Folk Beliefs and Customs (Guan Gong Beliefs and Customs)

Henan
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Beliefs and customs, also known as "popular beliefs", are a kind of traditional concept formed by people in the long-term production and life process. Under the control of this concept, people will have psychological and behavioral identification with certain folk customs. The gods worshipped by traditional folk beliefs are an important source of beliefs and customs, and praying for blessings and avoiding harm is the internal reason for the continuous inheritance of traditional beliefs and customs. The collection of various folk cultural expressions constitutes the cultural space of folk beliefs and customs. In the Chinese folk, Guan Gong is called "Martial Saint" together with Confucius. Guan Gong Temple worship is an important part of Chinese traditional culture, and its influence has spread overseas and has been passed down to this day. Guan Gong belief has gradually formed a relatively fixed pattern with the development of history. From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Five Dynasties, the worship was carried out with reference to the ancient altar and Confucius rituals. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the Tailao ritual was performed. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the contents of "welcoming the gods", "entertaining the gods" and "sending off the gods" were added. In the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi designated the birthday of Guan Gong as May 13. The sacrificial ceremony held in Guanlin, Luoyang, consisted of viewing the animals, displaying, washing, initial offerings, worshipping the four directions, paying homage, final offerings, and tomb-rounding. It was presided over by the Luoyang County Magistrate. Jiezhou Town, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province is the hometown of Guan Gong. The Guan Gong ancestral temple formed around Guan Gong has extremely rich religious connotations. The Jiezhou Guandi Ancestral Temple is the largest Guandi Temple in the country. It was built in the ninth year of Kaihuang in the Sui Dynasty (589). The front is for the court and the back is for the bedroom. It has the highest specifications among tens of thousands of Guandi temples at home and abroad. Since ancient times, temple fairs have been held here on the 24th day of the sixth lunar month, Guandi's birthday, the eighth day of the fourth lunar month and the ninth day of the ninth lunar month every year. Over time, it has become a custom that has been passed down. Guanlin in Luoyang, Henan Province is the only ancient architectural complex in my country that combines tombs, temples and forests. It has a history of more than a thousand years. It was built as a temple for the burial of Guan Yu's head. In the 20th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1592), the basic scale of today's temple fair was formed on the original site of the Guan Temple in the Han Dynasty. The Guanlin Temple Fair is held on the 13th day of the first lunar month, the 13th day of the fifth lunar month and the 13th day of the ninth lunar month every year. The sacrificial ceremony brings together local folk arts in Luoyang such as lion dance, drums, martial arts, acrobatics, dough sculptures, sea gods, stilts music, etc., and is integrated with various religious legends. The core content of Guan Gong's religious beliefs is the traditional concept of trustworthiness and loyalty. This idea has been widely recognized by Chinese people at home and abroad and has become an important part of the Chinese world's values. At present, very few people know about the dough sculptures, court music, sea gods, stilts music and other forms of Guan Gong's religious activities. They are facing the risk of being lost and are in urgent need of rescue and protection.

Intangible culture related to the heritage

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