Xiao Fang: When folk beliefs become a cultural heritage
Today, when the protection of intangible cultural heritage is emphasized, folk beliefs should naturally be included in the category of intangible cultural heritage.
However, according to the concept of intangible cultural heritage, there should be choices about the content of folk beliefs included in intangible cultural heritage.
The author believes that the traditional, ethical and endangered nature of folk beliefs are cultural standards that should be considered.
Generally speaking, we must adopt a positive supportive attitude towards the reconstruction of folk beliefs in contemporary society to achieve the goal of building a shared spiritual home.
The Situation of Folk Beliefs in China's Historical Society
Folk beliefs are a spiritual attitude of the people towards natural society."It is a set of deity worship concepts, behavioral habits and corresponding ritual systems spontaneously generated among the people in the long-term historical development process." Folk beliefs have a wide range of objects and can be roughly divided into ancestor beliefs, god beliefs, and ghost beliefs.
All folk beliefs are fundamentally a normal process to safeguard human life, such as praying for blessings and eliminating disasters, although the specific expressions may vary widely.
Folk beliefs have been passed down in civil society for a long time.
Although they have also continued to become the source of spiritual beliefs in the upper classes, on the whole, folk beliefs have always been closely related to the upper classes because of their originality and people's lives, as well as the diffusiveness of their existence.
Spiritual beliefs are significantly different.
From a historical perspective, the more firm the Confucian beliefs, the less tolerant they were towards folk beliefs.
They used the banner of "distinguishing customs and rectifying customs" and "changing customs" to rectify, change and even destroy folk beliefs that were inconsistent with the national ideology of the time.
In fact, folk belief traditions are difficult to change.
For example, the rise and fall of the status of Jiang Ziwen, a famous god in Jiangnan, is a typical example.
According to records in "Sou Shen Ji", Jiang Ziwen was originally a small county magistrate in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
After his death, he was worshipped as a god by the people.
The King of Wu had ordered a ban, but a fire broke out, and the King of Wu had to admit his sacrifice.
Later, Jiang Ziwen's status was reversed several times, but folk beliefs remained strong.
In modern times, the "Cultural Revolution" period has dealt particularly severe blows to folk beliefs, but today is the time for us to correctly understand the historical and social and cultural value of folk beliefs.
Folk beliefs as intangible cultural heritage
If folk beliefs were previously regarded as superstitions or backward ideologies and considered to be a resistance to social progress or a threat to national stability, then in the era of globalization, under the concept of cultural diversity, the rationality of folk beliefs began to receive attention.
The Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage adopted by UNESCO in 2003 stipulates that intangible cultural heritage has five contents, of which the fourth is "knowledge and practice about nature and the universe." This is a general expression of the people's spiritual beliefs, and therefore folk beliefs are included in the scope of intangible cultural heritage.
Under such circumstances, can any folk belief be spread at will as a legacy? The author believes that we should treat it with caution and limit its scope.
According to the concept of intangible cultural heritage, I think that the folk beliefs that should be paid attention to at present should have the following characteristics:
The first is tradition.
Tradition is an element that constitutes cultural heritage.
From the perspective of folklore, the tradition of folk beliefs has been formed for more than three generations.
That is, the inheritance of beliefs after about a century is a stable form of inheritance.
Any new contemporary folk beliefs cannot be included.
This not only reflects the heritage value of folk beliefs, but also effectively prevents the disruption and harm caused by excessive commercialization to the folk belief system and its existence.
The second is ethical.
Not any traditional culture can rise to the level of heritage.
We must have choices in inheriting it.
Only cultural traditions or traditional cultures that are beneficial to the physical and mental health of the public and have positive effects in social development can qualify as heritage.
As far as folk beliefs are concerned, they are a complex composition.
The positive and negative effects of folk beliefs are very clear.
Folk beliefs that can unite society and adjust spirit should belong to the scope of goodness.
For folk beliefs with good ethical characteristics, we should pay full attention to the ability of such folk beliefs to admonish moral norms and regulate people's spirit.
The third is endangered.
In the past century of historical setbacks, our traditional folk beliefs have been or are facing the danger of disappearing on a large scale.
We should give priority to rescuing and protecting such folk belief phenomena in practical work.
It is necessary to arouse people's attention to folk beliefs through identification and protection activities and integrate good folk beliefs into current life.
Although today's society is connected with traditional society by flesh and blood, the nature of society has undergone major changes, and traditional folk beliefs are also facing transformation and renewal.
In the current environment where folk beliefs are relaxed, it is possible that everything will be ruined.
We must be particularly vigilant against the complex and ever-changing social background, some bad people use the guise of respecting folk beliefs to accumulate wealth and endanger the safety of society and people's lives.
How to correctly treat folk beliefs
Folk beliefs were originally beliefs spontaneously generated by the people.
Their inheritance and development should have been solved by the people themselves.
After nearly a century of suppression, most of their belief space has been destroyed, and the belief time has been cancelled for a long time., we have received negative comments from time to time.
Take Beijing, the capital, as an example.
In the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 3000 temples in Beijing, and almost every street had its own sacrificial site.
People offered sacrifices every year in accordance with the tradition of sacrificial ceremonies.
Now, except for the Lama Temple, Guangji Temple, Guanghua Temple, and several Catholic churches and mosques preserved due to religious and ethnic policies, most of the remaining temples in Beijing have been demolished, and the space for folk belief has been partially destroyed or turned into places for industrial and commercial activities since the Republic of China.
More importantly, people's knowledge system about folk beliefs has been truncated or even eradicated.
The author believes that two aspects should be paid attention to when dealing with folk beliefs:
The first is to create a relaxed cultural atmosphere of belief so that folk beliefs can receive necessary social respect.
For a long time, we have become accustomed to looking at folk beliefs through tinted glasses, turning a blind eye to the cultural function of good folk beliefs in warming people's hearts and regulating society.
Temple fairs around temples to enhance community ties and activate community culture have also been banned by the management department for a long time.
Of course, these situations have changed significantly in recent years.
We should fully realize that folk beliefs are a way for the people to regulate themselves and spiritually.
As long as they comply with general ethics and national laws and do not affect the normal social life of non-believers, the outside world does not need to interfere.
Second, necessary time and space should be provided to facilitate the reconstruction of folk beliefs.
For example, in terms of time, we can use traditional festivals to rebuild the tradition of annual sacrifice, such as the ancestral worship activities during the Qingming Festival, the consolation activities during the Mid-Yuan Festival, and the nature worship of heaven and earth during the Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival.
In terms of space, traditional temples should be actively restored and opened in urban and rural areas, so that modern people have a spiritual space to express their emotions and wishes.
For example, Dongyue Temple in Beijing was once Beijing's "Pantheon Temple", and people's doubts about birth, age, illness and death can be solved.
Such urban public beliefs have positive effects.
It should be pointed out that if the belief space of ordinary China people is not filled with traditional Chinese beliefs, it means opening a convenient door for the entry of foreign religions and cultures.
If allowed to develop, China people will lose their spiritual character, which is the last thing we want to see.
Xiao Fang (The author is a professor at Beijing Normal University)