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- Title
From Ancestor to Deity: The Cultural Construction of a Chinese Village Goddess during the Past Two Decades.
- Authors
Huang Ping-ying
- Abstract
After the reform era began in 1978, space for civil society gradually expanded in China. Since the 1980s, some rural lineages have revived construction of ancestral halls, compiled genealogies, or repaired ancestral graves, while temple activities have also gradually resumed. However, this so-called revival is not a stereotyped reproduction but a series of creations accompanied by social changes. One example of this phenomenon may be found in Yanpotian Village in Changting, Fujian, a single-surname lineage village inhabited by members of the Lin lineage. Around 2000, this village initiated the "revival" of lineage culture. Building on villagers' customary practice of "Potai (female ancestor) worship," it associated this with the village name "Yanpotian" and created a goddess known as "Yanpo." This goddess was not only included in the Lin genealogy but also recorded in local chronicles and even listed as city-level intangible cultural heritage under the title "Hakka Yanpo Customs in Tingzhou." However, apart from a very small number of village cadres or local elites, the vast majority of villagers know almost nothing about Yanpo. However, with the passage of time, as elder villagers who know stories about their ancestors diminish, the situation is expected to change. This article is based on a case study of Yanpotian, explaining how this village, in the process of rebuilding its lineage and reviving local culture, created Yanpo as a lineage cultural tradition. In terms of structure, it first gives an overview of Yanpotian Village and then explains the contents of this newly created Yanpo tradition. In addition, it shows how villagers come to know of or encounter this new tradition. Finally, through historical documents and the author's field investigations, it attempts to analyze the contexts in which Yanpo was created in response to social changes. The article's goal is to illustrate, through the analysis of this case study, the processes of revival and creation of lineage culture in a Hakka ancestral village in Western Fujian during the past two decades.
- Subjects
FUJIAN Sheng (China); CHINA; GODDESSES; ELITE (Social sciences); HISTORICAL source material; VILLAGES; CULTURAL property; SOCIAL change
- Publication
Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre & Folklore / Mínsú Qǔyì, 2024, Issue 224, p91
- ISSN
1025-1383
- Publication type
Article