and motivates both parties.As a folk sports ritual,the lion dance ritual performance stirs up strong emotions in the participants through direct physical activities and behavioral performance,allowing them to deeply experience the spirit conveyed by the ritual.Summing up the excellent rural spirit include: Civilized and harmonious,united and friendly,democratic and equal,open and inclusive;the villagers are brave and strong,active and progressive,law-abiding,respectful to their ancestors,virtuous and hospitable.Experiences on making village sports rituals play an effective role in shaping rural spirit can be summarized as follows: Village sports belong to the majority of village people,and the government should reasonably guide the mobilization of villagers to participate in sports;the occurrence of village sports behavior depends on the behavior having the meaning of the times,and the ritual organizers should consciously keep giving the behavior meaning and integrating the village spirit in the sports rituals;focus on the unity of content and form of the ritual,fully reflecting the regional,folkloric and vernacular;it is necessary to constantly update the content and keep up with the times.