Dream-praying custom in Shizhu Mountain

Fujian
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Shizhu Mountain is located 10 kilometers west of Fuqing City, a famous hometown of overseas Chinese in the southeast coast of Fujian Province. The main peak, Zhuangyuan Peak, is 534 meters above sea level. There are strange rocks and stones such as Ziyun Cave, Taoyuan Cave, Tongtian Cave, Sun and Moon Cave, Zhaixingtai, and Yuanyang Stone in Shizhu Mountain. There are cliff inscriptions by many literati and poets from past dynasties on the cliffs. The special humanistic and geographical environment, combined with the traditional religious culture of China, has gradually formed the unique dream-praying custom of Shizhu Mountain. The dream-praying custom of Shizhu Mountain has a history of more than 2,000 years. It is based on the belief in the Nine Immortals, accompanied by life customs and seasonal festivals, and folk psychological medical knowledge. It widely involves psychological medicine, health preservation, architecture, sociology and other fields. In the process of transmission, it has also integrated Taoist ritual culture, becoming a unique form of psychological counseling and social education. On this basis, it has formed its own unique rituals and customs, and gradually derived four-season festivals, especially the "welcoming spring" ceremony on the Spring Festival every year. This primitive ritual of life follows the natural philosophy of the changing solar terms, contains the ancient society's emphasis on farming culture and respect for life, and has become one of the important contents of the dream-praying custom of Shizhu Mountain today. The folk custom of Shizhu Mountain with dream-praying as the core is widely spread in Fuzhou, Putian, Quanzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, and its influence even extends to Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, America and other corners of the world where Fujianese live, becoming a cultural bond of Chinese national identity. Moreover, with the frequent development of dream-praying and dream-interpreting activities, various dream stories reflecting people's lives and wishes are widely circulated through oral literature, adding infinite mysterious legendary color to Shizhu Mountain.

Intangible culture related to the heritage

China tourist attractions related to the heritage