Folk belief and custom (Chen Jinggu's belief and custom)

The name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: folk belief and custom (Chen Jinggu's belief and custom)

Applicant: Gutian County, Fujian Province

Item No.: 992

Project No.: Ⅹ - 85

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Fujian Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Gutian County, Fujian Province

Protection unit: Linshui Palace Management Committee of Gutian County

A brief introduction to the folk belief and custom (Chen Jinggu's belief and custom)

Applicant: Gutian County, Fujian Province

Faithfulness, also known as "popular belief", is a conventional traditional idea formed in the process of people's long-term production and life. Under the domination of this idea, people will have psychological and behavioral identification with some folk phenomenon. The deities worshipped by traditional folk beliefs are an important source of belief and custom. Praying for blessings and avoiding harm is the internal reason for the continuous inheritance of traditional belief and custom. The collection of various forms of folk culture forms the cultural space of folk belief and custom.

It is the most influential folk belief activity in Fujian Province and even in the south of the Yangtze River that the leader of Linshui palace in Gutian County of Fujian Province worships the Taoist goddess Chen Jinggu, pays homage to Chen Jinggu and holds the ceremony of inviting incense and lighting a fire. Chen Jinggu's belief began in the Song Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. According to Gutian County annals of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, Chen Jinggu was born in the Tang Dynasty. It is said that she was born at the foot of Cangshan in Fuzhou and prayed for rain when she was 24 years old. She gave her young life to relieve the drought and save the people. After her death, she was respected as the God of children and women. An old wooden house near Xu Zhenjun temple at the foot of Cangshan was also worshipped as Chen Jinggu's ancestral house by local people.

The influence of Chen Jinggu's belief in folk customs has reached more than 80 million believers in Fujian, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hubei, Anhui and other provinces (regions) as well as Chinese communities all over the world. There are more than 4000 temples near the water, forming a special phenomenon of folk culture. The ceremony is held throughout the year, especially in the first month of the lunar calendar. At that time, believers from all over the country will form a "lady's society" to celebrate Christmas at Linshui palace in Gutian, and invite incense from ancestral palace to return home to pray for God, which reflects the common wish of praying for happiness and peace. In this process, different schools of Taoism, folk music, Opera Dance, traditional martial arts, folk music and so on are fully displayed. There are more than 400 Linshui temples in Taiwan. Over the past 20 years, more than 400000 people have visited the ancestral palace in Gutian. By using the custom of inviting incense to light a fire as a medium, the Taiwan compatriots have enhanced their emotional exchanges with the mainland compatriots and their identification with the national culture in the ceremony of common belief that people share the same ancestry and gods share the same fate.