Traditional Socio-Economic and Cultural Survey of Tiantai County

Author: Lian Xiaoming / Kang Bao, Editors
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: The main features of this book are briefly described as follows: , this is an academic work based on necessary induction and summarization from field research and oral interviews, serving as a rescue and valuable intangible cultural heritage. For example, "Traditional Temple Festivals and Folk Beliefs in Tiantai County" by Mr. Cao Zhi Tian, after interviewing nearly 100 elderly people over more than a year, obtained extremely rich and endangered materials. This paper is the first survey and record of the distribution and number of traditional "temples" (including folk beliefs) in Tiantai County: There are a total of 2,985 villages in Tiantai County, with almost every village having one or several small temples. As the economic, cultural, and political center of Tiantai County, it undoubtedly gathers various beliefs such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and folk traditions. To count the number of temples in the county, the author conducted surveys for several months and has now confirmed 110 (possibly with a few). Among them, there are 38 monasteries, 57 Taoist temples and folk shrines, 10 dedicated ancestral halls, 5 churches of Catholicism and Christianity, 74 abandoned ones, 30 remaining, and 6 relocated or newly built. The second, all authors of the book, regardless of their level or age, are very serious and strictly follow the editor's revisions, repeatedly revising without getting tired. The third, respect for facts and history; when encountering materials that are difficult to verify for the time being, the authors do not rush to draw conclusions. Because folk beliefs, when considered from an historical perspective, still present many issues. However, in the text, the authors list some differing views during the survey and writing process, hoping that in the future, with more abundant surveys and research, some current viewpoints and opinions can be corrected. The fourth, regarding the time frame of the research content in this book, i.e., the concept of "traditional," it mainly refers to the following aspects: First, in terms of time, it should be before the Xinhai Revolution, when it was still the Qing Dynasty. Second, in terms of socio-economic structure, it refers to the era of traditional agricultural economy.