중국 民俗文獻을 통해본 淸代 北京 歲時風俗 연구

Abstract

The paper deals with Seasonal Rituals of Beijing in the era of Qing Dynasty of China with focus on DiJingSuiShiJiSheng and Yangjingsuishiji. The seasonal customs of Beijing during the period are incomparably abundant in terms of its contents and forms and constitute a sort of the golden age of prosperity for the folkloric manifestations in China. The festive days may be classified with the traditional and the religious festivities with the inclusion of 24 subdivisions of the different seasons. The religious festivity is based on the popular beliefs, in which the roles of Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism are outstanding. But in general terms, we can easily find the preponderant role of the combined festivities with Taoism and Buddhism. The traditional seasonal rituals used to be celebrating generally in the first month of the lunar calendar, when a new year commences and in the final month of the year when a year finishes its cycle. The days of the festivity celebration are being established on the days of even number and of odd number respectively, in particular on the 1st and 15th of the month by the lunar calendar. The festivities are observed by both official and civil authorities. Among other festal days, Shang Yuan, Shang si, Qing ming, Qi si and the ninth day of the ninth month are being held as also festive days of Taoism and Buddhism as well as the popular holidays. These celebrations are usually destined to present homage to their ancestors and to express their gratefulness for the good harvest of the year. Beside their wishes to ward off evil and protect their fortune, different games and fire crackers are being performed. The State Ceremonies are held in accordance with the 24 seasonal divisions of the lunar year, but also are celebrating sometimes at the rituals of religious and popular festive days. Among the religious rituals, ‘la ma da gui’, ‘bai ta ran deng’, ‘rao ta’ and ‘yong huo gong she zhou’ are the reflection of the Tibetan Buddhist culture. The common rituals of Taoism and Buddhism are termed as Qing Ming, Yu ho jie, zhong yuan jie, and xia uan jie. The ‘yan jiu jie’ was established in the period of Yuan Dynasty and the rituals related with ’la ma jiao’ appeared in the epoch of Qing Dynasty. The rituals usually take place in commemoration of the birth of shamanist gods of the regions with a view to invoking blessing or to drive out evil among other objectives. The seasonal customs of Beijing during the Qing Dynasty are particularly variegated and deserve our special attention and studies.