Main Abstracts

Main Abstracts

Folkloristics as a Study of Sinology: Work Plans of the Folklore Society of Sun Yat-sen University and the Discipline Recognition of Early Folklorists

SHI Aidong

For an emerging discipline, the initial academic orientation often determines its future direction, and the initial research achievements can affect its basic paradigm. The four work plans of the Folklore Society of Sun Yat-sen University in the early development of modern Chinese folkloristics reveal that different folklore advocates have different folkloristic understandings and work plans. The most important reason that Western learning orientation represented by He Sijing and the anthropological orientation represented by Yang Chengzhi didn’t become the choices of modern Chinese folkloristics is their lack of practical achievements and original spirit. He Sijing had academic proposition, but no practical achievements that can serve as the model for future generation to imitate; Yang Chengzhi learned from other disciplines but was short of original theory and method, and his academic achievements can only be classified into other disciplines. The exemplary academic achievements of early folklorists are mainly manifested in Gu Jiegang and others’ studies of ancient Chinese civilization, which becomes the foundation and the academic re-starting point of the later generation. Academic history has repeatedly told us that beautiful academic proposition is just empty talk, and only the original academic achievements can be the fundamentals for our continuous improvement.

Language and History Institute of Sun Yat-sen University; Gu Jiegang; He Sijing; Yang Chengzhi; Rong Zhaozu; Zhou Zuoren

Village Studies Turning to Everyday Life: A Way for Contemporary Folkloristics to Approach Real Society

LI Xiangzhen

By paying attention to village society, the contemporary Chinese folkloristics turns from focusing on folklore items to the integrity of the folks’ everyday life. The change of research perspective has promoted modern folklorists to further understand village society’s structure and cultural reality. Researchers need to emphasize the feelings and experiences in their fieldwork, and make thick description and narratological analysis of common villagers’ trivial everyday life and deeply understand the villagers’ living logic and significance. Village studies turning to everyday life should be a way to expand the theoretical space of contemporary folkloristics.

Key Words: everyday life; village; context; narratology

Study on Folklore Translation in China and Its Academic Significance in Chinese Context at the End of Nineteenth Century

SHEN Meili

At the end of 19th century, there were two Chinese folklore translation activities dominated by missionaries and other British in China, and so far the related literature has not been effectively sorted out. From the perspective of academic thought history, that the translating achievements of folklore failed to be collected in modern folklore was the result of scholars’ academic selection of the Meiji Japanese experience under the background of the national movement at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China.

Key Words: the end of 19th century; Chinese translation of folklore; academic thought history; the academic selection

An Outline of the History of Modern Chinese Folkloristics in the Western World (1872-1949)

ZHANG Zhijuan

There are at least two clues to the development of modern Chinese folkloristics: one is rooted in native context while westerners promote the other. Considering both of the discipline consciousness and its relation with Chinese academia, the history of modern Chinese folkloristics in the western world could be divided into three stages: the establishment stage, the extended stage and the mixing stage. Since our existing studies concentrate mainly on the native way, exploring and constructing the other clue which has long been ignored is of great significance. Not only could it enrich our present knowledge of the academic history, but also it provides a new perspective to observe the position of native folkloristics, as well as the cultural exchange between China and the West. In addition, it will also contribute to investigating multiple possibilities in the development of the intrinsic logic of Chinese folkloristics.

Key Words: modern Chinese folkloristics; western Sinology; periodization

The Origin and Evolution of “Zoubaibing”

CHEN Enwei

Zoubaibing(removing sicknesses) is an ancient and widely distributed traditional Chinese custom. Originating from the custom ofhaomori(耗磨日) in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the custom ofzoubaibingwas mixed with exorcism, customs of Lantern Festival,fangtou(permitting people to steal) custom of ethnic minorities, and the custom oftouguaqizi(praying for children by stealing vegetables) in Tang Dynasty, which converged customs such aszhaohao(照耗), exorcism,guoqiao(crossing the bridge),caiqing(stealing vegetables), watching lanterns andmoding(touching doornails), and finally got the meaning ofdu’e(getting through the doom), exorcism, andqizi(praying for sons). Therefore,zoubaibingis a kind of folklore with both types of accumulating-sedimenting and mixing-variating characters.

Key Words:zoubianbing;guoqiao;caiqing

The Origin of Chinese Ancestor Worship by Burning Incense on Synodic Day

LONG Sheng

The ritual of worshiping ancestors by burning incense on Synodic day was prevalent in traditional society in China. Its history can be traced back to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and it is closely related to the ritual tradition in pre-Qin period as well as Taoism and Buddhism. On the one hand, the incense burning ritual, which had appeared in the pre-Qin period evolved with the introduction of spices since the Han Dynasty, and was absorbed by Taoism. By the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Taoism used incense burning ritual in activities of worshiping the ancestor on Synodic day, which led to the ritual of incense burning for ancestor worship on Synodic day. On the other hand, since Buddhism was introduced into China, the incense burning ritual was promoted and practiced. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the combination of incense burning tradition in Buddhism and the worshiping tradition on Synodic day also promoted the formation of the ancestor worshiping ritual by burning incense on Synodic day.

Key Words: burning incense on Synodic day; ancestor worship; Taoism; Buddhism; the Northern and Southern Dynasties

A Study on Ancient Chinese Travel Gods Worship and the Farewell Custom

YU Xuecai

“Travel Gods” refer to the gods related to transportation, roads, and traveling. In China, they are also calledxingshen(行神),daoshen(道神),lushen(路神),daoluzhishen(道路之神) and so on. In order to express conveniently, we named all these gods “travel gods”. In the evolutionary history of human civilization, China as well as other regions all had the gods of traveling, and formed sacrificial rituals, systems, customs and culture of worshiping these gods. In comparison, the worship of ancient Chinese travel gods and its derivative culture of farewell custom are unique in the aspects of integrity, universality, hierarchy, normality and continuity.

Key Words: travel gods; rituals; worship; customs; farewell

A Study on the Relevant Issues ofShigandangin Southwest China

ZHAO Chuan, WANG Lijun, ZHANG Ke

The relics ofShigandang(石敢当) found and published in Southwest China can be broadly divided into three categories, which are different in appearance of shape, age of engraving, placement and the functional significance. The A-typeShigandangin the first category has typicalZhengyiDao(”Orthodox One” Taoism正一道)factors, while the third category has no obvious Taoist factors. This difference may have a certain relationship with the development of Taoism in this region. Combined with researches on literature and related rubbing information, the appearing and popular age ofTaishan-shigandang(泰山石敢当) shouldn’t be earlier than the Ming Dynasty.

Key Words:Shigandang;Taishan-shigandang;ZhengyiDao; celestial master; folklore

Folk Literature as an Enlightenment Resource: The Construction of the New Ballad Poetry in the Left-wing Literature under the Revolutionary Context

LI Ruihua

During May 4th Movement, New Ballad Poetry became an important source of new poetry creation. As a new practice, it enriched the expression forms of poetry while bearing the “civilian” demands of the enlightening subjects. In the 1930s under the slogan of “popularization” of Left-wing literature, New Ballad that was advocated by Chinese Poetry Society was given the discourse of emerging class. Under the successive construction of the Left-wing’s mainstream discourse, New Ballad Poetry gradually matured in the 1940s. By examining the construction and development of the new poetry in the history of modern literature, we can see that the “field” of the left-wing literature had a decisive effect on the form of literary discourse as well as the gains and losses in the construction of new poetry, which will further trigger useful thinking about the developing direction of modern Chinese poetry.

Key Words: ballad；folk；Left-wing；civilian；national form

Gu Jiegang’s Research on the Legend of Dayu and the Proposition of “Stratification Theory”

GUO Jia

There are two stages in Gu Jiegang’s research on Dayu: one is a series of articles published during the great controversy of ancient history in 1920s, in which the articles “Discussing Ancient History with Mr. Qian Xuantong ” and “Discussing Ancient History and Answering Mr. Liu and Mr. Hu” are significant; the other is in 1930s, after making the Warring States period and Qin and Han Dynasties as his academic goal, Gu turned to the study on historical geography and wrote “The Legend of Gun and Yu”. Gu not only explored the materials about the myths and legends, but also involved the mythological discussion about the relations of myths and history, myths and religions, myths and ethnics in his mythological studies on Yu. As the proposition of stratification theory has a close relation to his research on Dayu, so reflecting on the stratification theory as a theoretical method is particularly important to the research on Dayu.

Key Words: Gu Jiegang; the mythological legend of Dayu; stratification theory; mythology; folkloristics

Cultural Groundings for the Transmission of the “Moon Man” Figure in the Tale of the “Predestined Wife” (ATU 930A)

ZHANG Juwen, trans. by SANG Jun

Focusing on the “Moon Man” (or matchmaker) in the tale “Predestined Wife” (ATU 930A) in Chinese examples, this article applies the historic-geographic method in a broad cultural context by exploring how the Moon Man figure in the tale has been transmitted and transformed over the past two millennia and is still alive in oral tradition, and how elements in tales rise and fall because of their relations to the fundamental values in the culture. This author argues that any key element in an “imported” tale must have familiar characteristics enabling it to adapt to the local audience and take root and, in turn, strengthen hidden beliefs and values, and that the transformation or migration of tales is the precursor of cultural integration that continues in our everyday practices.

Key Words: oral tradition; transmission; folktales; historic-geographic method; folk culture

Folk Culture in the Perspective of Geography and Society: Research on Xiaozuo in Huidong

WANG Mingming, WU Yinling, SUN Jing, JIN Jingyi

This paper is an analytical report based on field research, and it shows the folk culture of Xiaozuo (小岞) from the perspective of geography and society. Xiaozuo is a coastal town located in Huidong (Eastern Huian County) in southern Fujian, and it’s the place where Huiannv (Huian females) live. By researching the nature-human geography and the totality of social life in Xiaozuo, we find that the means of local livelihoodtaohaichi(living by fishing 讨海吃) and settlement patternjiangfengshui(paying attention tofengshui讲风水)are reflected in the comparison of oceans, mountains and depressions; and Xiaozuo people achieve their self-identity by worshiping gods and worshiping ancestors. Xiaozuo people live in a system that integrates the human relations of man-man, man-thing, man-god, and in which Huian females are no exception. From the human relation system constructed and reconstructed by Xiaozuo people and their ancestors, we can see that the folk culture regarded as “lack of historical impetus” has great creativity; and compared to the labeled image of Huidong, political and economic practitioners should pay more attention to the existence of this creativity. And the research on this will be more helpful to update the connotation of cultural studies.

Key Words: people of Eastern Huian; nature-human geography; system of human relation; folk culture; society

Gift Giving and Calculating inNuoRitual Behavior of Han Ethnic Group

ZENG Lan

The gift inNuoRitual is presented toNuoGod, andNuoartists help transmit the gift from the God to villagers. Therefore, the gift in Nuo ritual is shared among the God,Nuoartists and other villagers, which is a way not only forNuoartists to practice and identify their identity as communicators between God and humans, but also for the participants including Gods,Nuoartists and villagers to show their cultural identity and sense of community. However, while theNuoritual is authorized as a kind of intangible heritage, its economic profits turn gift presented into gift calculated, which disintegrates the identity among the three and their sense of community.

Key Words: gift giving; gift calculating; cultural identity; sense of community

Artistic Performance and Self-governing Mechanism in Village Context: A Case Study of “Banwan” in Spring Festival in Sandefan Village in the Middle of Shandong Province

ZHU Zhenhua

The folk art performance of Sandefan Village and the self-governing mechanism it interweaved show that self-governance hasn’t become an obstacle to modernization or disappeared with social changes, but has been the most borrowable traditional resource of constructing the relation between state and local society through a complementary form. From the perspective of folklore, it can not only offer a broad perspective for Chinese village society studies, but can also make the research closer to the changing Chinese villages by bringing the understanding of self-governing tradition as well as its working mechanism into the observation of village society, so that more real cultural interpretation on villages can be made.

Key Words: Sandefan; Spring Festival;banwan; self-governance